The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1890-12-20

useless as if the silver were still lying in
the mines. They serve, indeed, as a re-
serve upon which thousand millions in
circulating notes could be issued without
risk; but this would be some hundreds of
millions more paper money than we have
ever used in the past.
On July IA, 1890. bill was passed pro-
viding for the purchase of 100000 ounces
Of silver each month by the government.
1t is paid for in legal notes, redeemable in
coin; and after July, 1891. the provision Of
the former law making the coinage of
silver dollars mandatory upon the secre-
tary of the treasury, is repealed.
sure market being thus secured in
this country for an amount of silver about
as great as the yield of our mines, the
price of silver rose rapidly, reaching Sl.2l
on September 3, but falling again below
sl.00, and recently making another ad-
vance.
These purchases of silver, however, have
not turned the silver into money, but have
simply afforded good market for silver,
to be sold to the government and stored up
in its vaults.
Nor are we certain that our so 1ernment
alone can retain both silver and gold as
money, on the basis of free coinage, unless
we can induce other nations to cooperate
in restoring silver. Should the free coin
age of silver by this country fail TO raise
the value of fifteen and one half pounds Of
silver to that of one pound of gold, our
gold would gradually be replaced By silver
and we should have only silver currency.
This occurred once in our hi,tory; silver
being cheaper than gold, the former alone
was used as money and the gold was put
to other uses or sent to other counties for
silver or goods. Under the act OF 1872,
gold and silver were coined free of charge
FOR all persons sending in the necessary
bullion one pound of gold being made into
as many dollars as fifteen pounds OF silver.
But silver was at that time declining in
value as compared with geld, and by the
year 1900, one ounce of goc was worth
fifteen and one half ounces of sill e..
BY sending abroad S15, 900 in gold, there
fore, man could buy silver enough to
make $1,000 in silver; the government
mint coined it for him free Of charge, and
he gained $500 by the operation, Precisely
the same inducement will exist to export
gold and import silver if free coinage by
this nation does not SO increase the demand
Tor silver as to bring it up To that ratio with
gold upon which it is coined
There is talk of confining the free coinage
of silver to the product Of American mines;
but this course is plainly open to grave
difficulties. 1t is doubtful, too, whether
the necessities of our own currency could
absorb for even a few years the entire pro
duct of our gold and silver mines.
What is wanted, then, what must finally
be had, is an agreement Of the leading ma
tions for the free coinage of silver upon a
certain ratio with gold. There will then
be no inducement to export or import
either one of the precious metals in prefer
ence to the other.
Whether this country is strong enough to
bring silver up to or near parity with
! gold on the old ratio, by an adoption of free
coinage, is the one open question. That all
the leading nations could 40 so by concerted
action is undoubted.
The present law, even though it may ad-
vance the price of silver for time, is
merely a foolish waste of the public
revenue that benefits no one but the own
} ers of the silver mines, who have merely
secured good market for their silver at
the public expense. The public does not
get the use of this silver as money. which
is stored away in the vaults of the treas
ury.
We think that inasmuch as the move
ment of gold from this country would be
slow, if it occurred at all, thus giving time
to readiust the coinage in case the currency
should plainly drift towards the silver
STANDARD, free coinage by this nation alone,
if others viii not Cooperate, could be tried
, with safety. For the rise in the price OF
silver would restore the confidence of other
nations in silver, and the amount coined by
, our minis might not be so great as to pre-
vent both gold and silver from circulating
together. This is merely a guess, however,
as no one can say in advance how great the
power of one nation would be in the at
tempt to restore deprecated money metal.