The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1885-04-01
THE MONEY SYSTEM OF THE UNITED
STATES.

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THE MONEY SYSTEM OF THE UNITED
STATES.
The coin accumulation i'll the
United States Treasury, since the re-
monetization of silver and resump-
ton Of specie payment, is without
parallel in the history Of the world.
At the close of February last, accord
Ing to the official statement issued by
the United States Treasury, the cash
assets of the Government amounted
to S572, O49, 1923, of which $42S, 1850, 1874
was In coin and bullion. This is the
largest coin accumulation at any
period since the independence of the
country, and shows pretty conclusivs'-
ly that the coinage of silver dollars
has not been disastrous to the inter
ests of American citizens. The evil
day of general bankruptcy and ruin
predicted by the ''gold bugs" would
seem to be indefinitely postponed,
because the accumulation of wealth is
steadily progressing IN the United
States.
1t may interest the wage earning
classes of the islands, as well as pro-
ducers and business men generally,
to know how this vast coin reserve in
the vaults of the United States Treas
ury is made up. We shall state it in
the two great monetary divisions.
Omitting 1884, O7S in minor coin, we
have:
Gold coin. ....... S175, 297, 232
Gold bullion. Ga, 732, 611-S245, 029, 843
Silver dollars 80. 153, SCI ,OO7
Fractional silver. 30,244.8S6
Any one with half an eye may see
what the effect would be of withdraw
ing silver coins and certificates from
circulation in the United States. at
would bring on financial panic"
remarked a gentleman from the
Coast, who is visiting these islands,
and who is actively identified with
it's banking interests. Of course it
would. It will be seen, speaking in
round numbers, that about so per cent
of the metallic reserve in the Treas
ury vaults of the United States is sill
yer, but 79 per cent Of this amount is
in circulation as silver certificates. To
demonetiZe silver would at once
appreciate the value of gold, OF
which there is not nearly enough
to go around, and force il out OF
circulation. Property and CONNER
cial values, measured by gold, would
become correspondinglS deprecated,
and an era of almost general
bankruptcy would necessarily ensue.
and in that event, where would the
workingmen stand? What chance
would they have to get their wages
paid in gold? None in the world
and they would be exceedingly fortu-
nate if they obtained employment al
all. Silver is the peoples money
and its circulation is the great none
tary equation in the world of com
merce.
Let us go step further and see
how The dual money system of the
United States tends to enrich thai
country. The net gain in the natiOna
assets, as shown in the Treasury state
ment, was S45, 743, 800 for the month:
| of January and February last. AnC
! the gain in the short month, Febru
ary, exceeded that in January By
| So, 173, 300, which is not an indication
of approaching bankruptcy, as the
opponents of silver coinage make be
lieve. OF the total net increase in
| the two months stated, $12,500,00C
was in coin and bullion, silver taking
the lead But this is not all. The
cash balance at the United States
Treasury at the close of 1873, the year
silver was demonetized, was $3.50,
293, 673; in 1874, it was $176, S33, $40
in 1875, $172, SO4,O61; in 1876, $149,.
9O9, 377; in 1877, $214, 8S7, GAG and in
1878, towards the close of which the
coinage of silver dollars was resumed
under the Bland bill, the cash balance
rose to 1886, 591, 454, and kept increas-
ing until December 81, 1884, when il
stood at 1896, 839, 75S. And Secretary
McCulloch actually transferred S484,
466, 557, the balance on March lst, to
his successor, Secretary Manning, on
the 4th of that month.
It will be seen, therefore, that the
years during which silver coinage
was suspended and the silver dollar
had disappeared from circulation,
were not years of rapid accumulation
but the reverse. Every one knows
that they covered period OF unpar-
alleled depression occasioned in great
measure by the boarding of gold from
1875 in the Treasury to prepare for
resumption of gold payments in 1879.
Moreover, instead of the re-establish-
ment of the double standard in 1875
sending all the gold to Europe, as
its opponents predicted, a precisely
opposite effect followed. There was
an excess of gold exports from the
United States every fiscal year from
1868, when it was sos 658,9O1, to 1876,
when ii was S29, 1s4, 341. In 1877 the
excess of gold export over import was
only 1914, 40. But from 1873 to 1884
there was an excess of gold imports