The Democratic advocate. [volume] (Westminster, Md.) 1865-1972, 1891-06-06

a
the people would be left on the hands of
the Treasury. Thus it was in 1886 the
Government had S94, 900, 600 of silver dol
lars in the Treasury. The coin was too
bulky. and not wanted. This gave rise to
the fear which was dominant in 1885, that
silver would not maintain its parity with
gold. This was overcome by the Admin
istration Of that period by stopping the
purchase of the public debt, and by refus-
inc to reissue 81 and 81 greenbacks, so
that the. public had to take the silver dol
lars. Later, authority was obtained from
Congress to issue small silver certificates,
and finally 10 that way the whole accumu-
lation was taken out Of the Treasury, but
the solution came from the fact that the
United States was able and willing at any
time to pay in gold.
The difference between gold and silver
appears very strongly when you compare
the silver certificates of large denomina-
tions with the gold and gold certificates.
The Treasury was unable when it issued
the new coin certificates to make them IN
other than 800 denominations. The re-
ceipts at the custom house have generally
been in gold certificates. Soon after the
new issue. it was found that the coin certif-
icate of large denomination was rapidly
taking the place of the gold certificate as
the receipts. And yet, at that time there
were about 30 times more Of other clrcula-
ting medium in the country. The reason
was that it was silver in direct competition
with gold, and it was being turned into
the Government instead Of gold. Then
the smaller denominations were issued, and
the receipts of the coin certificates at the
custom house began to fall of, and they
remained in the pockets of the people.
Latterly the Government has appeared
alarmed about its silver currency, and, de-
parting from the policy Of paying the pub
lie in whatever currency it wished, has
been forcing the silver certificates upon the
country. 1t has paid the States of Massa-
chusetts and Illinois their direct tax In
silver certificates. Prom February last
to May the receipts Of silver and silver
certificates at the custom house have risen
from 4.S per cent. to 64.5 per cent. and
the receipts of gold have decreased from
9I.2 to 21.5 per cent. And that is caused
because the United States Government Is
not redeeming the silver certificates and the
silver dollar to the extent required by the
business Of tie country Now, it is very
certain that the Government cannot 20 OF
in this way indefinitely without converting
all the assets of the United States int
silver. When that takes place 1t will be
yond the power of the Government to re
deem It's various kinds of money by giving
the public creditor his choice of currency
and when that happens the power OF tn
United States Government is absolutely
eliminated from the currency situation
and every dollar and every kind OF money
must stand upon its own intrinsic basis
and when it does you will find that thu
bullion value of every coin will alone pre-
vail in the markets of this country as II
the world.
say that that would be Il great misfor
tune to this country. 1t will make every
debt owed in this country less valuable
than when it was contracted. 1t will maxi
it impossible for men to transact business
on a business basis. That is why we should
not come to silver basis; but there is NJ
objection to the people having as mucf
silver as they can use and desire Ito"
much that is nobody can say. My propo
sition is that the Secretary of the Treasury
should be allowed to buy silver bullion tC
an unlimited extent. Put no limit upon
it, as was the case under the Bland act and
the act of last July. Then issue silver
certificates against it or coin certificates
but have a safety valve, which will stop thu
process when the business Of the country
demonstrated that the issue Of silver has
gone far enough; that there is more in cir
culation than the Government Of the coun
try can take care of. This can be ascer
tanned by the receipts at the Custom House
before referred to. 4 maximum of silver
beyond the outstanding certificates, might
be held by the Treasury. When SO,
900 900 of silver had accumulated in the
Treasury, it would be a warning that the
business of the country was getting more
silver than it needed Then let purchases
of bullion cease until the surplus has di
minished to So 600, 900, when the purchases
might begin again. 1t is not a question Of
sentiment, it is merely Il question of wha
kind Of tools shall be used in the transac
ton of business.
The speaker received his thanks in the
form of warm round of applause wher
he took his seat. Several questions wert
then asked him touching certain points ii
his address. One of the queries was
"What do you think would have been thu
effect upon the currency of this country i
the silver bill had been passed by the las
Congress 2
Il think, said Mr.. Fairchild, "that al
the money-some 5000, 1000, O0O-excep
gold and gold certificates would have gon'
to discount. The world would not hav'
assumed our ability to have maintained al
the silver of the world on a parity will
gold.