The National tribune., 1885-03-05
THE SILVER DOLLAR.
President CIevcland's Views on the Matter, aid
What the Silver Men Think Of His Ideas.

tive TO silver, addressed by President Cleveland
TO numbsr of congressman, who had Joined
In protest against what WIS understood to be
bis attitude on the question. 1t was written
some eight days prior to the inauguration:
| GENTLEMEN: The letter which have had the
| honor TO receive from you invites. aud. indeed,
obiiges me 10 give expression to some grave public
| necessities, although in advance of the moment
when they would hccome the objects of my official
care and partial responsibility.
! Your soiIcitudc that my judgment shall have
been carefully and Deliberately formed il entirely
| just aud | accept the suggestion in the same
| friendly spirit in which il has been made. 1t is
also fully justified 10y the nature of the financial
crisis which, under the operation of the Act of Con-
! gress of Feb. ~ 1873, is close at hand. By Il
| compliance with the requirements of that law all
| the vaults of the Federal reasuVy have been and
are hraped full of silver coins, which not worth
less tlan a. per cent of the gold dollar prescribed
a. the unit of value" in Section II of the Act of
Feb p 1873. and which, with the silver certificates
repro nnting such are receivable for all public
dues heing thus receivable. while also constantly
Increasing quantity at the rate of S2suu00 00
year IT has followed of necessity, th-t the flow of
| gold into the TREASURY has been steadily diminished.
Silver and silver certificates have displaced and are
| now diSplacmG gold, and the Of gold in the
Federal Treasury now available for the payment OF
the geld obligations of the United States, and for
| tiIe redemption of the United States uutes called
R-eCnacks, If not already encroached upon, Is
pCgilOuey near such eucroacLniCnt. These are
facts, which, a. t,ey do not admit Of difference of
opinion, call for no argument. They have been
forewarned 10 us in tie official reports of every
I
plainly affirmed IL the last December report of
,he present Secretary of the Treasury to the
Speaker of the present House Of Representatives.
They appear ia the official documents of this Con
gress and ia the records uf tho Ncyv-Nor Clearing
House of which the Treasury is q member and
through which the bulk of the receipts and pay
nlents of the Federal Government and Of the coun-
try pass.
our danger ami 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 II most desirable at the present
juncture to maintain and continue in the
mass of our gold coin, as We'll as the mass
of silver already coined This is possible by a
present suspension of the purchase and coinage of
silver. I am not aware that by any other method
IL IL possible. IL is of m"mentous Importance
prevent the two metals from parting company;
to prevent the increasing displacement of gold by
the Increasing coinage of silver; to prevent the
dtstI>e Of gold in the Custom Houses of the United
states III the daily business ofthc people; to prevent
the ultimate expulsion OF gold by silver.
Such financial crisis as these events would GER
tanIy proclpitate were Il now TO follow upon so
long period of commercial depression, would in
vOve the people 81 every city and every Stale in
the Union ia prolonged and disastrous trouble.
The revival OF business enterprise and prosperity
50 6Tdently desired and apparently so near would
bchUpele-Sly postponed. Gold would be withdrawn
10 It's boarding places, and unprecedented
traction in the actual volume of currency would
speedily take place. SHd'es of all. la every work
shop mill factory. store, and every raiirond
and farm the wages OF labor already depressed.
would suffer still further depression by scaling
down Of the purchasing power of every so-called
doiar paid into tie hand of toll. From these im-
pending calamtc- it is surely most patriotic and
10 deliver them
am. gentlemen, with sincere respect, Your fell
lc7y-cItizen, GROVER CLEVELAND.
ALBANY, Feb 81, 1885.
The friends of silver IN tire House of Repre- |
sentatives. while at FIST inclined to make
formal reply TO the letter OF PTeSident-elect |
Cleveland, since II has been given to the public !
decided at conference held on the LIST to reply |
openly TO the parts of the letter with which
they do not agree. To the point made that |
silver aud silver certificates will eventually |
disPiace gold they reply as follows:
but that the continued coinage of silver ut the
rate of So $4,000 year will drive gold of cir
cuaton III the near future. or force II to premium,
does not To them seem la be sustained by facts
sound reasoning. ! he total volume of currency |
in The United States outside of gold is less than
s750o00,0OO. 1t is believed to be a principle of |
economic science perfectly well settled that If |
volume of c756GG0eA0 il not sufficient in itself to /
maintain prices IN tis country 81 the level of inter
national prices. then gold will come here and stay
here in sufficient amount 10 make with he volume |
already Ia circulation, what viii constitute dis
tributivc share OF the woTlG's money determined |
by our international trade. That $3.50 0Ul0 is
aSCc.sj volii4,e 10 maintain prices the worlds
level of prices is evidenced by tie fact that $780,
0IoOO gold. considerable part of which at least is
In circulation either in the form of coin cerlf
cites. now stays here and it will go away only |
hen prices become lower elsewhere than they are
here IL Il believed therefore, that no such crisis
as has been foreboded can overtake under exist
ing conditions. II IL not believed to be in the |
power oi all the hanks i'm the country even Il they
were so disposed. 10 take gold ont OF circulation,
and hold it for amy length of time al q premium.
They must first lock up the worlds money aud
arrest the worlds commerce. Nor can the paper
or silver silver certificates, nov in circulation
side by side with gold expel the gold. The gold
can be expelled only by forcing into circulation. ia
addition TO the S7JO,NG00OO either silver paper
equal to the entire volume of gold now in ciTcula-
tion; In that manner, under CireshncD's law gold
might be expelled and probably would be"
1t
silver men reply:
- In thing all will agree andthat is I'm the inn
portance to the whole country, and especially to |
the iaboring classes now struggling with want, Of |
a revival OF business and return OF prosperity. |
The one condition essential to this Is to- stop the |
contraction Of the currency. No country did |
thrive and never eau, while its money is under |
going contraction What IL the monetary condition
Vi the world to-day? Are we not brought face to
face with the startling fact that the gold production
Of the world has fallen below its combination in
the arts, and that there is probility oil any
gold for money supply for the centuries to come?
With this condition of things to gold, shut off
supply, even for keeping up the stock of coin now
in the hands of the world to come from?
" As assgrayating this IL affairs IN this coun-
try the paper currency is undergoing contraction by
the surrender OF bank notes Ii this of things
IS 10 last, upon what is there to build hope OF
turning prosperity? With the appreciation of
money all debt- appreciate. 1t can be shown that
IL will take more labor, more Of the production
of labor TO pay what remains of our own national
debt lian it would have taken pay i; at the
close of tie war. Eighteen million bales of cotton
were the equivalent III value To the entire interest
bearing debt in 1862 but il viii take IS million bales
at the price of cotton now TO pay the remainder of
the debt Twenty-Five million tons of bar iron
would have paid the whole debt in 1865; it will
take 30 million tons TO pay what remains after all
that has been paid a principal and interest.
In view Of the vast interest in volvcd the friends
OF silver did not think IL too much to ask that the
question of stopping the coinage OF silver should
be separated from It's eaton 20 the whole
reney question and acted upon by itself. The cur
rency question, il Is believed at the present time
oyershudows all other questions and all the friends
of silver have asked is that the President-elect |
should give It full consideration, and hear both
sdes before committing his administration to any
particular view respecting it,"
Bank Officers Sentenced
In the United States District Court on The