St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1891-10-21
UNsPE4KABLY VICIOUS.

Inquisitor writes to the GLOBE as fol
lows:
VIII the treasury department of the United
States give any one in exchange one million
in gold dollars for one million silver dollars?
No one can tell except Secretary Eos
TER, and he would not except in reply
to some one actually applying to him
for the exchange. The act of July ID,
1890, known as the SHERMAN law, is the
authority for the present silver cur
rency. 1t provides that the government
shall purchase 100000 ounces of silver
bullion each month, which is stored in
the national vaults. On the basis OF
this the treasury issues notes redeema-
bic on their face in coin. What kind Of
coin will be given in exchange for them
is not stated. The law itself says:
Upon the demand of any holder of the
treasury notes herein provided for, the sec
rotary OF the treasury shall, under such reg
ulations as lie may prescribe, redeem such
notes in gold or silver coin at his discretion,
ii being the established policy of the United
States to maintain the two metals on parity
with each other upon the present legal ratio,
or such as may be provided by law.
This seems to mean that the secretary
of the treasury shall use his discretion,
at any rate as far as these notes are CON
cerned, in such way as to keep the
two metals at parity. If, i'll his dis
erection, this end will be furthered by a
redemption in gold, he should make it
in gold; if by a redemption in silver,
he should make it in silver.
l.,
letter, which has been extensively pub
lished, in which he expresses the opinion
that this declaration of the governments
policy to maintain the two metals Oh a
parity applies only to such dollars as
are issued under the new law. That it
does not apply to the old silver dollar,
or TO the old silver certificates. If this
be correct, then the government is
under 10 obligation to redeem either of
these in gold. But it is only right to
say that this opinion is at variance with
tho generally accepted one. Most finan-
cierS cOnStrue tue declaration as being
general in its character, and as apply
ing 10 all the legal silver currency
which congress has thus prescribed
iiiHoI DO hCpo vi Clhdt pun
power with the corresponding gold
coins. In this view, should any one ask
Secretary FOSTER to exchange a million
silver dollars for a million gold ones, it
would be his duty to do so. provided, in
his discretion, the parity of the two
metals would thus be preserved. 9th
erwise, it would not.
The whole scheme is unspeakably vi
ciouS and at war with all the principles
OF sound finance. One dollar should be
worth every other dollar, not because
the law says it shall be, or because the
secretary Of the treasury would have it
so, but because the quantity of me tai in
it makes it. Our present silver cur
rency is no more real money than a
greenback would be. It's received just
as greenback would be, because peo-
pie have confidence in the ability of the
government to keep its promises. This,
however, is only token money, good
enough III times of peace and pros
perity, but liable in the hour Of trouble
to decline in value and carry general
ruin with it as it itself falls. The
Democracy is unalterably opposed to
dishonest Legislation OF this sort.