The Valley Virginian. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1865-1895, 1885-03-12
president Cleveland and silver

The following is the letter addressed by
President Cleveland to the silver coinage
advocates in Congress in response to the
request that he would not commit himself
on the question in his inaugural address
To the Hon. A. j. Warner and others, mem
bers of the Forty-eiglth Congress.
GENTLEMEN The letter which / have
had the honor to receive from you invites,
and, indeed, obliges, me to give expression
to some grave public necessities, although
in advance of the moment when they
would become the objects of my official
care and partial responsibility.
Your solicitude that my Judgment shall
have been carefully and deliberately form
ed is entirely just, and / accept the sug-
gestion in the same friendly spirit in
which it has been made. 1t is also fully
justified by the nature Of the financial
crisis which, under the operation of the
act of Congress of Feb. 18th, 1878, is now
close at hand. BY a compliance with the
requirements Of that law all the vaults OF
the Federal Treasury have been and are
heaped full of silver coins. which are now
worth less than So per cent. of the gold
dollar prescribed as 1.-THE unit of value'' in
section IA of the act of Feb. u, 1878, and
which, with the silver certificates repre-
senting such coin, are receivable for all
public dues. Being thus receivable, while
also constantly increasing in quantity at
the rate of $2S, 900, 900 year, it has fol-
lowed, of necessity, that the flow of gold
into the Treasury has been steadily di
minished. Silver and silver certificates
have displaced and are now displacing gold
and the sum of gold in the Federal
Treasury now available for the payment
of ha nnl of mil od
States, and for the redemption of the
United States notes called s'greenbacks."
if not already encroached upon, is peril
ously near such encroachment. These are
facts, which, as they do not admit of diff
ference of opinion, call for no argument.
They have been forewarned to us in the
official reports of every secretary of the
Treasury from 1878 till now. They are plain
ly affirmed in the last December report Of
the present Secretary of the Treasury to
the Speaker of the present House Of Repre-
sentatives. They appear in the official
documents of this Congress and in the
records of the New York Clearing House,
of which the Treasury is a member, and
through which the bulk of the receipts
and payments of the Federal Government
and of the country pass.
These being the facts Of our present con-
dition, our danger and our duty to avert
that danger would seem to be plain. hope
that you concur with me and with the
great majority of our fellow-citizens in
deeming it most desirable at the present
juncture to maintain and continue in use
the mass of our gold coin, as well as the
mass of silver already coined. This is
possible by apresent suspension Of the pur-
chase and coinage Of silver. | am not
aware that by any other method it is pos
sible. 1t is Of momentous Importance to
prevent the two materials from parting
company to prevent the increasing dis
placement OF gold by the increasing coin
age OF silver to prevent the dlsuse of gold
in the Custom Houses of the United
States in the daily business of the people !:
to prevent the ultimate expulsion of gold
by silver.
Such a financial crisis as these events
would certainly precipitate, were it now
to follow upon SO long q period of COM
mercial depression. would involve the
people of every city and every State in the
Union IN prolonged and disastrous
trouble. The revival Of business enter
prise and prosperity so ardently desired
and apparently so near would be hopeless
ly postponed. Gold would be withdrawn
to it's hoardingplaces, and an unprecedent-
ed contraction in the actual volume of our
currency would speedily take place. Sad
dest of all, in every workshop, mill, fac
tory, store, and on every railroad and farm
wages of labor already depressed, would
suffer still further depression by scaling
down of the purchasing power of every So
called dollar paid into the hand Of toll.
From these impending calamities it is
surely most patriotic and grateful duty
OF the representatives of the people to
deliver them
| am, gentlemen, with sincere respect,
your fellow-citizen,
GROVER CLEVELAND.
Albany. Feb. a. 1885.