Shenandoah herald. [volume] (Woodstock, Va.) 1865-1974, 1888-03-23

ne scheme TO dcmOnetlZc silver was
not OF American origin. must believe
that the Senator from Ohio was himself
ignorant Of what was being done, and
that the scheme was accomplished by the
cunning Of some foreign hand. The dis
cussi0n in regard 10 our metallic curren-
cy was commonwealth Europe.
The immediate discussion which led TO
the demonetilaion Of silyerin the United
States was nauguratcd by Ernest Seyd,
a celebrated Gcrmin-English banker
and author. in volume entitled "Sug-
gestions In Reference to Metallic Cur
rency in the United States" printed in
London in 1871 "for private circulation. A"
containing 253 pages Of matter devoted
to good Eng ish advice for American
consumption. II 50 happened that Mr..
Seyd was in Washington in 1870 when
Mr.. Knox inaugurated the scheme to de-
monetize silver by his celebrated report
/ mentioned by the Senator from Ohio,
and again at the opening Of the Congress
Of ls12-'73, at which the bin demonetiz-
ing silver passed.
Let me call attention to the history Of
the efforts OF the creditor class I'm Europe
TO demonetize one Of the precious meta =
for the purpose ofenhancing the va ne Of
securities. Ihold in my hand book writ
ten by Chcva Ter, Of France. in 1857, who
was regarded as the ablest writer on
| financial subjects in all Europe. The
discovery OF god and silver in Califor-
mia and Austria Ia and the promise OF
large productions OF gold were subjects
| OF great anxiety 10 the creditor class IN
! Europe. Chcvalic;'s book was written
for the purpose OF inducing the French
/ Government 10 demOnctize god for the
| purpose OF enhancing the va ne Of bonds
and other securities. He used the same
argument against gold which is now
used against silver, and assumed that
silver would b. driven ont OF the coun-
| try and France ruined unless gold waN
demonetzed. The object was to demon
ctize one Of the precious metals and on =
nance the value OF bonds. Gold was Sc e
lected because for the time being it wa 3
the plentier metal. Many volumes werO
written by other authors on the same
! subject. [ now hold in my hand the
work OF an eminent English writer on
finance, entitled "Maclarcn's History Of
Currency published in London in 1858.
Mr.. Mac'aren reviews many authors or
the subject Of demonetizing one OF the
precious metals, and cOncurs with CheV.
alicr that gold should be demOnetiZeC
and silver adopted as the single stand.
ard. He contended that Eng and, which,
had adopted the gold standard in 1916.
should change gold to silver, and eX.'
planned the great benefit Of such chang,
to ali persons living on fixed Incomes.
Holland. Belgium, Germany, and Aus.
tria adopted the single silver standard al;
various times after the disc very Of gold
in California and Autralia and before
the discovery OF the Comstock silver lode
in Nevada.
When there was prospect that silver
might become plentier than gold, Ger
many first changed her position, and in
1871 dcmonetized silver, and finally, by
the year 1876, every mint in the Unitet
States and Europe was closed agains /
silver, and that metal fell more than I. J
per cent.
Congress at this iuncture appointed -
commission to investigate the whole sub =
iect and make report. The Senate :
from Nevada [Mr. Jonesl was chairman !
Senators that it might be time well spen
TO examine that report. The report is ~ /
exhaustive review Of the whole subject
and contains n full history Of the discus =
sion from 1853 mp to the time the demon =
citation Of silver was finally cOnsum e
mated The basis Of every argument il /
Europe was the necessity to demOnetizi
one Of the metals for the purpose OF en- =
hancing the value Of bonds. The rcpOr /.
shows that Germany adopted the silver
standard i'm 1871 and the gold standard
I'm 1871. and that the same reason Wa
given i'm each case-the necessity for con.
traction i'm aid Of the rich.
There are libraries Of books advocating,
the demonstration Of one or the other OF.
the precious metals, and the same rea-.
son, are always assigned, no matter which
metal J.. to be discarded. I'm every case
the moneycd aristocracy is to be benefit
ed. enterprise retarded. and the people
robbed. There is no necessity for a con-
cealmcnt in monarchical countries, where
the people do not vote consequently
Chcyaier, Macarcn. and others were
not required to disguise their purposes
from the people. The people OF this
country were not consulted when the
great change. which robbed them OF the
right to pay their debts according to con-
tract. was made. 1t was done without
their knowledge or consent. Our finances
were discussed in Europe in books print
ed fer circulation among the mOneyed
aristocracy OF that country, not in the
Congress OF the United State, or before
the people.
II the daylight Of which the Senator
from Ohio speaks had been let in upon
the designs Of the bondholdcrs Of Europe
and America, the silver dollar would
never have been demonetized. No man
in either House Of Congress would have
sought the bad emncnce which he would
have attained by voting for the act Of
February II. 1873.
How has this action affected the pros
perity OF Europe and America? Why is
business depressed and all great enter
prisc- trembling OF the brink Of financial
ruin ? Universal peace and abundant
harvest furnish no sufficient answer. In
other periods OF the worlds history flnan-
cial distress has always been accOmpani- !
ed by contraction. Every advance in
civilization has been accompanied by an !
abundant supply Of the precious metals, /
and every retrogradc movement i'm the /
progress Of the advancement has Occur-
red nj a time when the supply OF the pre- |
cious metals has been inadequate. His !
tOrians tell us that at the commencement |
Of the Christian era about two thousand |
million dollars Of metallic money were |
circulating in the Roman Empire, then |
the civilized world, rs money among the
people, and that at the commencement !
81 the fifteenth century. when gold and |
silver were discovered in Mexico and
South America, the volume Of the pre-
cious metals in the civilized world was
less than one hundred and fifty millions.
Fifteen hundred years Of contraction
at the rate OF more than one hundred
millions each century, was accompanied
by fifteen hundred years Of misery and
decay. aud constitutes the period known
as the Dark Ages. The three hundred
years from the fifteenth to the eighteenth
century witness the revival OF civiliza-
ton and the reformation OF the world,
attended with all the advantages OF ma
tcrial. moral. physical, and intellectual
progress. During this same three hun
bred year, the supply Of the precious
metals from the New World furnished
an abundant circulation, which constant
ly increased with the increase Of popula-
ton. At the commencement of the pres
ent century the Spanish-American wars
greatly diminished the supply ofthe pre-
cious metals. The depression and hard
times which followed are still fresh in the
memories Of living men. The financial
struggles through which the country pass
cd from 1910 to 1880 were the most try
ing that had been experienced for centll-
ries. The year lSi9 witnessed Il lower
range Of prices than had been seen for
one hundred years. An event then oc-
CURED which removed the universal de
preston and financial distress which was
retarding the progress OF the civilized
world and infused new life in every chan