Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1891-12-17

which to export silver, and the whole
amount of which, from the beginning of
the government to the passage of the act
referred to, was only $1,000, 000-this sill
yer dollar was, upon the petition of the
legislature Of California, ana upon the
motion of her senators and by the unani-
nous vote of both houses of con
gress, without objection from any one
dropped from our coinage, and in its
place was substituted the trade dol
lar, containing a few more grains of
silver. A few years afterwards. silver
having fallen rapidly in market prices,
congress restored the coinage Of the silver
dollar. limiting the amount to not exceed
ing 4, 000, 900 nor less than 2,000,00
month, and under this law in period of
twelve years we used over 400, 200, 900 of
silver dollars, fifty times the amount that
had been coined prior to 1878. And now
under existing law we are purchasing 54,-
600, 900 ounces of silver a year; so that
what she calls the demonstration of silver
has resulted in its use in our country to
an extent more than fifty fold greater than
before its decentralization. In spite Of all,
and growing out of tue increased supply
of silver and the cheapening processes of
It's production, it is going down in
market, and is only maintained at par
with gold by the fat of the different gov
ernments coming it. Now the deluded
people belonging to the class of Mrs. Em
cry are seeking to cheaper the purchasing
power Of the dollar In the hands of the
farmer anu laborers by the free coinage of
a cheap silver dollar, at the demonetiza-
ton of gold.
GAS to the national banking systm,
which is one Of Mrs Enery's 'conspiracies
is now conceded to have been the best
form of paper money issued by banks that
has ever b, en- devised. It was organized
to take the place Of the state banks, which
at the beginning Of the war had outstand-
ing $500, OG0, 600 Of notes of value varying
from state and most of it at discount of
from 5 t. Is per cent. 1t Was ABSOLUTELY
necessary t. get rid of these state bank
notes and to substitute in their place the
notes Of banks which were secured beyond
doubt by the deposit Of United States
bends, a system so perfect that from the
beginning until now no one has lost dol
lar On the circulating notes of the national
banks The system may have to give way
because we are paying off our bonds, but
no sensible man will ever propose in this
country to 90 back to the old system Of
state banks, and if some security to take
the place OF United States bonds can be
devised for national bank notes, the sys
tenn will be, and ought to be perpet-
uated.
THE third conspiracy referred to is
contraction of the currency. LII has been
demonstrated by official documents that
from the beginning of the war to this
Tho 1vcI,,p,o Of has hnnr
increasing year by year more rapily than
our population. In 1860 the total amount
of ali the money in circulation was S435,-
00G, 900, when our population was 81, OOO,-
O00, and half of this was money of vari
able ard changing value, Now we have
ia circulation 81 500, 900, 900, with pop
ulation of $1,000, 900. and every dollar of
this money is as good as gold, all kinds
equal 10 each other, passing from hand
20 hand and paid out as good money
not only in the United States, bat among
ali the commercial countries Of the world.
Our money has increased near ly fourfold;
while our population has only doubled.
TIE statements made by Mrs. Emery
about the contraction of our currency
are not only misleading, but they are ab
solutely false. She states that in 1868
S3iO,UOU,OOO VI puI iioHty was hSStlUScu.
and III 1859 $500 100000 of our money
passed into a cremation furnace, ard In
1879 S67 100000 was destroyed. Now
these statements are absolutely false.
What she calls money IN these paragraphs
was the most burdensome form of interest
bearing securities, treasury notes bearing
7.3 per cent. interest, and compound In
terest notes. These were the chief and
most burdensome items Of the public debt.
They were paid eff in the years named,
aud we're never at any time for more than
q single day money in circulation. When
issued they were received as money, but as
interest accrued they became investments
and were not at all in circulation.
"These statements of Mrs. Emery are
paIbable falsehoods, which if stated by a
man would iustifz a stronger word.
GAS for Mrs Emery's criticisms upon
me personally I do not even deem them
worthy of answer. She repeats the old
story that [ was interested in the First
Nat onal bank of New York, and gave it
the free use of the peoples money. a plain
lie, contradIcted and dlsappr0ved over and
over again. | never had the slightest ia
terest IN the bank, direct or ind .rect, and
as the public records Will show, gave it no
favors, but treated It like al ether re-
positories of public money and held it to
the most rigid accountability; nor have |
il any case derived the slightest pecuniary
benefit from airy measure either pending
in or before congress since have been IN
public life"