Fort Worth daily gazette. (Fort Worth, Tex.) 1882-1891, 1889-01-24
SILVER DEPRESSION.
Its Effect Upon Our PrOsperity-Its Old
Position Should be Restored.
How This Depression is Felt in Our Manu-
factures-The Attention of Financiers
Drawn to this Question.
PH1rApErPH1A. p, jan. 2. Sc.

DEAR sIRZTn yesterday s PHILADELPHIA
Inquirer found an article quoted from
Western paper headed ''What Free
Trade Means, - and also ''The Markets
of the World at the Mercy of the Cheap
est Labor.
l have long held views exactly similar,
but in vain have looked for such views in
the speeches of senators and congressman
or in the leading articles of our papers.
The paper quoted told the exact truth,
and it is a marvel to me that we should
have to search for such clear, statesman
like articles away out in the interior of
the continent What | am writing now
is simply to acknowledge the great inter-
est the article has created. l wish
also to call your attention to one vital
nection with this subject, namely, the
effect of the present unwarranted out
Tageous depression of silver, upon our
country's prosperity, and the manner in
which this depression aids the develop
ment in India and Egypt and China, to
which the article so ably referred. am
sure that if the farmers, labOrers, man
ufacturers, wheat and cotton growers OF
this country could be made to under
stand this silver question, they would, as
one man, insist upon the restoration OF
silver TO its old position as entitled to free
coinage. and to receive as a legal tender
the same as gold They would insist
upon the government taking off its hands
from this industry, and restoring the
right to every producer OF silver 10 take
his bullion to the mint and there TO OBJ
tain dimes, quarters and halves Tor
distribution i'll all parts of the country
in Dayment of wages freightS and
supplies of every kind, as well as IN the
payment of dividends upon silver stocks.
In this way every dollar that we have
produced for the last twenty years would
now have been in the hands of the peo-
pie as useful instIumentality in the ex-
change and business of the whole coun-
try.
Formerly, silver bullion or silver in
any other form, could be deposited in
our minis and within three or four days
the value being ascertained, would be
paid over to the owner, less small
charge for coinage. Less than twenty
wears ago congress at the suggestion of
the mint authorities demOnetiZed silver
and stopped its free coinage at the mints.
The effect has been disastrous, and unless
correction is made at once, l can see no
other result than the total cessation OF
our exports of grain and cotton, the
wants of the old world being supplied
from the silver circulating countries and
the cheap labor countries of the East. l
see no pass.ble excuse for this
onslaught upon one of the two mediums
of money exchanges which have been in
existence since the beginning Of the
world, noI for the interference of the
treasury department in the coinage of
silver. The purchase by the government
of bullion being so small practically as to
leave on the market the great bulk of
the silver production, that remainder be-
comes nothing more than potatoes, or
corn, or any other product of the soil,
and consequently is forced upon an I'M
willing market at home or abroad as so
much produce; the owners cannot have
it coined and circulated, the government
having mOnopoliZed this privilege.
My plan is to again remOnetiZe silver,
make it a full legal tender with gold,
each of them of 900 fineness and sixteen
ounces of this fineness of silver to be q
legal tender with one ounce gold of this
fineness; also an entire repeal of any in
reference on the part of the government
with the purchase or sale of either metals.
The uses of the mint, to my mind, should
gold or silver bullion that may be brought
TO them and to have no interference with
this free coinage. l approve of the issue
of gold and silver certificates on the de-
post of gold or silver bullion or coin,
such certificates being of such denomina-
tons of 81 and upwards as are at present
issued. This is a convenience TO the peo-
pie which a government for the people is
bound to provide; besides, the people,
through the government, would thereby
save the enormous wear and tear upon
such coin or bullion as would be depos-
tied with the government, aud also such
losses as would inevitably occur from
time to time, not only of coin but bank
notes, through fires, steamboat disasters,
etc, so that this plan of receiving on de-
post and issuing circulating notes on
bullion or coin is, to my mind, the only
portion of the recent acts of congress re-
Iating to the silver question that is at all
commendable.
Now a word or two more in regard to
the effect of this silver depression upon
our manufactures, our exports of cotton
and grain, and consequently upon the
prices of those articles in our own coun-
try. The merchants of England or the
continent can order their shipments of
wheat and cotton from India and Egypt
with the distinct advantage over any such
purchase in the United States, at present
of over 80 per cent. by purchasing silver
bullion or eXchequer bills in London
The government of Great Britain collects
all its revenue in India, for instance, in
silver; il makes all its disbursements OF
salaries, supplies, etc, in gold; it is
forced continually to sell eXchequer bills
in the London market to get back from
India its revenues, and those bills pur-
chased by merchants at this large dis
count and sent out TO those countries TO
pay fOT cotton and wheat, thus give this
enormous advantage to those countries.
As there is no other medium of circuIa-
ton than silver in India, China and
Egypt, their products are all paid for in
silver. In the case of short supply of
eXchequer bills, an ample supply of sill
yer bullion is found III the London mar
ket. 1 am informed that wheat can be
purchased in India and landed in Liy-
erpOol at the same price that it can be |
purchased in Minnesota and landed in
Chicago. This is not TO be wondered at |
when we see by our own foolish acts in |
this country we have knocked down sill !
yer TO so great discount, and that the |
workers in those countries receive but |
from to s cents per day for wages, |
whilst here in this country wages are |
from 81 to 50 per day. Add to these facts |