New-York tribune., 1885-03-16
HOW TO STOP THE TROUBLE ABOUT
SILVER,


There ia no reason to distrust the entire
sincerity of President Cleveland S letter on the
silver question, nor is there reason to doubt
that the Secretary of the Treasury selected by
hm will act in harmony with his opinions on
that matter. Both know that it is one OF vital
Importance to the success of the Administration
If Mr.. Cleveland desires to put an end to the
dangers arising from silver coinage he can do so.
1t rests with him to say whe ther the danger shall
continue or shall cease. The danger he will
observe, arises, not from the introduction OF
actual silver into circulation. but from the
imitation of the currency by the issue OF silver
certificates. 1t has been mistakenly supposed
that the issue of certificates, whenever desired,
was required by act of Congress. But examina-
ton of the law will show that its provisions are
very narrow. The only condition upon which
an issue of silver certificates is authOized Is
thus stated in the third section of the act:
That any holder OF the coin authorized by this act
fviz standard silver dollarsl may deposit the Same
with the Treasurer Assistant Treasurer OF the
United States, In not less than $40, and receive
therefor certificates OF not less than $40 each. corrc
spending with the denominations Of the United States
notes The coin deposited for or representing the
certificates shall be retained in the Treasury tor the pay
ment of the demand Said certificates shall be
receivable for CUSTOMS taxes and all public dues, and
when so received, may be reissued.
There is not trace of authority in United
States law anywhere for the issue of single
silver certificate, except upon an actual deposit
of standard silver dollars. Nor is the Treasury
required to reissue them If Mr.. Cleveland
will refuse to issue silver certificates, excepting
in strict compliance with the law, he may rest
assured that he will not issue any more OF them.
Nobody is going to gather up standard silver
dollars and cart two dray loads of them to the
Treasury in order to get silver certificates
amounting to $4,000. Nobody is going to
draw standard silver out of the Treasury, and
cart away two dray loads of it, and then cart
back that same silver the next day, in order to
get silver certificates. For the man who can
get the silver dollars having any claim whatever
ON the Treasury for $4,000, can well get
either gold coin or gold certificates, or legal
tender notes which he can carry in his vest
pocket. Unless the Treasury pleases to issue
silver certificates, therefore, where the law does
not require it to do so, neither silver nor silver
certificates will hereafter cause any trouble.
Whatever amount of either may now be in cir
culation, in excess of actual public needs, will
quickly drift back into the Treasury through
the custom houses, and so the whole business
will settle itself without difficulty.
AS for the silver dollars absolutely nothing
requires the Secretary of the Treasury ever to
pay them out. He is required to coin them, but
there is no provision of law requiring him to
use them in any payment whatever. The
obvious way to get rid of the difficulty about
them is to let them lie in the Treasury. Mr..
Manning may be. sure that nobody will ever
cart them away, who can get gold or gold
certificates instead.