The progressive farmer. [volume] (Winston, N.C.) 1886-1904, 1891-05-19
SILVER.

| House OF Representatives OF the United
| States of America in Congress as
sembled that from and after the date
of the passage of this act (an act to
| provide a unit of value and for the
| coinage of gold and silver and for
| other purposes the unit of value IN
| the United States shall be the dollar,
and the same may be coined Of four
! hundred and twelve and One-haf
grains of standard silver or of twenty
| five and eight tenths grains of standard
gold, sand the said coins shall be legal
! tender for all debts, public and pri-
vate. The owners of bullion deposited
for coinage shall have the option to re-
| ceive coin or it's equivalent in the GER
| tificates provided for in this act and
such bullion shall be subsequently
| coined"
The above extracts from Senate bill
1875, which was on Feb: 81, 1891, in
definitely postponed, contains the
financial policy that has for twelve
months past caused more discussion,
if possible than either the Mckinley or
Force bill.
Senator Vance said in his speech in
June, 1890: Il favor the unlimited
| coinage of silver money and restOra-
| ton of silver as it was before it was
demonetized and the coinage of the sill
yer dollar was forbidden in 1878.
This is where we stand and it is the
policy and demand not only of the
Farmers Alliance of America but the
combined voice of business interests
both in the progressive South and new
West tO9 ether with the middle classes
of the North. When we use the term
middle classes we mean those who are
engaged in honorable pursuits and not
those parasites who feed on honest in
dustry Far be it from us to call the
working people the middle class, for
God knows they are the best citizens,
the most loyal and trustworthy III the
! land
The gold bugs and spectators of
Wall street. echoing the sentiment of
the same classes in old England and
Germany, take stand against silver
as circulating medium on an equal
ity with gold from interested and sell
! fish motives.
The cause of the cry for silver is that
the country has advanced beyond the
value of the currency. and as it is an
elementary maxim in financial science
that an abundance of money makes
high prices for products and a scarcity
of money makes low prices for products,
the classes that have most to do with
our material prosperity ask that more
money be placed in the channels of
trade, to cooperate with Drawn in the
development of our natural resources
and aid in the speedy and more salts
factory exchange of products. Senator
Jones, of Nevada, in his famous speech
in the Senate in 1876. said:
while the stock of money is increas-
Ing, prices rise, exchange. or commerce
Is stimulated, new enterprises are set
on foot, the products of agriculture
manufactures and mining are in
creased, the commercial and industrial
classes find abunnant employment and
earn remunerative profits and wages
bankruptcy rarely happen, education
intelligence, morality and the Observ-
ance of religion are promoted and the
| general happiness of mankind becomes
greatly advanced. While the stock of
money is diminishing, prices fall, com
merce IS depressed, enterprises are
abandoned or neglected, industry is
paralyzed its products are diminished
its supporters defeated in their just ex-
pectatiOaS or thrown out of employ
ment, bankruptcies and forced sales
are increased, crime increases and gen
era1 misery prevails"
This law, technically known as Cries.
cendo ct din1ue,oc5o, is but too true, and
we have but too fully realized the eff
fects of a contracting currency, there
fore we make no apology for the inser-
tion Of this extract. The scarcity of
money is not felt in Wall street be
cause the greater portion of the gold
of the United States is practically in
their hands, and surely there is enough
gold, for their interest since at least 80
per cent. of their business is done by
checks, drafts, ETC., while the poorer
classes must use subsidiary coin as their
transactions are not on so large a scale
By means of silver and silver certifi-
Gates the great bulk of the peo-
pie effect their transactions if
they are not from the lack of a
sufficiently full currency, of necessity
forced to a system of credit. Some
hold that as money is only a measure
of value it is immaterial whether our
currency be great or small; that would
be true if we were. at the beginning of
things and were now to establish prices
| without nracedent. but as the prices of