Wessington Springs herald. (Wessington Springs, Aurora County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1891, 1886-03-19
roc MUCH SILVER.

WASHINGTON. March 3.-Secretary Manning
yesterday sent to the House a communica.
ton. in reply to the Bland resolution Of last
month. asking for Information concerning
the circulation Of the standard dollar and the
Governments policy in regard TO the pay.
mcnt OF silver. On the general subject Of sill
whether or not the same policy, as to the
payment OF silver. is to be preserved in the
future as in the past" the Secretary says:
st "no kin kim he OF currency n T issued by the United
urs, dispa"nged and discredited by withhold
ing another kind OF currency to which it was
II, ,o"'e pro py tew t dau've cjrea,at ! have Of las si2rol
with unremitting energy. l have pressed
the treasury when other forms of lawful
out such cost. I operations of the
United States Treasury under existing
laws can with difficulty be prevented
unn to the people and National banks, to a
silver basis. Forcing. the silver and silver
certificate circulation by too large payment
Herewith of interest-bearing or other debt
would exclude the gold circulation and pre-
cipitute u silver basis.
Forcing the silver accumulation is an nd.
d;tion OF $24, oUO,OO per nnnum to the vast sum
ct our Federal taxation. Forced silver cir.
s4sA 4Ss alt tsfSS4 s!!7 4S 1 neutrality-suspicious. siiSef sainsgs
has brought us now But the term When q
choice will remain possible between these bad
alternatives, silver storage, ora silver basis, is
narrowing. Reduction Of supertluous taxa.
ton, unless the reduction shall include the
S24,oOO,00O spent for silver: reduction of the
surplus. if silver debt payments shall sur
chaige the circulation, will drive us over the
ruinous fall from silver storage to q silver
basis.
by careful management, so Us neither to
contract the currency nor to force a silver
PASS, SILVER dollars might be applied to cancel
payment of the 3 per cents. and by a reduc.
ton OF the annual interest charge on the 4a
and . per cents. the funded loans OF 1891 and
1907 (say sos. 600, 0,0,, we might pay and CANCEL
every United States note before 1889, the close
Of the first century under the present consti-
tuition, and vet very largely reduce also the
present annual burden Of taxation"
AS to the future silver policy of the depart
ment, the Secretary says he will endeavor to
comply with the letter and spirit of existing
law and exercise all his discretionary power
SO as to maintain every other dollar created
by Congress in such use and circulation las
consists with the preservation OF their com
inerclal purity with the gold dollar. testing
that equality exclusively by the sole unit OF
value
The Secretary derotes considerable space in
ns colnmMmicat'Gn to an argumen in favor
or blmetallism. He says:
III now become plain to all who take com.
that the United States can do no better thrs
bi!metallic unit OF value. by this ] mean:
l., The monetary unit embodied in coins
both OF silver and OF gold.
f" - ioiCbntS uIlU VI value cnDOQleQ IN
the silver coin to be made and kept in that
successive aud Simultaneous equivalence
with the present and prior unit of value
which has been our honorable distinction ever
since the constitution was framed.
3. Open mints for the free coinage of gold
and silver ut a fixed ratio to every citizen OF
the United States bringing either metal, and
the right TO have his coins received in~evcry
sale and payment as full legal tender dollars
ne closes ms communication with the re
mark that it IS useless to discuss the methods
OF restoring bimetallisln until Congress shall
determine TO stop the coinage and place that
indispensable condition of negotiation in the
hands Of those who must execute it's will.