New-York tribune., 1886-07-05
TO CROVD OUT SILVER COIN.

When one sees the Senate missing it's Oppor-
tmity to curtail the large appropriation pilis
passed by the House. the question naturally
arises whether that body will have the sense
to arrest the provision for small silver notes
Democratic members of the Senate do not differ
much from their party associates i'll the House.
In this matter, as in so many Others, the coun-
Try is obliged to rely upon Republicans OF the
Senate for substantial unanmity in resisting
the schemes of paper inhationih.
For this is not movement In the interest,"
of silver. On the contrary, it is of all things
the worst that could be done, as respects the
future value of that metal. 1t would substitute
a cheap and virtually irredeemable paper lot
an silver coin now in circulation, for the small
notes could be redeemed only In silver dollars
and the silver dollars are redeemable III nothing
A financial journal which usually sustains the
policy of the Administration intelligently says
that the public knows the article" (silver GER
tifeate) "as thoroughly as it does wooden nut
megs," and "the notes would lind their way
back into the Treasury rs fast as put out. but
that is a melancholy mistake. The small notes
would be generally preferred to the standard
dollars of which $52,OOO,OOO are In actual
circulation, and there is not bit more OF the
wooden nutmeg about the paper promise TO pay
rs cents than thele is in stamping In
God We Trust d on IS cents and
making it legal tender for dollar
Judging from the conduct of Democratic Con-
gressmen there must be great many Dehlo-
cratic voters who know so little about the wooden
nutmeg money that they want as much ol IL
issued as possible, and, once issued 1t would De
toleably sure to push the buzzMd dollars "
out of the way. That sort of thing would not
helm the price of silver in the least, whatever
else it might do
Notes ledeemable only in silver are in no
practical aspect better for use than notes not
redeemable at all Eleven years ago, the ke-
publicans of the Senate earned for their parry
two more Presidential victories 10y resisting in
fiation of legal tenders, which were promises
to pay gold, and insisting that the promise
should be made good. The kind OF paper now
proposed if thrust into circulation as tho authors
of the measure contemplate, would III elect
take up great many promises to pay gold by
putting out instead as many promises to pay Il
standard silver dollar that is not wanted The
practical effect would be to cut Oft the gold
receipts of the Treasury to a large extent, and
so to deprive it of power to redeem the legal
tenders according to the pledge given In the
resumption act
Gold is leaving the country very rapidly !;
S3. 800. 600 went last week, and ten times as
much has gone since January l. The tendency
is to make American prices only silver prices
at no distant day, and very few operators In
London can fix the price of silver bullion to
suit themselves. bill to push silver into
larger actual circulation in this country would
tend to check the power of Great Britain over
the price of that metal for time but bill
to substitute paper for all silver that we now
have in use has exactly the opposite tendency.
1t is worse blow at the interests of silver pro-
ducers than has ever yet been aimed by any
hated gold bug."