New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1883-01-31
STORAGE RAETED.

With the month ending TO- day the coinage of
standard SILVER dollars has amounted I'D all to
xt35. 300 600. No one could have imagined,
when The act requiring coinage of these dollars
WAS adopted, that it would be persisted In So
long after q reasonable supply of them had
been provided. From the organization of the
mints in 1898 to that time, the whole amount
| of leyal-tender sill yer dollars coined had only
been SS,O4G, 900, and of silver dollars and
half dollars both only $4,000, COOLIES than
the amount Of dollars alone that have been
forced into existence within the last five years
The trade dollars, never intended for use III
this country, nevertheless did ana do circulate
much more than they ought, but the amount
Coined, down to the passage of the Silver bill.
had been S34,6l5, $40, of which $2l,953,s6S
had then BEEN exported. By contrast We see
how enormously disproporrionate to previous
wants of the country is the supply OF silver
dollars whioh the bill has provided.
Hence it is not strange that the mort urgent
efforts have failed TO get these dollars into
circulation at all commensurate with the
amount coined. Ont of l35,2o0,O 900 coined
TO this date, the Treasury has on band prob
ably more than 500, 600, 000-it held over
S94. OOO, 900 on January l, and the distribution
IN January is usually small. This amount OF use-
less slyar is more than the Government has sOr-
age for The Secretary of the Treasury has in
formed Congress that, unless it chooses TO sus-
mend the coinage, aA appropriation will be- Dec-
essar, To build new and costly vaul,s here for
the storage Of the idle dollars, and for the
Transportation from the San Francisco Mint, AZ
there is not room there for the construction of
other vaul T. We ara asked not only TO spend
S27, GOO, 900 more this year for the purchase OF
silver, which mi fht otherwise be sent abroad in
place of gold, but other large sums Tor spacious
and strong vaults 10 which TO keep it.
Why should the Gov eminent buy and store the
erop of silver, any more than the crop of wheat
OF pg-iron7 The Mint estimates that we pro
duce 81 ,OO0, OCC OF silver, and the Government
stores away for no useful purpose nearly two
thirds OF it. Would it be sensible. az we have
more wheat than we can use at home, TO buy up
| and store away two-thirds or any other part Of
| itl Bessemer rail mills can turn out, it seems,
more rails tnan the country can now use !;
| would 1t be good sense to build other vaults
| for the storage OF rails, and buy up million
tons or sol The silver that we now have in
| yaults would have sold for more than
| 9. 900, 900 tons of rails more than 90,0O0,OOO
| bushels OF WHEAT AT CuiCdSo pllCcss anu uiViO
than $500, 1000. 900 yards of print cloths, of
which it IL said there has been over production.
Cannot this large part of our capital, now ly-
| ing idle, be III some way more usefully en-
| Moved for the encouragement OF some branch
| of industry that languishesf
| If the silver on hand were useful as money,
| or il there were q prospect that it ever would
be. tho case would be different But we already
have in actual circulation about T39,O0O,OOO
of the silver dollars, u larger amount tn an has
ever been employed at any tune before ana
nearly five times NJ many as were coined ior
home use for eighty i've years after the organ
| ization of the Mint. The use does not much in
crease; the amount now outstanding is only
| "a, 600. 600 greater than it was year ago, and
at that rate the stock ON hand already will sup
| ply the demand for twenty -four years to come
| without coming any more. Can IL be consld-
cred unsafe 10 suspend the coinage for year
! or two7 Then, if it is really best to pursuo
| this rather expensive mode of strengthening
| industries in which over-production appears,
we might buy up and store away next year
| go, 100000 IouDds OF cotton with the money
saved by nor buying silver, and the year after
| 1000, 900 barrels of oil, and so on. The in
| cidental advantage that suspension of coinage
here would drive other nations to remonetizs
silver, as all tie most intelligent bi-retallists