The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1889-12-24
THAT SILVER PLAN
Of Secretary Of the Treasury
William Window
Is EXPLAINED AND DEFENDED
By Director of the Mint Leach, and the
Beauties and Superior Merits Thereof
GlOrifed in ExtensO.

Especial TO THE HERALD-Examiner Dispatch
WASHINGTON, Dec. 23.-"One of the OBJ
jections urged most persistently in the
press against the silver measure proposed
by Window" said Director of the Mint
Leach" is the vast power ii places in the
hands of the secretary to suspend the re-
ceipt of silver and resume at his option.
Those who make this objection surely have
not read carefully the secretary's measure
and are alarmed at the imaginary danger of
the feature to suspend the receipt of silver,
and the issue of notes is not part of the
secretary's plan, but is only a safe
guard which he suggests under certain
well defined contingencies and is essential
to the plan in any sense. The suggestion
is that in order to prevent combinations
from arbitrarily putting up the price of
silver for the purpose of unloading on the
treasury at a fictitious value the secretary
shall have discretion to suspend temper
arily the receipt of silver. 1t was thought
that in order to prevent successful combi-
nations for this purpose it would better to
fix the market price of silver at an average
price of some antecedent period, say year
or three months. If this is done, it would
do away with the necessity of any discre-
tionary power upon the part of the secre-
tary to suspend the purchase of silver.
The objection to using the average price
for any antecedent period as the rate to be
paid for silver is that it would tend to pre-
vent the normal rise in value which is
anticipated from the adoption of the
measure. For instance, if we issue notes
to day at the market price of silver
we would pay about nInety-siX cents for an
ounce, whereas, if we should take the
average price of the last three months, say
90 cents, the immediate result would be to
depress the price of silver, which is unde
sirable. La order to avoid this, it is sug-
gested merely that the same result can be
accomplished, namely, to prevent success
full combinations to artihcially advance
the price, by giveng the secretary power to
suspend the receipt of silver temporarily
in case he is satisfied that the price is
fictitious. The magnitude of the danger of
this discr etionary power sinks into insig
nifcance when compared with the discre-
ton which for eleven years has been
lodged with the secretary on the purchase
of silver for coinage. Under the present
law the secretary can buy S2,0O0,000 or
S4,000,0 900 worth of silver month. Thatlis
he can increase the purchase 100 per cent
If he desires, he can announce that sin
January he will buy S4,00O,0O0of silver and
put the price up Immediately. Towards
the close Of January he could announce
that he would buy s, ZOO, 900 worth in Feb
ruary and Immediately depress the price,
and although this vast power has been
lodged in the secretary for eleven years, it
has never been exercised harmfully, but
when it is suggested that we open the
minis to unlimited deposit of silver for
payment IN treasury notes, and in order to
pay the current price of silver and allow
the price to be regulated by the natural
law of supply and demand, and at the same
time prevent set of sharpers taking ad-
vantage of the law to artfticially raise the
price, it is suggested that in case they do
the secretary may temporarily suspend the
receipts of silver until the normal price is
restored, il is met with the objection that
it is a vast and dangerous power to place in
his hands. The secretary does not desire
any discretionary power, and if plan can
be suggested by which successful combina-
tions to raise the price can be defeated
and at the same time leave silver open to
all thel beneficial influences to follow Hpro-
Viding an unlimited market at current pri-
ces, there is nothing to prevent its consid-
Grafton and adoption in connection with the
secretary's measure, as failure to suspend
deposits is no part of the measure, but is a
suggestion to provide against a possible
contingency. The very fact that this
power exists would discourage the forma-
ton of such combinations, andif exercised
it could only be in such contingency that
every good citizen ought to want it exer-
cised.n