The Austin weekly statesman. (Austin, Tex.) 1883-1898, 1885-09-17

veto of President Hayes. The ma
Lional banks. in order to intimlddte
and oVerawe Congress and the pres
Ident and prevent the passage of
these benficent acts. contracted the |
volume of the currency nearly Sl9,~
100000 in about three weeks in order
to embarrass the business Of the couD-
try and to secure clamor against
what they called democratic tinkering |
with the currency. And they would, |
it was believed, for the infamous pur- |
pose of preventing this just and wise |
legislation i'll the interest CT the PEG |
pie, have produced a financial paric |
with all its baleful consequences, if |
the secretary of the trea ury had not |
thrown large snm of money on the
New York market to be put in ciTcu-
lation by the purchase of United
States bonds. After that we can no
longer doubt that the national banks
will contract or expand the volume of
the currency whenever by SO doing
they can influence the action of con-
gress or make money for themselves.
While the S346,O0O,OOO of legal tender
notes, and the 1854. C00,000 of silver
coin now in use, and the $3.50, 100000
OF GOLD coin now in use, constitute 50
much of the current money of the
country, the national banks can work
no very serious injury to the public
by any effort they may make to con-
tract or expand the currency.
Mr.. Reagan says it is the in
terest of foreign capitalists, who own
a large amount Of stock in the
eastern banks, to make money scarce
and interest high. AS, proof Of the
bondholder's desire to have silver de-
monetized, he says that "the estimat-
ed stock of gold and silver coin and
bullion in the various countries of the
world is of gold $3.O32, 1885, $40, and Of
silver 81, 625 ,365'75S. If we say silver
shall no longer be money, then we
will have reduced the fund for the
payment Of the bonded Indebtedness
of the world nearly one-half. This
would increase pToportionately the
difficulty of paying off the bonded in
debtedness, and would increase in a
similar ratio the value Of the bonds in
their relation to the other property Of
the world; and thus greatly benefit the
bondholders. while seriously wrongipg
the people, who undertook to pay them
at time when gold and silver were
both money" AS to the declaration
that continued coinage of silver will
produce overwhelming financial disas-
er it is said:
This same prediction was made on
the floor of tie house of representa-
tiye5 by another distinguished mem
Der from New York city when the
bill was passed TemonetiZing silver
and providing for its coinage III Feb
ruary, 1873, and it has been repeated
IN most solemn manner ct each ses-
sion OF Congress, believe, since that
time. What is to cause that great
disaster? The national bank adYC-
Gates say it will be caused by having
| two kinds CT dollars. y gold dollar
worth 100 cents, and q silver dollar
worth eighty-fOur cents. And why
| have we this two kind of dollars ?
| Simply because the treasury refuse,
/ and have refused from 1878 until now,
| to obey the law and to treat silver as
| money ny paying it out as they do
gold in redemption of its obligations.
| and because of the selfish and interest
ed policy of the national banks and
| b1ndholderS, as above mentioned, ard
because the banks refuse to receive
| silver on account, and to treat it as
money. If the policy of the govern
ment and of the banks was reversed
and silver treated as gold now is by
them, and gold degraded by the same
means now employed to degrade sill
yer, then silver would seem to be at as
much of premium over gold as geld
now seems to be over silver. 1t will
be remembered that when silver was
| demonetiZed in 1873 1t was at pre-
MUM of l Per cent over gold. 1t is
also to be obserVedithat silver coin il
the other commercial countries of the
world, with one>half grain less in the
dollar than our dollars contain, is al
par with gold. all the evils COM
planned Of growing out of the depre'
citation of silver coin can be cured al
once by the secretary of the treasury
treating silver coin dollars as money,
and by the national banks receiving
silver coin on account, and treating it
as they do gold. And the country
and all its Industries would be greatly
benefited by their adoption OF the
patriotic course; and 1t would be the
WiseSt financial policy.
In answer to the declaration, that
continued silver coinage will drive
gold out of the country and into hid
ing places, to give place to less YaLua-
bic money, and that financial crasf
would thus follow, Mr.. Reagan says
that on the 1st of January, 1873, Their
was S21S,O00,00O gold coin in the Uni
ted States. Silver was monetize(
and made a legal tender in Februar!
of that year, and the amount of golC
coin steadily and rapidly increased
on the 1st of January, 1885, being in
creased to S563,OOO,O1O gold coin. Gu
silver coin increased from S65,O00,O0
| in 1878 to S264,OOO,OOO in 1855, and W
now have nearly three times a
much gold coin as we hav
silver. To show the absolute
ab5urdity to the statements abou
silver coin driving out gold coin, tbs
following table is presented:
Value o. imports and exports of gold anC
silver coin ard bullion TO and from til
United States for eleven months, from Jui
!, 1884, to May 81, 1885.
1881 kNPOKTs. IMPORTS.