Salt Lake evening Democrat. [volume] (Salt Lake City, Utah) 1885-1887, 1885-10-28
THE SILVER PROBLEM.
Letter from Hon. Edwards Pierre.
pont TO Hon. A. j. Warner.

Edwards Pierrepont, the eminent law
yer, who was Attorney-G General and sub
sequently Minister to England during the
Grant administration. The Importance
OF the subject, the eminence of the writer
and the force and clearness with which
the question is presented, make the letter
worthy of careful attention:
No. 103 FIFTH AVENUE, New YORK
October %, 1885. The Hon. A. j. War
ner, M. c.: My Dear Sir: Within some
forty days Congress will meet and the
currency question will come to the front
1t will soon appear whether the Congress
surrenders to the gold power or abso
lutely protects the people.
The gold men will strive to exclude sill
yer from the currency. This is the danger
OF which the President, in his letter of the
24th OF February, gave warning, when he
said: 1t is of momentous importance to
prevent the two metals from parting com.
pany."
Producing silver more largely than any
other nation, we have contrived to helI
decrease its value and to advance the
price of gold.
By the coinage act of 1873 we made the
gold dollar our 'sunit of value' and de-
monetized silver, and from that date until
1878 the silver dollar was not a coin OF
the United States.
We have made the coinage of gold free
and forbidden the free coinage of silver.
The great famine in India prevented that
populous country from taking their usual
amount of exchange. There was fall
ing off in a single year of $53, Ats, POS
and the action of the German empire,
with other powers, in adopting the gold
standard, and that of the Latin union in
ceasing to coin silver, besides large
yield OF the mines, all combined to re-
duce the price; and then, having aided
IN depressing the relative value of silver,
we passed the Bland bill, making 4l21s
grains legal tender dollar, and without
any provision for circulating this bulky
coin by means of notes that would pay
debts. This scheme has failed.
In England, as you know, coinage is
free. Anyone can take gold bullion of
standard fineness to the Bank of England
and receive therefor bank notes which
are a legal tender and convertible into
coin at the holders will.
Ii our government will allow it's citi-
zens the like freedom in regard to silver
the danger of the two metals parting
company" would vanish.
In former paper have shown how a
single gold currency, which is of necessity
small, enables combinations of capital to
lock much OF it up, make money eight
raise the rate OF interest, depress prop
erty and despoil the people.
- The only objection raised against silver
money is that it auctuates in value
In the first place, a small fuctuation in
the bullion value of silver circulated
through legal tender notes is of no inn
portance, and next, it is not true that sill
yer coin under the same equal legislation
as that applied to gold coin 1uctuates
materially, as history proves. During
the period of forty years next prior to
1878 there was scarce any huctuation in
the London price of silver. In 1888 it
was fraction over sod; in 1873 it was
the same. But before that year ended
the United States, the great German en-
pre-, Denmark, Sweden and Norway,
soon followed by France, Belgium, Swift
zerland, Greece and Holland, ceased the
coinage of silver, and Great Britain had
long before demonetized it. These causes
have combined to depress silver. Most
of the causes will endure and the yalue
OF silver will remain depressed and no
act OF Congress can prevent it. Congress
may increase the price Of silver consider
ably by increasing the metal in dollar,
making coinage free and circulating sill
yer by means of legal tender note, but no
congressional action can restore silver to
the value which it had prior to 1873. Let
the chief powers of the world treat gold
as they have treated silver, and gold
would fall and f1uctuate as rapidly as sill
yer.
That the causes above named have
gwen permanent depression to silver
seems to have been overlooked by those
who contend that the silver dollar Of
4l2& grains can be legislated up to the
value OF gold dollars by our own Con
gress. Not one of the leading nations of
Europe coin silver any longer. The gold
mines yield less of gold, and the use of
gold in the arts increases. How can the
relative value of silver fail to remain less
than before these important changes
took place.
If we would circulate silver we must
increase the weight of the dollar and,
issue legal tender notes upon the deposit
OF silver. Butthe goldparty do not wish
TO have silver dollars of any weight. or to
have silver circulated in any form.
The gold party are compact. organized.
know exactly what they want and con,
;entrate their energies to attain their
end. The bankers convention at Chi
'ago resolved sthat the law should be
Immediately suspended and remain sns-
pended until an international agreement
u the Leading commercial nations gives !
substantial assurance as to the future re-
atlons OF gold and silver as money!
This means suspension forever. As
'ule, to which there are some eminent
bank presidents are NOT
statesmen, and they care little about the
'Hect OF financial act upon the great
body of the nation.
Ihe business of bank president is te
make all the money he can for his bank.
he duty OF an American statesman is to
and protect the interests of
he whole people.
The able men behind this gold move
aent know well that if the Bland bill s
epealed without a substitute, silver will
ceaseto be coin. As I have
,efore stated, when this bill was passed
ne silver dollar was not a coin of the
United States and had not been since if
7as demonetized in 1873.
The silver men will be worsted in this
ontest unless they change their tactics
no unite upon a measure which is fair
n reasonable. 1t is not fair or reason
pie to insist that 4121hs grains of silver
nall make legal tender dollar when.
or the reasons above stated, its intrinsic
aiue Is far less than the gold dollar-the
nit OF value which we ourselves have
One-half of the people have been made
look upon the present silver dollar 90