Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1891-11-19
FOSTERS SILVER UrTEHANCES.

Secretary, Foster tackled the silver ques
tion once more on Tuesday, this time in
an address to the Chamber of Commerce
In New York. While the Secretary's pre-.
vlous deliverances on this point have been
somewhat peculiar, this speech fairly
Dristles with points, the chief use of whose
sharpness is to let them impale each other.
The Secretary starts by asserting the
principle that 'gold alone furnishes too
narrow basis upon which to conduct the
money affairs of the world" This, while
cisputable, is, we believe, correct. But the
trouble with it in the Secretary's mouth is
that the silver policy which the Secretary
has undertaken to champion rests as COM
pieteiy on the gold basis as if all the silver
dollars and ali the silver certificates were
so many promises to pay in gold. The
Secretary himself in his letter to the
Bankers Convention said that the silver
certificates are redeemable in gold and
that the Government is under pledge to
maintain them at par That puts them on
the gold basis exclusively, and leaves the
S400,000,00O of silver in the Treasury SIM
ply as useless stock.
The Secretary then goes on to argue
that the fears of reduction to a silver
basis are groundless, because, so far, the
Treasury has succeeeed in maintaining
S4oo, 100000 of the silver tokens, or the GER
tlficates representing them at par with gold.
But does that argue that, at the present
time, when the Treasury resources consist
mainly of its immense stock of silver, and
the gold surplus( (outside of the reserve for
the legal tenders and silver certificates) is
nearly exhausted. that the Treasury may
not by sudden drafts upon it be driven to
silver payments. When the Treasury is
forced to draw on its silver it can, under
the law, pay out only silver dollars; and
when it does that the 'parity" which the
Secretary thinks is being maintained,
would speedily become a minus quantity.
On this same question Of parity the
Secretary develops some original ideas.
He thinks that the parity is maintained
because the Treasury sustains silver coins
and certificates at par with gold, just as it
does legal tenders. There has been a
superstition that parity means the use of
bullion of equal value in the coins of two
metals Thus the parity of silver is at the
rate of 1.29 per ounce in gold. That
makes the bullion in the silver dollar equal
in value to that in the gold dollar But the
Secretary teaches us to rise above any
such limitations as that eff the price of
silver were advanced from 81 to 81 90 per
ounce" says he, "all silver in the world
would be attracted to this country To
maintain the parity under these circum-
stances would be difficult" In other
words, the Secret ary's great idea is that in
order to maintain the parity we must
jealousy maintain the existing disparity
The Secretary is right in holding that it
is his duty to study and administer the
law, and we may credit him with doing
this consistently in the practical admins
tration of the Treasury. But when he at
tempts to take the position of public ex-
FOUNDER and champion of the silver policy,
which is really no policy at all, he speedily
gets himself into logical difficulties No |
better illustration of his limitations in this |
respect is needed than his assertion that |
this act is the only possible compromise |
between free coinage and absolute gold |
That is a politicians |
view; but statesman would perceive that |
lhe real policy which makes the use of sill
yer possible without depreciation of the
standard is to coin silver dollar of equal
bullion with gold, to issue certificates on
,ither the coin or the bullion and to re-
ieem with either the coin or the bullion.
After Secretary Fosters recent efforts
n the line of eXpounding and champion
ng the law, it is charitable wish that he
hould confine himself to its administra-
ion. That will be just as well for the
aw and great deal better for him. On
his point Fosters silence will be golden.