Savannah morning news. [volume] (Savannah) 1868-1887, 1885-03-03
r,,o po,,Iv or ,be silver Men.


The reply OF the advocates of silver to
Mr.. CleveIand's letter is strong but not
convincing. They say all that can posi-
bly be said in favor Of the continued coin
age Of silver. but their arguments are not
sufficient TO restore confidence in the a0il-
ity of silver to maintain its present place
in the currency if its volume continues to
be increased at the present rate.
1t is easy enough TO find arguments why
a silver dollar should continue to pass for
as much as a gold dollar, but the fact re-
mains that it is worth about Il cents less.
No one cares to hold on to silver longer
than is absolutely necessary. The banks
do not keep any considerable amount oil
it on deposit because Of the doubt that 1t
will pass at its face value few months,
or even a few weeks, hence.
II, for instance. the New York clearing
house should refuse to receive silver at its
face value to-day, it would at once drop to
its bullion value all over the country. The
only reason why the standard dollar now
passes at its face value, while the trade
dollar which contains more silver conf
mands only its bullion value, Is that the
public has tacitIy agreed not to raise the
question of its actual value at present.
There is no assurance, however, that it
will not be raised very soon. An increase
in national bank currency is accepted
without question, because it is BASED on
bonds which the government pays in gold.
1t is probable that unless the coinage OF
silver is suspended tue wisdom of Mr..
Cleveland's letter will be apparent before
many months. He is quite severely criti-
eised now by the advocates Of silver for
speaking his mind so frankly on the silver
question in advance OF his Inauguration,
but they ought to remember that they in
vited his frankness. and they ought not
u complain at his ready response.
There is no good reason why he should
not have answered the silver men when
he did. AS the silver question is one Of
the most important now before the coun-
try, he could hardly have failed to touch
upon it in his inaugural address, and il
was just as well perhaps that he should
have let Congress know his sentiments be-
fore it adjourned. What the silver men
wanted, however. was silence on the
silver question. They felt that it would
not bear much discussion, and they,
therefore. did not want it agitated. 1t
was for that reason they requested Mr..
Cleveland to say nothing about it in his
inaugural address.
The fact is, the silver men would rather
like to have the country forced to a silver
standard. They think that such a
standard would greatly assist in reviving
business prosperity. In the opinion OF
the ablest tinanciers they are, Of course,
mistaken.
There is no reason to think that Mr..
| CIeveland's position on the silver ques-
ton will cause trouble between him and
his party. The question is not political.
Ii is true that there are more advocates
of silver among the Democratic than Re
publican congressman, but the division
between the silver and anti-silver Con-
gressmen is on geographical rather than
political lines. The country knows where
| Mr.. Cleveland stands, and where he is
/ likely to stand until the silver issue is
| settled