Savannah morning news. [volume] (Savannah) 1868-1887, 1882-07-19
The Silver Question Again.
Thurlow Weed writos.

New YORK, July 6.
To tie Editor Of the Neso York Tribune.
SR-I ask leave to submit to the readers
of the Tribune a brief reply to your Sc
we're denunciation of silver in this morn
ing's paper. If the Secretary of the
Treasury would obey a law Of Congress
the sub-Treasury vaults would soon be
relieved from an increasing and onerous
amount of legal tender silver dollars. In
the prosecution of war for the protec-
ton OF the government of the Union
nearly 81, 600, 100000 were borrowed.
The foreign creditor sold his gold for
greenbacks at premium ranging from
90 TO 100 per cent, and then exchanged
his greenbacks for 6 per cent. government
bonds atpar. Those bonds, principal and
interest, were payable in ''cOin. When
our bonds commanded premium vary
ing from IL to 20 per cent. silver coin
was stealthily demonetized-so stealthily
that not a leading journal was aware
that the country had been deprived of
One-half of the legal tender money: and
even now, though l have repeatedly
asked by whom and for what purpose
that most important sentence was SNUG.
gled into bill whose title did not reveal
the secret, no information has been elic-
tied. l assume, therefore, that it WIS
| done, as was admitted in Germany, 'to
increase the purchasing power of gold
1t was a conspiracy of capital against
labor, originating in Europe and re.
spOnded to in America.
Some facts connected with this mod
ern crusade against silver cannot too
often be reiterated. Silver had been
money current with the merchants"
from the time that men began to buy
and sell until the Shylocks of the pres
ent generation demanded their pound
of flesh. Abraham paid for a family
buTying place in shekels of silver. In
the seven years of famine Jacob sent his
sons to the land of Pharaoh for corn,
and put silver in their sacks with which
the staff of life was to be purchased.
| On their return Benjamin received 300
| pieces of silver from his brother Joseph.
Judas IscariOt, who is presumed
to have been good Judge of
money, sold our Saviour for thirty pieces
of silver. Even now silver is ''money
! current with the merchants in half of
the geographical and numerical world.
| England, while repudiating silver at
home, recognizes it in India: and here
the enemies Of silver stulhfy themselves
by c0nsenting to accept it as legal ten
der for small sums. While railing at the
silver dollar no lisp is heard against the
millions of subsidiary silver in circula-
ton. Indeed the silver half dollar,
| quarter dollar, and dime are business
and financial necessity. These coins cir
culate everywhere at par, and though in
trinsically as valuable, the silver dollar
is arbitrarily quoted at 10 per
cent. below par. The absurdity
of this pretence is shown by the
fact that no silver dollars are either
bought or sold ~ per cent. below par,
and by the other fact that hundreds of
thousands of silver dollars are in circula-
ton at par. The shopkeeper, grocer,
butcher, baker, farmer, mechanic and
labOrer are constantly receiving and pay.
ing in their daily transactions silver dol
lars at par. The government, however,
instead of paying its debts in coin &C.
cording to law, allows silver dollars to
remain in its vaults The bankers and
banks also repudiate them In effect,
therefore, in disregard of the Constitu-
ton and in violation of law, we have
gold for the rich and silver for the poor.
| In the words of one of General Jack
sons veto messages, the warfare against
silver "makes the rich richer and the
poor poorer. T. w.