The Iowa plain dealer. [volume] (New Oregon, Howard County, Iowa) 1867-1895, 1885-03-19
THE SILVER MEN REPLY.
An Elaborate Answer to the
Recent Letter Of Presi-
dent Cleveland.
4 Vigorous Protest Against the Recon-.
mendatiOns Of the New Chief
Magistrate.

mendatiOns Of the New Chief
Magistrate.
ASSOCIATED Press dispatch from Washington /
The friends OF silver in the House, while at
first inclined to make formal reply to the let
ter Of Preside intellect Cleveland, since 1t has
been given to he public. decided at con
ference held this evening to reply openly to
those parts with which they DO not gree. They
eay they did not invite Q cont roversy, but. on
the co tra.y, were anxious to avoid it, They
also ray 1t was not until II had become known
that . determined effort was being made TO in
dncc the President cleo. to commit himself and
his administration in advance to the gold side
OF the currency question that they decided
merely to ask him not to commit himself mn
TIL his Cabinet had Leon formed and both
sides OF tho question could be considered.
They believe, however. in the independence OF
the legislative branch i q re noyernment and
furnish the following as statement OF their
views:
In the letter no distinction is made between
silver coinage and silye bullion. While IL IL
true that the silver bullion, which Is excluded
from coinage and cOnScs, ucntly from monetary
use y worth less N fhs ratio q y % than \.
are admitted to mOnctas use the same a. gold.
are equal in valnc to gold coin. The silver dol
lar will exchange for az much as gold dollar;
it will cen buy the gold with which gold
dollars may be made. France. with popu-
lation Of .if.D1.rOi and territory not as
IGfEG As Texas. mas i'll CilCuLaIiOn
silver with S,aorua,evo gold. while have
but y0O.0uU.OuO full-tcnder silver TO over
sGon.ou .ooo in gold. Altogether sl,3 o.N'.poO
cisel in Enrope sae ~
UU0.no0 gold or paper and silver together. in
Guiding silver certificates. we have less than
$50 ogooo, which shows ina. in this country nr
times as much gold a. silver. With this pro-
portion in our currency. and with gold and sill
yer equally iul! tender for everyt Ing It Is diff
rul IN understand Syhv fllp of the
Treasury might not. II he chose To DO 81. pay
out more silver and less gold. OF course. il
while receiving into the Treasury United States
notes, silver and silver certitcat $. gol or gold
certificates. he pays ont only gold. his stock OF
gold would diminish. II. on the other hand. lie
should ray out more silver and paler and less
gold. the character OF tic reserve in the Treas
ury would mt oil the Secretary
There would lie no need tor a legal tender II
one who who rec & money r. a :" nyss
| certificates displa gold is true but only as
Treasury or bank notes dis lace It. The with
drswal q hundred m lions o, , banis notes. or
| SANE effect on gold az SO inuc'i n silver
| or silver ccrtinca cs. Why has II never been
proposed to " thiraw The la.i nal bank notes
| as a means Of preventing lie KIP .lslon OF gold:
| To the proposition that there now exist, or ever
have exist d under our Conss tnton, olga-
tons specifically payabe in gold. the silver men
! emphatic dissent at the very outset Of 2 discuss
sion OF the question. No such obligations
:xist Or ever did exist Webster said old
| legal standard of value III this country. and
neither Congress nor any state has authority to
establish any other standard or to displace
| this One act to strengthen the pubic credit,
approved March Is, lsG9. sol mny pledged the
! United States to the payment OF bonds in coin.
The refnnding act Of July 4. r., provided for
| the payment of all refunding bonds in coin. Of
| their present standard value. which is the same
/ as the present va ne. The resumption act of
Jan. \. ls7i, provides that from and after Jan.
| deem in coin the outstanding iegal-tender notes.
BY the act of Feb ~, 1878. provid NJ for the re-
| sumption Of the coinage Of the standard dollar,
the silver dollars were made legal tender for all
0ebts and tues, public and private. unless
otherwise expressly stipulated in the
contract: aud there, i not PUB
/ containing a stipulation OF payment in gold In
January. 1874. Congress adopted the following
| concurrent resolution, offered by Stanley Mat
thcws. then Senator, now on the supreme
That all bonds OF the United States issued or
authorized to be issued under the acts OF Con-
gress hereinbefore recited are payable. princi-
| pal and interest, mt he option Of the Govern
| inent or the United states, in silver dollars OF
tho coinage of the Units States, containin.
Al2. grains ca h OF st lnaard silver. and that to
restore to its coinage such silver coins ~ LEGAL
tender, in payment Of said bonds y. incipal and
interest. 10 not IN violation Of the IN lie faith,
nor In derOgation Of the rights Ut the public
| creditor.
The opinions Of Secretaries Of the Treasury
from 1873 down arc fcrred to as authority.
The opinions are valuable when supported by
facts and sound reasons, hut ought not to q n
troll unless tney are. ~ cannon pc IoVHoften
however. that these same Sccrcaric = havestcad-
lily predicted what has not taken place IN
friends OF silver concur in the opinion that It il
most desirable 10 MAINTAIN ana continue IN uSt
the mass OF our gold coin. rs We as the mass q
silver already coined They agree. too. that il
is Of momentous importance to prevent the two
metals tom parting company. But the two
metals have already parted com any, under thu
influence o. silver dsm0net1za 10 n oaner comm
banks to silver In this. but thai the continued
coinage OF silver at the rate OF s2s.'wo,0,O yea
viii drive god out q Q, circulation sn; IN the nea
TO them seem TO be sustained by facts or eOunt
reasoning. The total volume OF currency IN tn
United States. outside OF gold, is less thar
economic science, perfectly well settled, that |
volume OF STo0. oJnoyo Is not suihcient IN 1tsel
to mainta n prices in this country at the level o
international prices. then gold will come her
and stay here in sufficient amount to make wit
the volume already In circulation, what vii
constitute our distribntiye share OF the world
money as determined by our international trade
, That s75o.0Oo,OUa Is not suiticicnt volume I
maintain prices At the worlds level OF price
is evidenced by the fact that So o."on@o i
gold. considerable part OF which is in "a cua
ton. either in the form Of coin or certificate
now stays here, and It Will go away only whe
: prices become lower elsewhere than they al
. here.
It is believed, therefore, that no such crisis a
has been foreboded can Overtake us ander I'll
existing conditions 1t - not believed t. be J
ii hey were SO disposed. to take the g,,d ort
circulation and hold 1t for any length Of ii &c
premium. They must first lock ny the word
, can paper or II certificates now in circul;
tion side by SIDE with gold expcl gold. The gol
,
can be expelled only by forcing into circulatlOl
IN addition to $50 OUOO, either silver or papf
equal TO the entire volume Of gold now in Gil