, 1890-02-06
MIR. WINDOWS BILL.

L
MIR. WINDOWS BILL.
The bill which has been prepared
by Secretary Window, known rs
the administration silver bill, now
pending before congress, should not
be considered a. II partisan measure.
1t Is, perhaps, unfortunate that such
an important measure should have
originated in che Office of the secrc-
tary of the treasury, for the reason
that there are so many party-houud
members of congress who take little
or no Interest I'm matters outside OF
their own measures, except to ride
in the party omnibus"
II Il not IL question which affects
the interests of any one party, and
II would he decidedly impolitic for
amy one to attempt to make political
capital out of the management of
the national finances. There are
some measures which are of para-
mount interest to the people, and
this Il one Of them.
In considering the bill as pre-
sented, one of the most important
features to he considered Is the re-
peal OF the silver coinage act. This
act provides for the monthly none
tization Of silver ut the rate of not
less than S2,OO0,000 nor more than
$4,000, 900, u steady In rease Of the
circulating medium which thus far
has not been adequate to meet the
demands OF trade. Its chief fault
lies In the fact that the minimum
limit Is not large enough to swell
the exchanges to an amount which
will give the farmer and the me-
chnnic a just compensation for their
labor. Agricultural products sell
at q low price, and the complaint is
over-pruduction and no money
Under this condition of affairs, Is ii
safe to repeal the compulsory COIN
age act'
Another question, Do the people
wish to domonetlze silver?
The blmetallic system is regarded
by the leading finauciers in this
country as THE only safe and Gd-
equate monetary system for the
American people. II Is only when
silver Is added to gold that "A circu-
latlng medium is created which IL
large enough TO absorb the values of
all thatIs produced and becomes
marketable in this country, All
values arc established on bi-metal-
lie basis and are regulated by the
monthly increase In coinage, which
Is intended to keep apacc with the
gradual Increase of production. To
eliminate silver at this time would
disturb all values. If, In the future,
the silver produced in the United
States is to he reduced TO base met
al, to be measured only by its rela-
tlon to gold, the same as iron and
lead, il then becomes u mere conf
modify, without monetary powers.
The mere fact that the govern
ment PROPOSES TO issue now legal
tender notes Oh silver bullion de-
posted at thS mints on u gold basis
docs not restore IL to its rightful
place In the money markets of the
world. Anyone having bullion to
sell would naturally take in ex-
change either gold or legal tender
notes, which will pass current for
all forms 0fln,eb;cdncjS, instead of
the nou-legnl tender certificates
which Mr., Window proposes TO is
sue. Instead Of giving silver an en-
largcd use, the result would he
detrimental to It's interests. Its
market value would he determined
10y England, which il to-day the
great clearinghouse of the world.
a. Great Britain is interested In de-
preciatlng the value of silver in all
It's forms, In order to enhance her
gold Interests, the time would soon
come WHEN the monetary system of
this country would be subject aud
secondary to that Of England.
With productive and manufacture
ing industries equal to that of any
other country in the world, II would
he great misfortune To have our
coinage system second TO that of
any nation.