Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1891-04-07
BLAND SILVER BILL.
LAST CHAPTER IN JUDGE HueHEs's
SERIES or COINAGE ARTICLES.
Our National PoiIcy--Popuiar wealth
Better Than the wealth OF NIL
IIonaires, Eto., Etc.


"a, 1873, formally remonetinng silver, pro
yiaas as follows, "Thcre shtn be coined
Al the minis Of the United States SILVER
aollara Of the weight Of 4l2h grains troy
D. standard silver, as provided IN the
ACT Of January Is. 1887, on which shall be
The devices and superscriptions PROVIDED
bv said act which coins, together with
ali silver doIlsrs heretofore coined by the
YTci,ed states. Of like weight and hneness,
sbail 10 a leoal tender at their nominal
valne for alf debts and dues. pubic ana
private. except where otherwise expressly
stipulated in the contract.
Tbe act however, did not provide Tor the
free coinage of the silver OF the public by
fhe Government. IL went on, after the
clause inst given, with another clause IN
the following words; The secretary OF
the Treasury is authorized and directed 10
purchase from time TO time silver bullion
Of the market price, thereof, not less o Sulu
two millions.of dollars worth per Inoontn,
nor more than four millions OF dollars.
worth per month, and cause the same TO DC
coined monthly as fast as so purchased
into such dollars
This last clause ia injurious TO the none
fary prerogative Of silver in several TO-
1pects: more particularly, FIRST, in not pro-
viding for its free coinage, but c0hnhlnS
the coinage 30 Government purchases on
the metal; and, second, in limiting tne
amount Of the coinage within m mn ~
M tv,o and n maximum Of four millions OF
dollars per month. bought at the, Inarkes
value. The act by remonetizinR SILVER anu
making il legaltender in one, clause, aL n.,
by directing tho purchase OF silver on
Government account in the market rs ileI-
chandise in the other, 81 the same tll I,
treats silver as q deprecated meIca1tile
commodity, and makes that COMMONLY
when coined legal tender.
THE ACT or 1890.
The Bland act has been supplemented
nv the CONGRESS Just adjourned by an act
d{,eoti,g the Durchase by the Govern
ment az 800 600 ounces OF SILVER per
month equivalent 20 about as many doi-
lars This act Of 1890 contains the vice al
ready described. ~. 49,. :. .bo+
notnre has automatically furnished 70
mankind gold aud silver N such quantl-
Iicg "a To give them resultant value IN re-
iation 10 zach other Of about 20 l6, welgnt
foryyeirhf. and one Of the objects OF legal
sender laws il 20 fix this ratio and render
n stable in each country by Withdrawing
the two metals from the operation OF tne
law OF supply ana demand which, would
more or less affect them IN the market anu
placipg them under the exclusive regula-
lion Of the municipal law and the public
mint Tho second clause Of the act OF Isfo
and the act OF 1890 are therefore IA CONNECT
with the fundamental theory OF bimetal-
Another effect Of this policy of restnct-
Inc the supply Of silver com IN legal-teh-
der form Is 10 give aid and comfort 70 the
scheme Of England and Germany OF forcing
up the price Of gold. The principal ann OF
that scheme IS TO make legal-tender money
learer by cutting down IT'S volume as nl I1I Z
rs possible. 10 aims, by demonetiznR balI
The worlds stock of money, to proportion
,llv elevate the value of the other halt
Inc colnaqe of forty-eight millions year
Of silver bullion, purchased at low price
In the market, interiors; but little WIN
scheme which seeks 20 destroy thousahuso OF
millions. II ia fact. advances hescnenle py
relieving its pinch and pressure IN the only
country IN which the popular Indignation
NJ ronsed vould dare TO confront It, and be
potential for its defeat. The only. sound
policy Is free coinage, and the true TRENDS
of that policy are, most OF them, Tor rea,
rons hrreinbefore stated, content 10 stand
upop the tactics of mastery inactivity,
and 10 choose their own time for demand
inc It's inauguration en- peTndnence.
Ii Is useless 10 characterize the leglsla-
ton shown in the foregoing paragraphs.
The egregious iniquity of the proceedings
81 1s53 is self apparent. The mere nara
tion of them implies the steTnest censure,
"A mere description of them bitter Inyec-
give.
A rEw OF TIE ACCESSORIES.
Mr.. Sherman, Secretary Of the Treasury
under Mr.. Hayes, was IN the SENATE IN
1874. Mr.. Manning. Secretary OF the Urea
sury under Mr.. Cleveland, was a banker IN
New York whom the act OF 1878 was passed.
MIR. Window, late Secretary OF the Urea
fury under Mr. Harrison, was III the Senate
i'm 1873. All these secretaries have been IN
fnll and active accord with Wall street in
lis hostility 10 silver aud to abundant money
during ali their terms OF service. The
authorities of the mint were sponsors OF
the coinage act of 1873 The mint has
been i'm alliance with Wall street ever
sipce. and now, in the North American Re-
gie,e for March. 1891, Mr.. Leech, director of
the mint at Philadelphia, publishes the
strongest argument that can be made
against that free coinage OF silver which IS
contemplated by the Constitution OF the
United States. Here AGAIN Is mere MARIA
ton censure, nero description nyectiye.
THE TRAGEDY AT NEW YORK.
II is true that MIR. Window protested in
his speech against free coinage In New
York on the occasion Of his sudden death,
~ ooncede TO no one q stronger desire
than / feel for the free and unlimited
roinaae of silver" but, as an incident IN q
tragedy, it was like the kiss at Goth
The policy so diligently pursued by the
,nonav-dealing class of making money as
dear and scarce as possible by adopting as
the only standard that metal which IS least
in circulation and most easily concen-
trajed and controlled IN great financial
centres: that policy, while ruinous to the
people at large of all communities, IS
nerilous even TO the class who have estab-
ished and who maintain 1t.
THE TROUBLES OF THE NoNoNETALIsTs.
For full two generations England has
been conspicuous for the frequency and
violence Of its commercial, banking, and
monetary panics. Tho rate OF interest or
the Bank of England is financial barome-
Ter. whose changes indicate with intalhble
certainty the revolutions that occur in the
money market Of London. This rate was
chapGed no less than 223 times in the
twenty-seven years beginning. with 1897,
and the range of rates was from "a to 10
per cont. The monometallic gold standard
was adopted 1916, and in the 100 years pre-
ceding that event there were only sixteen
changes and the rate Of interest never Tell
below 4 nor rose ABOVE per CENT Inv
late MIR. Jevons, an English writer and
statistioian of the highest authority, IN his
volume on money, predicted IN 1879 that
the sensitiyeness of the money market VIII
increase under the present system of Eng
land, and declared 1t probable that COM
mercial crises will from time 20 time recur
even exceeding in their violence
and disastrous consequences those whose
history we know too we'll" The
prediction has been abundantly fulfilled.
blr. Gilen, tho militant monometallist, ="
saws in an article in the Contemporary Re
rae "fhe course of the money market
since 1871, when the German Government
began 20 draw gold from London, has been
tut of stringoncies. The crises OF 1873 aud
1875 were no doubt precipltated by them,
aud since 1876 in almost every year except
1879 and 1880 there has been a stringency
Of greater OF less severity directly tracea-
able TO or aggravated by the extraordinary
demands Tor gold and the difficulty otsup-
plying them
Il is believed by shrewd fnanciers that
London has carried on this policy SO long
that she is now at last bankrupt. She
would have been declared few weeks ago
30 be Temporarily 80 but for the timely aid
attended her by the Bank of France and
by tire American friends of her great bank
L