Seattle daily post-intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, W.T. [Wash.]) 1881-1888, 1883-12-19
GA Z TsiK
POST NTELII GENCER.

~ - 18I -
. TELILGENCR.l
TIC snlvER QUESTION.
7. :. evident that the annual expedi-
~, n the bondholders and money
arders Of tue East against the standard
,;,,,r dollar will begin its crusade again
his winter. They want single stand
ard OF gold. They want coin mace
.carce, circulation restricted and inen
.bsv SAINT all the debts contracted our
i:,e the period when tie double stand
ard was in use and money plenty, peio
n gold which will be scarce. ms VIZ
'.cinch- the debtor 81 aga sni ada MUCH
filthy Iucre to the sacks OF tie money
sharks. II can be done by ceasing coin'
.oa NJ III. standard dollar and limiting
its power as legal tender. II would oe
the scheme of 1873 repeated. There u
no public demand foi tits oIs -auRn'
upou silver. The dollar is pspo'al
coin. For all purposes in which it Ii USED
Il in vastly superior 10 the dollar gold
niece or a dollar areenback. 1t il Clean
not oumbrous and has a metallic jingle
which il refreshing to the ear OF poor
man il such jingle emanates from ms
own pocket. Silver is worth a. mucn %
cold for money and is just a. useful IN
it, particular sphere; that il for use In
small sums. Coin in very large SONS
WHISTLER gold or silver. ID cumbrous ano
need never With proper currency facili-
ties be subject to much handling.
The country is not in any danger OF q
plsthora Of coin. There is no risk In
puttinq the silver product Of the coun-
trv into dollars. The Government
makes large profit on its coinage, and
IL a little extra expense il involved Ill
safely storing them. the country can
sGand it. These dollars are good things
70 have. II the Government had had
in it, Treasury in 1861, the amount OF
coin now there, the Rreenback would
nsyer have sold down to a third its
faoe. and cur bonds would have been
worth more in Dutch end German mon
Az centers. We shap't get tor much
specie il all that We produce is coined
and circulated among the people. The
Government doesn't pay gold for the
silver It purchases and coins. ltpays in
silver or silver certificates. The qaan-
tity Of gold in the Treasury il not dimin-
ishsd by the coinage Of the silver dollar.
But, and here 10 the rab, the purchasing
power Of gold ID no greater than that OF
silver 20 long az the latter is in circula-
ton and recognized AZ legal tender.
The gold sharks, those who hold the
main stock Of the country, want tho
relative value Of gold as to silver in
creased, because they have it to sell, To
loan, or because it 10 due from credit
ors. The parties enlisted in this opera
tion have immense power. "fhey have,
says the San Francisco bulletin. ''states-
men so-called. newspapers and claquers
in their employ. They can, when they
are 20 minded, make great noise and
bring powerful pressure TO bear. But
for all that, We do not think they are
going to be successful this time. The
country is better educated on the sub
ject OF finance than II was ten years
ago. The great army Of borrowers, the
government itself as borrower, and
the States, cities and counties In the
same relation. are not going to allow
such march to be stolen on them.
There 10 one simple method for getting
rid Of tho apparent overstock Of stand
ard silver dollars in the treasury-Rive
them the place in the currency which
they were designed to fill. II the one
dollar and two dollar shin plasters, the
bills Of small denomination which are
found In the circulating medium of no
other civilized community. were with
drawn, a. they ought TO be, there would
MOI be an undesirsd silver dollar in the
treasury in q short time. The lowest
denomination for which paper should
be issued is ts.'
II may be added that IL il a mistake
TO suppose that silver IL question
VI importance only 10 q small group of
States. On the contrary ii is question
az broad and a. long a. the country.
Il goes to the very root Of our system of
currency. TamperinR With IL cannot
fail to bring on q stagnation similar to
that which from other causes fell ON the
country recently. The money kings
everywhere ought 10 be content 10 get
back their money ON the same terms on
which they loaned Il. II they are
greedy and grasping they may not fare
20 we'll. At all events Il il not wise to
presume on q popular ignorance which
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