New-York tribune., 1890-06-18
NOPE SLLTER COINAGE.

When the Act Of 1878 was passed. re1nir-
ing coinage al the rate of T2."oo,oo" per
month. il was by some declared that 50 great
an amount Of silver coin. or Of paper redeem
ablc in silver coin. could not be added Ia the
circulation without driving gold ont Of use and
cndanccring the public credit. These fears
have not been realized. More gold is in cir
culation outside the Treasury than was in cir
culaton at the time the Silver Coinage Act was
passed. and. according 20 Official reports over
two hundred and ninety millions moro. II was
declared by advocates Of the measure ihat II
would advance the price of silver bullion ana
hy most opponents II Nvas conceded that the
measure would have that tendency. But the
price has dropped and 50 severely that The
nurchaSc of - 100000 per month does not
appear t. have had any influence whatever to
sustain il. The dangers feared and the hcnc-
fits anticipated from a large increase oi N"Ncr
coinage may with reason be considered III the
light Of this experience.
senator who favorS unlimited coinage
states that the proposal to coin about ?tooo.-
600 per month comes 80 close to free coinage
that it will undoubtodly raise the price OF
silver nearly to par. and thus remove most OF
the objections in the public mind to coinage
without Imitation But the world product
of silver has increased since 1878 no less than
$500 900 fine ounces. or more than 80 per
cent. 50 that thi, increase aon" would require
an additional consumption or demand OF more
than { 600 OOO fine ounces per month IN order
70 keep the annual surplus from depressing
the price. II the increase in production was IN
part the direct result of tho larger market pro
yidcd for silver bullion by United states loglS-
lation. n il doubtless was. there can be no
assurance that further enlargement of the dc
mand for bullion would not be attended by
corresponding further increase in production
thus leaving the yearly surplus as large as 1t
is. if not even larger. Further, the price Is
controlled, not by the annual production and
demand only. but by the entire accumulated
mas, of silver for which Use or IA market l.
sought Since the beginning Of 1873 no less
than I.3s6OO0 900 fine ounces of silver have
been produced from mines and added To the
worlds stock. Of which large part has yet 10
find use or demand The 1000. 000 ounces
purchased by the United States Government
each month has not found use, because in the
form OF coin it is by 10 one wanted III exchange
for notes in circulation.
It must therefore be rcckOncd uncertain
whether coinage at the rate of 5000, 600 per
month would have any better effect. But the
fear expressed that the larger coinage may
speedily drive gold ont Of monetary use in the
country has also to be considered in the light
of experience The gold coin in the country in
1878 was officially estimated at two hundred
and forty seven millions and this year il has
4 Il ,ttf-,
millions and whatever allowance may be made
for defects in the account it is certain that the
country has gained largely. The paper clrcu-
latiOn has at no time been diScrcdltcd, or rated
below its face in gold value, although greatly
| expanded in amount The paper whether
against gold or silver. has been virtually equiv
alcnt TO gold in purchasing power because ac-
| ccptcd as the representative of gold. In the
light Of this experience ii would be foolish
| dogmatism 10 assert that no further addition
| to the circulation, or ny such addition as has
| been proposed can be made without breaking
the confidence which gives currency to the
whole volume of paper and makes it all equiv
alent to gold. At the same time this must al
ways he admitted, by every fair-minded man
that a large increase of paper, together with
such an outgo of gold as an unfayorable con
dition of foreign trade might at any time cause
would decidedly increase the danger of de-
probation of paper.
Just at this point an increase of coinage, with
issues of silver certificates, invites serious
criticism. The coinage does not help at all
Nobody would want the silver dollar in place
of notes even if the latter should fall | pei
cent or 10 per cent below par in gold. Re-
| Il I..Il:- r A. 4
make the additional currency safe, and put the
silver bullion behind the notes As a security oI
unquestioned value. The omission of that
feature leaves the notes to be supported by the
| stock of gold that 1t may be possible to pro-