Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1891-02-17
IN BEHALF OF SILVER.
Ex-Congrsssman Warner Before the House
Coinage Committee,


Coinage Committee,
Mr.. A. J. Warner. formerly a member Of
Congress from Ohio and now the head OF the
silver national executive committee, made a
vigorous argument today before the House
committee on coinage in advocacy Of the bill
for free coinage of silver. He first di-
rec.ed attention to the assertions of
the anti-silver men that gold was the
least variable of all measures of value. He de-
clared this statement to be just the reverse of
the truth and insisted that gold and not other
articles had changed most in value. Since
1873. he said, gold had increased 50 per cent in
purchasing power. He granted that since that
year there had been great improvements in the
methods of production. but this accounted for
small part only OF the difference in values.
There had been double increase due TO
change in the measure of value well as in
the supply and demand. IN the last seventeen
years there had been but little change in the
methods of producing wheat. corn, cotton, to-
bacco or meat. There had been no increase in
wheat production beyond the increase in popu-
lation, and yet the price has fallen from Ella
to 81 cents.
CONTINUOUS DECLINE
The decline, although not regular, had been
continuous. In all the staples it took three
measures to obtain the same weight in gold that
could be obtained formerly with two measures.
No. the change in the gold The annual
average production of gold had fallen from
S165, 900. GOO in 1873 to Sl05o00 600 last year.
In 1873 the population of the gold-using coun-
tries was 75.000.000. There was then
no gold in Germany, in Italy,
in the United States in Holland. From 1873 TO
1881 these four countries took from the gold
using countries more than Sl,O0O.00OOV0 of
gold. In the United States there were 65,000,
coo of people; in Germany, i0, coo .000 in Italy.
in
than twice as many people as in 1873 were now
using the limited quantity Of gold. The law Of
supply and demand made it impossible that the
purchasing power of gold should not be in
creased by this condition of things.
HE ATTACKS THE CONFIDENCE ARGUMENT.
Mr.. Warner then attacked the arguments of
those who maintained that ii was not money
but confidence that was wanted. and that the
credit system was the thing TO keep unshaken
MIR. Atkinson, he said, had stated that credit
was from thirty to fifty times as great as cur
rency.
That would make our capital between sew
enty-fi thousand millions and forty thousand
millions. pretty fair leeway for a scientist.
He believed in credit. but il should have a
sound basis, and was not as good as money it.
self In what did this credit system differ
from the wildcat, red dog and swamp angel
money issued years ago? 1t was very good TO
have confidence, but why not make
step further and adopt the
suggestion once made in the South Carolina
Legislature that whoever wavered in confidence
should be shot? He protested against a con-
tinuance of a system which brought everything
to standstill every few years by a collapse Of
the credit system--this confidence money.
People asked, he said, why money had fallen
from as high az $50 per cent to per cent
He answered that when the collapse came
there was not enough confidence money to go
Al u -
IT. The collapse of credit damned up busi-
ness, prices were falling and as nobody wanted
to borrow credit fell to 2 per cent.
AS TO EUROPEAN SILVER.
He then ridiculed the statements that silver
from Europe and India would food this coun-
try if free coinage law was passed. The for
eign ratio was from to per cent higher
than ours. SO that silver could not come here
II was time for the United States to make
declaration of independence and say to Europe
in what the balances of trade in our favor
should be paid to The United States had
power enough in the commercial world to MAIN
tain the purity between the two metals.
MR.. WALKERS EXAMINATION.
Mr. Walker began his examination Of Mr.
Warner by calling attention to the fact that the
same number of bushels of farm products
would now buy more of everything the
replied that that might be so as far as an ex-
change Of products was concerned but that the
farmer when he went to pay his debts and his
mortgage had to pay the same amount of
money and in an appreciated standard.
MIR. Wilcox also suggested that the great
advance in manufacturing has much to do
with the question.
Mr.. John Warner, Congressman-elect from
New York, who was one of the delega-
ton sent here from the Cooper Union
meeting, then protested against addi-
tional silver legislation. He traversed
the statements of the preceding witness and
asserted that the decline in the price of farm
products was due to improvements in pro-
duction and in transportation the world over.
The decrease was not as large as he would have
expected.
Mr.. Bartine asked: Suppose the people had
twice as much currency in their pockets as
now; would not their prosperity be greatly in
creased?
Mr.. warner-No. sir: it would have very lit
tie effect.
Mr.. Warner asserted that under free coinage
silver would come here from France not from
individuals, but from government of France
which had large stock on hand. The French
government could get gold from the
United States in exchange for sill
yer, and with that gold il could
buy back silver if it were wanted and coin
it and still have q large balance Of profit. Free
coinage would put us in the position Of Hutch
inson in Chicago cornering wheat The United
States would be compelled TO take all the silver
the world offered, Just as Hutchinson had to
take wheat from everywhere in order to keep
up the price.