The Vermont watchman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1883-1911, 1884-06-25
" Why the Silver Dollar Is Dangerous"

We like to give both sides Of ques-
ton, and therefore we copy the following
article from the Boston Commercial Bul.
letin, paper that ought to be able to give
the very best possible statement of the gold
mono-metallist's argument. Here it is:
"In spite of the repeated efforts that
have been made to show the danger to
our currency which attends the contin-
ued coinage of silver dollars, the query is
still put to us: What harm can it do e.?
Well, to begin with, its moral influence
is bad; it started out as lie, and has
been growing bigger ever since with every
drop in the price of silver. On the day
it was born, in 1878, fine silver was selling
at fifty-fve pence per ounce, when, to be
the equal of gold as standard of value,
it should have been worth fifty.nine pence.
Silver has never been worth so much as
fifty-five pence per ounce since. Congress
shamelessly allowed 412t grains of silver,
nine-tenths fine, to be called an equivalent
for 25.S grains of gold, nine-tenths fine.
But that didn't make it so, for congress
can't establish commercial values. The
congress which allowed this thing was a
cheat that congress is gone, but its bas-
tard child, the silver dollar, remains to
menace the currency of this country. How
does it menace it 2 Suppose drain of
gold from the chief monetary centers of
the world, drain from the United States
treasury would follow should this 60 on
to such an extent as to compel the pay
ment of government obligations in silver,
gold would at once disappear or 60 above
par. A rise of gold one per cent above
par would cause an immediate and vio-
lent adjustment of prices to silver basis,
which would be about fifteen per cent, at
the present price of silver, below present
prices of commodities measured in gold.
1t is urged that such supposition is not
likely to become fact. We sincerely
hope it will not, but why may it not a? Is
it out of regard for the friends of the
moon-faced dollar that European crops
are short this year, and that increased
supplies of American grain will be needed
abroad Was it to please the silverites
that all business men combined to pre-
vent panic this summer Was it to
please these people that foreign capital
has remained invested in America and
foreign capitalists have bought American
securities right along through the recent
ambiguous course of affairs Perhaps
but we very much doubt it. Oh, but we
have established bi-metalism, and some
day all nations will follow us. Nonsense
nominally, we have double standard
practically, we have gold standard, and
gold alone, as much as ever. The unit Of
value is by law the gold dollar. The
silver dollar, in making values, is about
as useful as fifth-wheel and almost al
big. 1t is to all intents and purposes, ,
token coin, and from its very nature, il
spite of its legal tender quality, can b.
nothing else."
At the start this writer makes quee
confession-that after all these years o
argument its readers are still asking
, "What harm can it do 2" If it had sucl
: plain case, surely that question woul'
, have been put to rest by it a good Will
t ago. We have ourself earnestly sougb
! to find out that same thing. We though
/, we knew what good ii would do; but
, there was any harm, we wanted to kno'
s that. Then by a simple subtraction W
q might learn the balance of good and harr
+ in the matter. We have read and re-rea
b the arguments of the very ablest fnanci'
I economists on both sales.--future VIII