, 1891-01-23
4 FEW WOPD ON SZL YER.

be, according to heir faithful organ, that
The tree coinage of American silver is ell
right enough, but they draw the line
right there, In extenuation Of their &C
ton the Sun quotes an editorial FROM
the Salt Lake Tribune, written before the
passage of the free coinage bill, however,
10 which that pape took the stand that
if the silver men couldn't get everything
they wanted, they should take what they
could get. The Tribune assured the pub
lie that President Harrison would veto a
Tree coinage bill, but might sign some
thing short of that-Which at best vas
scarcely such a position as the Salt Lake
paper would reasonably be expected to
take.
SO far as either Carey or Warren are
concerned there il nothing to indicate what
they might have done under circumstan-
ccs whiel. never arose. They certainly
voted against the free coinage Of silver,
in which they stood alone amUng their
Western colleagues. On the other hand,
nobody can doubt that the Cheyenne con
vention was manipulated to vote down the
the free coinage of American silver. and
the records show that Chief Justice
Groesbeck and the editor OF the Sun
are two of those who voted against
American silver.
IL regard to the alleged fear Of initiation
of the currency through the passage Of
the free coinage bill, we will simply refer
to the fact that the circulation per head
IN the United States is only half Of what
it is in France, and that it is now con
fessed BY all economis writer's that France
was enabled. to the establishment of the
entire world, to nay her enormous Ger
man war indemnity Of one billion Of dol
lars IN gold, by keeping n sufficient vol.
umo Of money, both gold and silver, in
circulation, to not only maintain, but to
even advance the range of prices of her
products
Up to 1884 we had no metallic money
but liver in circulation in this country;
up to 1850 we had more silver than gold
in circulation. Until 1919 all nations in
ohristendom used both gold and silver.
according to each its full money power.
Ii was at thst time that England demone-
TIED silver, because as the great creditor
nation Of the world its shrewd financiers
perceived the immense advantage which
a single standard, which would necessarily
be an appreciated currency, would give
them when the day OF settlement came.
In 1879 silver was demonetized in the
United States by a trick in the COZ
struc,ion Of bill. The consequences of
that act was to bring about a separation
in the two metals which has been going
on ever since, In 1872 the ratio was ! Of
gold to 1868 OF silver in lss9lt was / Of
gold to % 10 OF silver. As the value Of a
gold dollar went up the prices Of the en-
tire range OF commodities went down.
The direct result Of the decentralization Of
silver was b increase the wealth of the
creditor classes or those with money to
loan, by increasing the purchasing power
of every dollar which they owned. The
burthen of the evil following this con.
traction of the currency naturally fell
upon the debtor and producing classes.
The man who borrowed money to conduct
his business land who does mott and the
producer Of commodities, whether wheat,
cotton or what not, when his day of settle
ment came nominally returned to his
creditor the principal Of and interest OH
the sun borrowed, but IN reality gave
him more, for he paid of his dett in a
currency whose purchasing power was
greater than when he borrowed it-a cur
rency which legislation had made more
difficult to secure from the sale OF the pro-
ducts of his industry.
We have said that the reconciliation
OF silver Is not a question wbish is of
purely local interest or | importance to the
silver producing states 1t is 81 infinitely
more importance to the great producing
sections OF the entire Mississippi valley,
for the crop Of cotton or Of cereals is of
much greater annual value than the silver
production, and the loss by the apprecia
ton in the value Of money is therefore
infinitely greater,
The question is one OF profound SON
Germ therefore to the great mass of the
people of the United States In a sense
1t is more sectional than partisan. 10 the
great money %centers, among the moueyed
classes and in the great financial %instita-
tons, may be found the uncompromising
opposition to placing orr monetary affairs
on a more equitable basis. There iS,
therefore, arrayed against silver a power
full and Intellectual class, one full OF re-
sources and well equipped to work upon
the fears and prejudices of the populAce.
1t is from this source mainly hat comes
the cry of a threatened congested cir
culatiou, of fat money. of America
being made the dumping ground
Of the worlds silver, of all the
gold being drained out Of the country and
many other arguments and unsustained
assertions calculated to arouse popular
mistrust aud maiDtain for themselves the
plutocratic power which the premium on
money now gives them.
That the increasing population and
volume of business demand more money
cannot be denied. That the money
function should, in the interest OF the
masses Of the people, be restored to silver