The Middlebury register and Addison County journal. [volume] (Middlebury, Vt.) 1883-1885, 1885-12-18

The proposition with which we have to
deal is the reduction of the revenue received
by the government, and indirectly paid by
the people from customs duties. The question
of free trade is not involved nor is there now
any occasion for the general discussion of the
wisdom or eXpedicncy of a protective system.
Justice and fairness dictate that i'll any
modification of our present laws re-
and interests which have been en-
couraged by such laws, and in which our
citizens have large investments, should not
he ruthlessly injured or destroyed We
should also deal with the subject in such
manner as to protect the interests of Ameri-
an labor, which is the capital of our work
ngnen: its stability and proper remuneration
nnish the most iustiiable pretext for pro-
cctive policy. Within these limitations a GER
ain reduction should he made in our customs
rCTcnue. The amount of such reduction
laving been determined the inquiry follows,
where can it best he RENTED and what
articles can best be released from duty, in the
interest of our citizeusf think the reduction
should bc made in the revenue derived from
a tax upon the imported necessares of life
We thus directly lessen the cost of living in
every family of the land, and release to the
people in every humble home a larger measure
of the rewards of frugal industry.
THE SILVER QUESTION.
Nothing more important than the present
condition of our currency and coinage can
.,
the government has, under the compulsory
provisions of law purchased silver bullion
and coined the same at the rate of more
than 100000 every month. By this
process up to the present date 2l5, I39,43l
silver dollars have been coined. A reaSona-
BILE appreciation of delegation of power
to the general government would limit its
exercise without express restrictive words to
the peoples needs and the requirements of the
public. Upon this theory and authority to
"coin money" given to Congress by the Con-
stitution, if it permits the purchase by the
government of bullion for coinage i'll any
event, does not justify such purchase and
coinage to an extent beyond the amount
needed for a sufficient circulating medium.
The desire to utilize the silver product of
the country should not lead to a misuse or
the perversiOn of this power. The necessity
for such an addition to the silver currency of
the nation as is compelled by the silver-coin-
age act, is negatived by the fact that up to
the present time only about fifty millions
of the silver dollars so coined have
actually found their way into circulation,
leaving more than one hundred and siXty-tive
millions i'll the possession of the government,
the custody of which has entailed a consid-
cradle expense for the construction of vaults
for its deposit Against this latter amount
there are outstanding silver certificates
amounting to about ninety-three millions OF
dollars
Every month two millions of gold in the
public treasury are paid out for two millions
or more of silver dollars, to he added to the
idle mass already accumulated. If continued
long enough, the operation Will result i'll the
substitution of silver for all the gold the
government OWLS applicable to its general
purposes. 1t will not do to rely upon the
customs receipts of the government to
make good this drain of gold, because
the silver thus coined having been make legal
tender for all debts and dues, public and pri-
waite, at times during the last six months fifty
eight per cent. of the receipts for duties have
been in silver or silver certificates, while the
average within that period has been twenty
per cent. The proportion of silver and its
certificates received by the government will
probably increase as time goes on, for the
reason that the nearer the period approaches
when it will be obliged to offer silver in pay
ment of its obligations, the greater induce
ment there will be to hoard gold against de-
probation in the value of silver, or for the
purpose of specializing.
The boarding of gold has already begun.
W hen the time comes that gold has been
withdrawn from circulation, then will
be apparent the difference between
the real 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 9th
er countries, will he mt premium over silver;
banks which have substituted gold for the de-
posts of their customers may pay them with
handsome profit rich spectators will sell
their boarded gold to their neighbors who
need il to liquidatc their foreign debts, at a
ruluOuS premium over SllVera the labOrlng
men and women of the land, most de
fcncclcSS of all, will find that the dollar re-
ceivcd for the wage of their toll has sadly
Shrunk in its purchasing power. 1t may be
said that the latter result will be but tempor-
airy, and that ultimately the price of labor will
he 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 i'll a coin heavily deprecated,
and fluctuating and uncertain in its value,
but this uncertainty in the value of the pur-
chasing medium will be made the preteXt for
an advance in prices beyond that justified by
actual depreciation.
The words uttered in 1884 by Daniel Web
ster in the Senate of the United States are
true to-day: "The very man of all others
who has the deepest interest in a sound cur
rency, and who suffers most by mischievous
legislation in money matters, is the man who
earns his daily bread by his daily toll The
most distinguished advocate of bi-metalisn,
discussing our silver coinage, has lately
written; mo American citizens hand has
yet felt the sensation of cheapness,
either in receiving or eXpendng the Silver
Act dollars" And those who live by labor
or legitimate trade will never feel that senSa-
ton of cheapnesS. However plenty silver
dollars may become, they will not he distrib-
utcd as gifts among the people; and if the
laboring man should receive four deprecated
dollars where he now receives but two, he
will pay in the deprecated coin more than
double the price he now pays for all the nee
/ cesSarieS and comforts of life.
Those who do not fear any disastrous con
sequences arising from the continued compul-
sorry coinage of silver as now directed by law
and who suppose that the addition TO the cur
: renCy of the country intended as its result
will be a public benefit, are reminded that
history demonstrates that the point is easily
reached in the attempt to float at the same
time two sorts of money of different excel
lence, when the better will cease to be
in general circulation. The boarding of gold
which has already taken place, indicates tina
we shall not escape the usual experience il
such cases. So if this silver coinage be con
tinued we may reasonably expect that golC
and its equivalent will abandon the field o.
circulation to silver alone. This, of course
must produce a severe contraction of our cir
culating medium, instead of adding to it.
1t will not be disputed that any attempt OF
the part of the government to cause the cir
culation of silver dollars worth eighty cents
side by side with gold dollars worth 100 cents
even within the limit that legislation does no
run counter to laws of trade, to be successful
(. l...l a 4