The Grenada sentinel. [volume] (Grenada, Miss.) 1868-1955, 1891-05-23
col, JNO. r.. GODWlN's
Able and Sensible Address ON the
silver Coinage Question,

silver Coinage Question,
ne,ivered Before the State Banker
'' convention at Nashville.
pe,ov we publish the able, sensible
md PRACTICAL address Of Col. John R
codwin, of Memphis, delivered before
meetiug Of the Tennessee Bankers
association held at Nashville Last
'reek, veal. The address is taken from the
Momnhis Commercial, and carries con.
riction in its every paragraph. His
laws on the silver question are SO
n,,,ad and pertinent that they will meet
the appreciation Of all thinking Demo.
.,.ts, whether they be farmers, Al
lance men, merchants, mechanics,
confessional or otherwise, in this Sec
tion Of county. Here it is, and it will
,snav anyone to carefully read and
digest it: .M. .l.
.sThe free coinage Of silver will be
advantageous to the banking interests
VI What is a bank? To the banker it is
IN oct other peoples money for moth
inc IN and loan it out and make the inter-
sst T to the public, secure and conven-
ient 1 place to deposit surplus funds; to
.ommerce @ and trade, an institution
that that can furnish exchange, either for
zion or domestic, in amounts to suit
their needs. :.
The true measure of a well-managed
hanks prosperity is the amount Of its
average deposits compared to its capt.
tal stock. If q bank has only 81 of de-
nOsit for each dollar Of capital stock,
its earning capacity Is not as great at
p per cent. as the bank with $3 of de-
nosits to each dollar Of capital stock is
At per cent. therefore. all banks are
more benefited by an abundant supply
than by high rates Of discount. II this
is true. surely the free coinage Of silver
with the increase it would bring III a
sound circulating medium, either in
coin or certificates, would add greatly
to the prosperity Of the public and in
crease the business Of banks. But
there are all sorts Of objections made
to the free use Of silver, which seem
exceedingly erroneous and faulty after
one has given the subject careful
thought and investigation. It is said
that silver is cumbersome and incon-
yenient to use, which Is true in one
sense, but quite untrue in another.
Look at the operations Of your banks
for one day and you will see fifty peo-
pie call for silver where you will prob
ably not see more than one call for
gold. Go on the streets, or in the ru-
raj districts, and you will find 100 peo-
pie with silver in their pockets for ev-
cry one you find with gold.
THE LIKING FOR SILVER.
What does this prove? One Is quite
us plentiful as the other and no more
difficult to obtain. It proves conclu-
sively that the people like silver bet
ter than gold as q circulating medium,
or this state Of facts could not exist.
In the early days Of California's great
gold development that metal was the
only circulating medium, and it was
found exc6edlngly inconvenient by
reason Of its great weight, and the re-
suit was that the State was overrun
with express companies, establishing
Offices in every hamlet in the State, to
receive the coin and dust, and trans
port it to other portions Of the State.
These companies soon failed financial
" and carried ruinous loss to their de-
positors, thus demonstrating that
neither gold nor silver in great guam
titles can be used only ~ represents
tive values. ..
Every civilized country in the world
has at some time used both metals as q
measure Of values In one form or an
other. The idea Of most countries at
different times has beer to lay away
one dollar in gold or silver coin or buf-
lion for each dollar Of paper currency
they put In circulation, but % far no
Nation has ever realised that degree Of
security.
Now, a. It 10 claimed by many Of the
opponents Of free coinage, that this
will be the dumping.ground for the
worlds silver, Ne ~ Ia Chem BRING L
on. Il Uncle Sam gets oil the silver In
ms coners and simply puts his certi6-
Gates out to pay for Il, what would be
me resulty These bills would circu-
iate the world over; they could not be
aeoaeed, because they hsve one dollar
~ coin Or bullion to represent every
dollar Of paper the currency could not
become r6lnnAnnt 1nnass.a IN AhA~e