Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1889-11-13
WEDNESDAY,. NOVEMBER IS, 1889.
The Silver Convention.


The State Agricultural Convention
which assembled in this city few months
ngo adopted n resolution in favor of the
free coinage Of silver. This is only one of
the many indications Of the popularity of
1.-THE dollar of the daddies.n Ii was popular
in 1878. when the BLAND bill passed both
houses Of Congress BY vote of more than
two TO one, and over the veto of the
President. and il is more popular to-day.
On The 26th instant National Silver
Convention" is to meet in 81. Louis. It's
object Is 20 aid in every practicable way in
inducing Congress to authorize the free
coinage Of silver. The farmers of this
country have certainly good reason to be
heard IN a national convention if, as they
believe and complain. the present lowpriccs
of agricultural products Of all sorts are
due TO the decentralization of silver in
1874. II has been charged that the section
of the United States Statutes al Large de-
mOnetizng silver coins was surreptitiousy
engineered through both houses of Con-
press. Al any rate, it maze silver coins
which had always previously from the
foundation Of the Government been n full
legal tender, legal tender 20 the extent of
i've dollars only, whereas in the same law
gold was made a legal tender to any
amount. From that day 10 this silver has
laborod under at least partial legal disa-
bilities.
II is Of course not certain that the low
prlcos Of agricultural products are due TO
rho demonstration Of silver. 1t would be
a. hard to convince Wall street that such
is the fact as IL was in 1878 to convince
that street that the passage Of the BLAND
hin would not postpone indefinitely the
return 10 specie payments. Nevertheless,
ID IS plausiblv argued that inasmuch as
the prices Of all commodities and of silver
are now based upon gold, and as the
worlds supply of gold il comparatively
limited. those prices must necessarily
have fallen as a consequence of the de-
monetization Of silver in 1874, and the re-
fusal Of Congress 20 put it upon an equali-
~ with gold at the nations minis. Any
how the advocates of the free coinage of
silver may be excused for paying no atteD-
tion 10 the prophets who in 1873 predicted !
that tho BLAND bill would operate 10 the |
ruin of the country.
Nobody knows how much real money il |
is necessary to keep in the channels Of |
business i'm order to the successful opera |
ton of the laws of finance and commerce. |
If the volume of currency of all sorts be |
now, say, fourteen hundred millions of |
dollars, that amount can ut any time be (
doubled 10y passing the money from hand /
t. hand twice a day instead of once a day, |
or ten times q day instead OF five times /
dav. There are secrets here which cannot /
be found out. II there is danger that its /
free coinage would increase too rapidly |
the quantity Of silver produced annually |
in the world. Congress may well hesitate |
20 resort 10 that measure. But if there is |
no such danger, then IT would be good /
policy to put gold and silver upon an |
equality. Anyhow. if Congress would pass |
such law IN January its operation could /
be watched and it might be repealed by /
the same Congress if il operated inju- |
riously.
Both parties have declared in their
national platforms for % currency Of silver /
and gold or of paper redeemable in coin.
So it is not exactly party question that /
we are discussing, though the silver bill !
was vetoed bv a Republican President, and |
though a much larger proportion of the
Democrats than of the Republicans in /
Congress voted to pass the bill over the
Presidents veto. The four new States
may be set down as silver States. There
fore, the silver men viii be stronger than
al ho I'M -
suspected that the President has some no.
ton OF becoming a silverite himself as a
means of preventing the Democrats from
carrying the four new States and the Pa
cifc States at the next presidential cleo
tion. and as a means of fs'eetalling the ex-
pected action of the DemoyAats in Congress
in regard TO the free coinage of silver.
We have no faith in any sort of fat
money. But this is not a question Of fiat
money. New York paper says that if
every one who took silver to the mint could
get it coined at the ratio of l6 to l, it would
do him no good. because in very short
time he would have 10 give just as many
coined ounces of silver for one of gold as
he would of uncoined silver. But this Is
identically the argument of 1873. 1t was
then predicted that within six months Of
the passage of the BLAND bill silver coins
would be at par with silver bullion. That
foolish prediction was made by thousands
of men. even statesmen by courtesy. 1t
did not Brighten the public then. II will
not frighten the public now.
But If the free coinage of silver causes
the prices of all commodities to rise. who
will be benefited? Can this question DO
answered satisfactorily?