Democratic Northwest. [volume] (Napoleon, Ohio) 1869-1894, 1886-02-18
THE NORTHWEST
HON. JAMES B. BEcK's
GREAT SILVER SPEECH
In the Senate ofthe United States, on
December 81, 1885.
Coin DUTIES ON IMpoRrED GooDs.
[coptinucd from last weei.I


How Is the surplus silver coin to ge
out of the Treasury II the Secretary re
fuses to pay out for interest and refuses
to call In the bonds which are nov
payable?
There Is no more effectual or pernic
ious method ofcontracting the currency
than by collecting by taxation a larg'
sum in excess of the needs of an econO
mically administered Government and
locking 1t up in the Treasury. Every
dollar needlessly taken from the tax
payer wrongfully deprives him of tha
much capital which he needs and Ia
bored to obtain, and when 1t is locked
up the circulating medium which al
the people want is wrongfully withheld
from them. The thief who steals and
sauanders an unneeded surplus locked
up In the Treasury vaults would inflic
less injury on the country and its bust
ness II the money he stole was put In
circulation, than secretary who hold.
and hides In vaults currency which the
people want, and refuses to use it to pay
the debts, especially interest-bearinl
debts, which the men who own this
money owe. 1t Is to raise a clamol
about a surplus, but 1t will be more diff
ficult to explain to the people why such
vast amounts of the money they have
been so heavily taxed to furnish is ly.
ing idle in the overloaded Treasury
vaults, and they deprived of its use
while interest is running against them
on bonds which can be and ought to be
paid. The idle money when paid Out
for interest on bonds would at once be
released and restored to circulation.
Speaking of circulation, we are con.
stantly told that there is now a great
abundance oft outstanding; indeed, we
are officially advised that the legal-ten-
der notes and the silver certificates
should all be withdrawn presume be-
cause of the superabundance of curren-
cy. Let us look for few minutes at
the effect of these commentators, IL
carried out, and see how far these certi-
ficates are now used as currency.
It was the avowed purpose of the ad-
vocates of both gold and silver certifi-
Gates, and was one of them, to furnish
safe. convenient paper currency, ev-
cry dollar Of which could be used just
as the coin paid for it could be, and
which would be secured by the deposit
of an equal amount Of coin in the Treas
ury. No better security could be asked
or given. 1t was not thought desirable
to have the coin of either metal exposed
to the risk of loss or reduction of value
by the abrasion which necessarily ac-
companies its active use. The trans
portation of both was known to be dam
gerous and expensive; all the expense
and risk, as we'll as the deterioration of
the paper substitutes, which the United
States were sure to be amply compensa-
ted for all the expenses incurred for
vaults, custodians, and everything else.
Wei mean by we all the people--7rer
ceived coin dollar for every paper dol
lar issued. We only pay out the coin
on the paper Sf9Raa tRat is 0iea est 20 % sa,
aood, or the thousand accidents that all
transit0ry things are subject to, is our
gain. We had experience in operations
OF that sort, and knew that they were
profitable. Forty-five millions Of dol
lars of fractional currency was issued
We afterward called it in for canceIla-
tion, and we now know that SIS 900, 900,
or One-third of it has been lost or de-
stroyed. We made $4,000, 900 out of
that issue, as we received full consider
alton for the whole amount issued. We
only redeem such national bank notes
as are returned; and amount now
known to be lost is so great that the
Comptroller is devising all sorts of in
genious plans in his report to get it
away from us for the benefit of the
banks. None of them. lost any of it.
The people who borrowed it or worked
for it, after the banks got value re-
ceived for it, were the sufferers; yet the
Comptroller wants it all for the banks.
[ expect they will get it. They have as
much right to 1t as to have their inter-
est and principal paid in gold alone or
to have our silver stricken down. I
have no idea that $30O,0OO,0 900 of the
$340, 100000 ofgreenbacks charged in the
reports as outstanding could be returned
If they were called in to-day. All lost
is clear profit to the Government. 1t is
sufficient answer to all the clamOr
about expense and vaults that the coin
Is preserved from loss and from abra-
sion, and that our gain from the loss of
outstanding, il 1t is kept in denomina-
tiOns in which it will circulate, as it
ought to be, will amply compensate the
United States for all the expenses of its
safe-keeping.
The object we all had in view by
keeping in actual use paper substitute
for gold coin to the extent of the coin
deposited has been grossly perverted.
The coin is locked up, and four-fifths of
the certificates issued are of such high
denominations that they are of no sort
of use as currency.
The Treasurer's report, page 20, shows
that on the 30th of June, 1885, the out
standing gold certificates amounted to
$137, ,76O, $3.50, of which all but $33 1850, 900
were in denominations of $500 and up
ward, more than $50, 900, 600 of them be-
ing for $40, 900 each. 1t is obvious that
the people get no benefit in the form of
currency when bills or certificates ex-
ceed 500. a4 .faC ~
The Director of the Mint on page 26
of his report, speaking Of these paper
substitutes, says: GAS these certificates
represent coin in the Treasury, which
coin can only he used in their redemp-
tion, they really form part of the ac-
tive coin circulation of the country"
The Director perhaps, did not know
that $50, 100000 of them were for $l0,-
900 each, as it would be absurd to speak
of such notes or certificates as forming
part of our active circulation.
The Treasurer'sreport (page 24) shows
that on June 20, 1885, silver certificates
amounting to $139, 9,901, ,645 were out
standing, and that $l03,75S,091 were in
ten and twenty dollar bills, in about
equal proportions None were higher
than ST 900; SO that the only real cur