Weekly Chillicothe crisis. (Chillicothe, Livingston Co., Mo.) 1878-19??, 1881-07-14
Turn on the Light.

Mercantile journal.
1t is important that the exact fact
should be known in regard to any mat
ter before man determines in his owl
mind whether he ought to favor or op
pose it. Therefore it is a duty incum
bent upon all to make proper eXamina
tions. That this may be faithfully and
honestly done we say: Turn on the
light.
We think we are correct in declaring
that we have no prejudices either il
favor of, or in opposition to, the use o.
all silver coin as money which do mo-
apply with equal force TO gold-cxcept
simply that which arises from the fact
that the former is more cumbersome t
handle than the latter. We especially
desire, however, that all men may
know the truth in regard to the com
paratiyc circulation of the two metals
named, when coined. That there have
been many gross misstatements made
in regard TO the ability of the govern
| lllOllu w puu lllCoC luCNNlo lllu CllCulu
ton is beyond doubt.
The claim that gold circulatcs freely
while silver flows back into such hid
ing places as it can find access to is
substantially false, and il is difficult
for writer on moncntary affairs
however honest he may be, to steer
clear Of reiterating some Of the false
hoods. 1t requires extreme care and
strong light constantly shining TO re.
veal all the errors That are dssemina
ted with the evident intention Of lie,
ceiving the unwary.
Turn on the light and what DO We
see? 1t is this: On the first Dig Of
June, 1881, the United States tcrasury
! held in gold the immense sum of $lG :,
no, ,14S, of which $70,9S6, iG3 was in
coin and S92, 1865 was in bullion
and all that is outstanding which can
be properly called Il specific charge
against this immense sum is $j,9l2,GO0
in gold certificates; and these are no
longer freshly issued. 1t is Il fact
worthy of note that the banks cling to
tlese certificates, prCferng them to
gold coin. With this amount of 81,
1000 deducted We have the sum of
Slj1 1Sj2jiS w the net amount Of gold
with which government may he
said TO he loaded, and upon which ii
loses interest, which at the new rate Of
- per cent, would amount to the large
sum of $5,j2G,0ll in Il twelve month.
In regard to the much-tllcd.abOut
glut Of silver what do we find? Smp-
lythis: The vaults of the treasury con-
tain standard silver dollars to the
amount Of $50, ,5lS,273, and of bullion,
T3,I57, ,l92, making a total inclUd-
ing fractional cOin-Or $63,97j. lj6,
Against this sum there is II specific
charge Of $50, 713,25O represented by
silver certificates, leaving u balance Of
$l3,2O2,2l which the government may
bc said to own. If we again count in
tcrcsJ at - per cent we find that the
holding of this amount Of silver costs
the sum Of Sl62,O7S per wear. This
seems small when compared with the
sum Sj,j2j,Oll which we note above
as the annual interest cost at the low
est rate, for gold now stored in the
treasury vaults,
When we "Twn ON the light the
writings down of silver and the extern
siyc writings up of gold do not seem
to be warranted by the facts as they
are represented To view. This we
may say freely without having any in
clinatiom TO fall down and worship
either metal.