Martinsburg herald. [volume] (Martinsburg, W. Va.) 1881-1920, 1885-12-12

This hoardi 1g OF gold has already pegun
When the time comes that gold has been
withdrawn from circulation then will be APP
parent the difference between the value OF
the silver dollar and a dollar in gold, and the
two coins will part company. Gold, still
the standard of value and necessary in our
dealings with other countries, will be at q
remiu over silver; banks which have sub
stituted gold for the deposits of their Gus
toners may pay them with silver bought
with sucn gold, thus making a handsome
profit; rich SPECTATORS will sell their
boarded gold to their ~neighbors who need it
to iquidate their foreign debts at a ruinous
premium over silver, and the laboring men
and women of the land, most defenseless Of
all, will find that the dollar received for the
wage of their toll has sadly sbrunk in its
purchasing power.
1t may be said that the latter result will
be but temporary, and that ultimately the
price of labor will be adjusted to the change,
but even if this takes place the wage worker
cannot possibly gain but must inevitably
lose since the price he is compelled to pay
for his living will not only be measured in a
coin heavily deprecated and iuctuating and
uncertain in the value of the purchasing me-
dunn will be made the pretext for an ad
vance in prices beyond that justified by
actual depreciation.
Those who do not fear any disastrous con-
sequences arising from the continued COM
pulsory coinage of silver and who suppose
that the addition to the currency intended
as its result will be a public benefit are re-
minded by the president hat history DEM
onstrates that the point is easily reached in
the attempt to float at the same time two
sorts of money Of different excellence, when
the better will CEASE to be in general circu-
lation. So that if silver coinage be con-
tinued We may reasonably expect that gold
and its equivalent will abandon the field of
circulation to silver alone; AMI this must
produce q severe contraction of the currency
instead of adding to it. The fact that after
special efforts by the secretary Of the treas
ury to increase silver circulation, a large
share of the limited amount put out has soor
returned to the treasury in the payment o.
duties, leads to the b,llsf thai the people d 3,
not now desire to keep it on hand, and this,
with the evident disposition to hoard gold,
gives rise to the suspicion that there already
exists a lack of confidence among the people
touching our financial processes.
There is certainly not enough silver now in
circulation to cause uneasiness; and the
whole amount coined AMI on hand, mightaf
ter a time bs absorbed by the people with
O0t app hOASAOA "a 3" - - SCdcSACoo
stream that threatens to overthrow the land
which causes fear and uncertainty.
Leaving considerations of a home nature
in the discussion of this subject, thu presi-
dent says a line of action in regard to our
currency cannot be wisely settled upon or
persisted in without considering the attitude
of the subject Of other countries with whom
we maintain commercial relations. The at
titude of the leading powers remains sub
stantially unchanged since the monetary
conference of 1881, and the steps already
taken to secure the adoption of a common
international ratio between gold and silver,
demonstrate the uselesssness of further at
tempts at present to arrive at any agree
ment on the subject with other nations.
In the meantime we are accommodating
silver coin based on our own peculiar ratio
to such an extent, as will render us an I'M
desirable party to any any future monetary
conference of nations.
Returning to a discussion of the question
at home, the president says We have now on
hand all the silver dollars necessary to sup
ply the present needs of the people and to
satisfy those who from sentiment wish to
see them in circulation. If their coinage is
suspended they can be readily obtained by
all who desire; if the need of more is at any
I'LL dPpdAOhU SOAdaSO NdA 10 I6u6hcl
The president discusses the silver question
exhaustively; devoting more space to it
than to any other subject in his message and
closes discussion with the following words:
'That disaster has not already overtaken
US furnishes no proof that danger does not
wait upon a continuation of the present
silver coinage. We nave been saved by the
most careful management and unusual en-
pedients, but a continuation of fortunate
conditions and by a confiden expectation
that the course of the government in regard
to silver coinage would be speedily changed
by the action of congress. Prosperity hest
tates upon our threshold because of the dam
gers and uncertainties surrounding this
question. Capital timidly shrinks from
trade and investors are unwilling to take the
chance of the questionable shape in which
their money will be returned to them, while
enterprise halts at a risk against which care
and sagacious m-anagementdo not protect.
"As a necessary consequence labor lacks
employment, and suffering and distress are
visited upon a portion of our fellow citizens
especially entitled to the careful considera-
ton of those charged with the duties of
legislation. No interest appeals to us so
strongly for a safe and staple currency as
the vast army Of the unemployed"
ISNl6Wlug lue ItpOTt VI b10 secretary OF
war, the president recommend reform in
court martial proceedings, a remedy to the
present defenseless condition Of our sea
coasts and a law prohibiting the construc-
ton of bridges over navigable rivers in such
a manner as to obstruct navigation.
Referring to our navy: So important to a
nation like ours, having an extended sea
coast to protect, he expresses the hope that
the day is not far distant when we will have
a navy such as BELTS our standing among
nations; but before we proceed further in
the restoration of the navy we need a thor
oughly reorganized navy department. If
we desire to build ships for present useful
ness instead of naval reminders of DAYS that
are past we must have a department organ
lied for work. He earnestly commends the
portion of Secretary Whitney's report de-
voted to this subject to the attention
of congress, in the hope that his suggestions
touching the reorganization of the navy de-
partment may be adopted as the first step
toward the reconstruction of our
OF postal affairs he says that the inter-
preted and natural revivalof postal revenues
has been oppressed and retarded by the un-
favorable business condition of the country,
of which the postal service is a faithful in
dictator. The gratifying fact is shown, how
W. W ~ ANROAb ~ PoSusitLotcl Rtu-
eral that our ~retinuing prosperity is marked
by q gain of $3.50, 900 in the latter half of the
past year ever the corresponding period of
the preceding year, and he o nidently ex-
poets that after a short period of reawak-
ened prosperity, by proper economy, even
the present low rates, now as prosperous as
any country affords, will be adequate to sus-
tain the cost of the service.
OF ocean subsidies he thinks that il such
gifts of the public money are to bs made for
the purpose OF aiding any enterprise in the
supposed interest of the public, the amount
to be paid and the beneficiary should be de-
termined by congress.
The president endorses the plan suggested
by the attorney general in his report for
remedial legislation to relieve the overbur-
dened courts of the United States, and favors
paying United States marshals and district
attorneys salaries instead of compensation
BY fees.
OF the Indian question, the most dificuls