Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1890-04-23
TALKS ON SILVER.
Cautious Views of Local Financiers
on the Propositions
UNDER DISCUSSION IN CONGRESS.
Free Coinage Would Disturb Business and
Lead to Financial Ruin.
NO POPULAR DEMAND FOR A CHANGE

The silver question now before Congress
and the country is of absorbing interest from
a business point of view, and anything
promising to throw light on the subject is
seized upon by the public. 1t is a many
sided question, and the views of eminent
fnanciers are as various and conflicting as
those of the people at large.
With q view to ascertaining the drift or
trend Of local sentiment on the propositions
now before Congress bearing on this issue, a
number of prominent bankers were inter-
viewed Yesterday. They were conservative,
as usual, and cautious in the expression OF
their views, admitting that they were liable to
modification, and for this reason all but two or
three requested that their names be withheld
from anything they might say.
Cashier Scully, of the First National said: II
heartily approve of Secretary WINDOWS view
OF silver legislatien-namely, that the bullion
redemption feature is the only safe and wise
measure to adopt The move to authorize the
selling of bonds in order to provide reserve
fund would, in my judgment, be dangerous to
true financial interests"
Cashier Dean, of the Union National, said Il
am decidedly opposed to the liberal coinage of
silver. The people have become somewhat
reconciled to silver coinage by the issue of sill
yer certificates. There may come a time when
more silver will be needed in our coinage, but
do not think that time has arrived"
One of the oldest bank presidents In the city
remarked: Il think Congress had better let
the currency alone. There should be no change
until the people demand It. There has been
no such demand. There Is more silver even
now than can be put In circulation. The in
trinsic value of the silver dollar is about 73
cents To increase the coinage would be to
further depreciate its value. This would be
great injustice to q majority of the people-the
wageworkers-who would be paid in this
money. Nobody would be benefited but the
silver men. Failing to find a market for the
product of their mines, they are trying to COM
pei Congress to find one for them. While gold
is the standard of value the world over, 1t is
necessary, as matter of convenience, to have
reasonable amount of silver in circulation,
but it should be maintained on par with gold.
A silver dollar should be worth 100 cents, but
this could not be with increased coinage. Be-
sides, initiation would disturb the business of
the country encourage extravagance and spec
ulation, and finally end in disaster"
Another bank officer, one Of the youngest
and brightest in the city, remarked: Il think
LHe OoVeruuent Is mdhluS mlstdkS III poosS-
ing the silver men. Silver coinage should be
curtailed instead of enlarged. Business men
are not asking for expansion. There is as
much money in the country IS is necessary to
keep things moving. More would lead to
reckless speculation, and ultimately to anan-
cial crash"
An official on Fourth avenue expressed HIM
self thus: 'All the agitation for increased
silver coinage, as I see it. coWes from Wall
street speculators and mine owners. The
country owes very little to these people, and
should not favor them at the risk of disturb
ing business. There is more silver money now
than the people need and more than they can
use To set more OF it af1oat would inevitably
result in still greater depreciation"
A Fifth avenue fnancier observed: "1f Con-
gress in its wisdom shall decide that the coun-
try is in need of financial relief and shall con-
clude to expand the currency by issuing more
silver, ] think Mr.. Windows bullion redemp-
tion plan should be adopted. 1t appears the
best and safest way out of the difficulty"
Nearly all of the gentlemen interviewed said
that, while the silver question was of great in
terest to them, they had not taken time to ex-
anime it carefully. To do this properly, so as
to make their opinions valuable, they would
have to look up authorities and make calcula-
tions which would require a great deal of time
and labor. They were too busy with their own
interests to do this.
One opinion, however, they seemed to hold
in common showing that 1t is widespread and
deep-rooted-they were unanimous in their
oppositiop to ANYTHING approachiup free coin.