The Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1877-1885, 1885-09-21
SHERMAN'S OPINION
OF THE WARNER .SILvER COMPRO-
MISE BILL
He Says the Scheme is Absolutely I'm
practicable-Thinks There Is No Dan
ger In Issuing Silver Dollars If
Their Weight Is Increased.

CLEVELAND, Ohio, Sept 2l.-Senator
John Sherman, who Is stopping at the Ken
nard house, was called upon by reporter
Saturday morning and asked to give his
opinion of the Warner silver compromise
bill. as reported in these dispatches.
What is your opinion OF the compromise
silver schemer was asked.
alt is absolutely impracticable The dis
patches represent Warner as claiming to be
able by his plan to prevent the bulling of
the silver market by producers
and spectators. 1t is no more possible
to prevent this in the case Of
silver than it is in the case of grain or cot
ton" is it practicable to give certificates
for silver bullion circulating power when
these certificates are is ,uel for silver at the
market price on the day Of issue and re-
desmable at the market price OF silver on
some other dayP
ut is not practicable, it is simply prepos-
ferrous SO much So In fact, that l can
hardly believe that Warner or any other
Intelligent man would advocate it, although
it is 80 represented in public prints. Such
certificates could never become part of
the currency. Their value would fluctuate
from day to day with the price of
silver They could not constitutionally
be made legal tender, therefore banks
would not receive them. The government
would be the only party that would receive
them, and the government would have to
take them for dues as fast aS they were Is
sued or redeem them in lawful money, not
MISUNDERSTANDING thu provisions OF War
| ner's plan. The government would in
that way become the epository OF all the
| certificates as we'll as all the silver and the
whole thing would lie farce so far as it as
sumed to provide currency for the people.
Certificates of the kinl Warner proposed
would be as unstable in value as the red
dog money of anet- Bsllum days They
would not be money in any true sense of
| the term"
| When asked If congress had power to
make such certificates receivable for public
and private dues. tbs senator replied that il
had not "Ths present. gold and silver GER
tifcates," he continued, (which are not, as
many suppose, legal tenders, but being re-
ceivabls for public dues at a fixed value,
have great creiibilty AID circulating power,
and ara, in my Judgment, as near rs the
government can get what the people want
In this regard, excepting always that the
silver dollars at the h'sn of the silver certii-
Gates should contain liver enough to make
them intrinsically equal to gold"
He says the governing t will have to as
sumo the risk in the ',iation of the value
in coin. He also thinks there is no danger
of issuing too many silver dollars providing
the dollar was strengthened by increased
weight, as he advocates. There would be
10o. 900, 90 such dollars boarded instead OF
gold as is now the case. He thinks
the policy of suspsnding payment on the
public debt since Secretary Folger's deatl
mistaken one. The requirements OF
the sinking fund should have at least heer
kept up He infers that there is S50, 900
600 now in the treasury thai
should so toward reducing the pub
lie debt "The all 'gei sale of frac
tlonal silver in New York for gold was
silly piece of business There is no troubl,
in getting plenty of gold for silver certifi
Gates if desired or necessary" He con
tinusd that while secretary, he gave large
amounts of silver certificates to foreigners
who came here to buy our products. Mill
ions of gold came into the treasury In thi
way. Manning he says is opposed to the
silver issues and SO ran short Of gold for
| time