The morning call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1878-1895, 1890-06-20
FREE SILVER COINAGE.

The advocates of free silver coinage in
the Senate seem determined to force a. vote
in the House on that measure. Senator
Stewart is reported as saying that 4" the
House may defeat silver legislation at this
session, or the bill may be vetoed, but it
will ultimately win" This speech indi-
Gates purpose on the part of the extrem e
silver men in the Senate to agree to no bill
that does not provide for free silver coin
age. While it is not probable that free
coinage bill will become law at this ses-
sion of Congress, it may be worth while to
consider the Immediate results of such a
bill. The assertion of the World news
paper that If this bill becomes a law the
United States will buy all the silver pro :
duced in the world until the artificial de-
maud thus created adds everywhere about
40 per cent to present prices is simply
absurd. Under the bill the United States
will buy no silver at all. 1t will coin sill
yer, and the dollar so coined will be legal
tender in the United States for all debts,
both public aud private, the payment of
which in gold is not specified in the evil
deuce of indebtedness There will be no
effort on the part of the Government to
carry the silver dollar so coined on gold
valuation. What course would be pursued
in regard to payments on account of the
national debt will be determined by future
legislation. The bonds are payable in coin,
but il may be held that good faith with
bondh0lderS who have purchased under the
belief that the bonds would be paid in gold
In the future as in the past will require the
purchase of gold to pay interest with
That Will be question for Congress to de-
termine. If the bill becomes a law, for a
time business in the United States will be
done on a silver basis. Gold will be pur-
chased for purposes of meeting specified
obligations. Silver will become the dollar
of trade. Goods will be bought and sold
Cor silver, except foreign goods from gold
countries, which will be paid for with gold.
There will be a general rise of prices, cor
responding approximately to the present
difference between the market value of
gold and the market value of silver. 1t is
expected, however, that free coinage vii
cause this difference to disappear ulti-
mately, but how rapidly is matter of
conjecture. The hardship of free-coin-
age bill lies in the necessity it will impose
of buying gold with which to meet oblga-
lions especially payable in gold. Wages
will be payable in silver, and current bills
may be paid in silver; but where promises
to pay in gold have been made gold will be
demanded. Property will, perhaps, rise
eorrespondingly, but very likely more
slowly than the advocates of free silver
coinage expect. Money-lenders have for
some years past stipulated that payments
should be made in gold. and this condition
will cause some loss to the debtor class.
While free coinage is the end to be wished
for, The CALL has already expressed the
opinion that an increased purchase of sill
yer which would naturally cause the
metal to increase in market value would be
safer way TO bimetalliSm than free coin
age while the market value of the two
metals is so far apart