Savannah morning news. [volume] (Savannah) 1868-1887, 1885-02-28
SUSPEND THE COINAGE.
MIR. CLEVELAND'S VIEWS ON
THE SILVER QUE~TION.

He Replies to Mr.. Warner and Suggests
That the Present Purchase and Coin
age of Silver Be Suspended-The Two
Metals Must Not Part Company-The
Interests Involved.
ALBANY, n. Y, Feb. 27.-The follow
ing is the reply addressed by President
vocates in Congress-:
To the Hon. 4. d. Warner and others, members
Of the Forty -eiGbtb Congress-:
GENTLEMEN-The letter which / have had
the honor to receive from you invites, and
indeed ODlIges, me to give expression to some
grave public necessities, although in advance
OF the moment when they won become OBJ
jects Of my official care and partial responsi-
biiity. Your sOlicitude that my judgment
shall have been carefully and deliberately
formed Is entirely just, and | accept the sug-
gestiOn in the same friendly spirit ia which it
has been made. 1t is also fully justified
by the nature or the financial crisis
which, under the operation Of the act of Con-
gress of Feb. 2S, 1873 is now close at hand.
By compliance with the requirements Of that
law all the vaults of the Federal Treasury
have been and are
HEAPED FULL OF SILVER COINS,
which are now worth less than IS per cent. of
the gold dollar prescribed as a unit Of vaIne
in section IA of the act of Feb. u, 1873, and
which, with the silver certificates represent
ing such coin, are receivable for all public
dues. Being thus receivable, while also con-
stantly increasing in quantity at the rate OF
2S,0OO.00J year, it has followed, of necessity,
that the flow of gold into the Treasury has
been steadily diminished. Silver and silver
certificates have displaced, and are
NOW DIsPLACING GOLD,
and the sum Of gold in he Federal Treasury
now available for the payment of gold OBJ iga-
tiOns of the United States anu for the re-
demption of United States notes called
''greenbacks," if not already encroached
upon, is perllOusly near such encroachment.
These are facts. which, as they do not admit
of difference of opinion, call for no argument.
They have been forewarned to the United
states in the official reports of every Secre-
They are plainly affirmed in the last
December report of the present Secretary
of the Treasury to the Speaker of the present
House OF Representatives. They appear in
the Official documents of this Congress and in
the records of the New York Clearing House
(Of which the Treasury is member), and
through which the bulk of the receipts and
payments of the Federal Government and OF
the country pass. These being the facts of
OUR PRESENT CONDITION AND OUR
DANGER,
our duty to avert that danger would seem to
be PLAIN. hope you concur with me and
with the great majority of our fellow citizens.
IN deemlng 1t most desirable at the present
Juncture to maintain and continue
IN use the mass Of our gold
coin, as well as the mass of
silver already coined. This is possible by the
present suspension of the purchase and coin
age OF silver. l am not aware that by any
other method it is possible. 1t is of moment
Gus Importance to prevent the two metals
from parting company; to prevent increasing
the displacement Of gold by increasing the
coinage of silver; to prevent the dlsuse of
gold IN the custom houses of the United tates
IN the daily business of the people; and to
prevent the ultimate expulsion of gold by
SILVER. such financial crisis as these events
would certainly preclpitate were it now to
follow upon SO lOug period of commercial
depression would involve the people of every
city and every state in the Union in
PROLONGED AND DISASTROUS TROUBLE.
The revival of business enterprise and pros
perlty, so ardently desired and apparently so
near, would be hopelessly postponed. Gold
would be Withdrawn to its boarding places
and an unprecedented contraction in the
actual volume of our currency would speedily
take place. The saddest of all, every work
shop, mill, factory, store, and on every rail-
road and farm, the wages of labor, already
depressed, would suffer still further depres-
sion by the scaling down of the purchasing
power of every sO-called dollar paid into
the hand of toll. From these impending
calamities it is surely the most patriotic and
grateful duty of the representatives of the
people to deliver them
am, gentlemen. with sincere respect, your
fellow citizen, GROVER CLEVELAND.
albany, Fe5. 2L, 1885.