Fort Worth gazette. [volume] (Fort Worth, Tex.) 1891-1898, 1891-07-19
SILVER QUESTION N.
The Danger Of Neglecting 1t
How 1t Must be Met.
HANDLED BY A .FlNANCII /
A Coinage Union Between the Great
tions on . Basis Broad Enough y
Give Stability to this Form of
Money Beyond all Possibility. v
Copyright 1891. All rights reserved

none that so vitality affects the future OF -
financial interests as this one: NV q
shall be the status of silver among
worlds currencies?r At the present til
about one-half of the world s metallic monH
consists of silver. and the other half golo-
1t is clear that silver cannot maintain its
necessary function as money unless II IS IN
vested with stability Of exchangeable value.
Such stability it cannot possess without the
intervention of a conventional arrangement
which, with all the force of uniform law,
makes a given weight of silver virtually
eNchangeable for a given weight of gold
This principle once established, and silver
bullion being made convertible into silver
coin at the minis of the chief nations on de-
mand, it follows that the bullion value of
silver must constantly conform closely TO
its valueas coin, and the stability of the val
ue of silver coin would thus be insured.
The difficulty has been that owing to petty
jealousies and prcjudices, governments have
hesitated to act with the unaniuity that Is
necessary to an efficient conventional an
rangement. Each one has preferred that
others should take the responsibility of free
coinage, and the result has been that unre-
stricted coinage has been adopted only by
those nations which happened to be most
imperatively committed TO the necessity of
protecting their silver circulation. Those
nations were comprised in the international
combination known as The / attn Union. y
That union was found competent to take
care of all the new supplies of silver. so
long as the principle of free coinage was
maintained, and the value of the metal was
kept uniform under its operation. In an
evil hour, however certain German theor-
lists persuaded Chancellor Bismarck to COM
nit Germany to the demonstration of sill
yer. The large supply of the metal thereby
suddenly thrown into the mints of the union
nations alarmed that combination, first, into
a limitation of their coinage of silver, and,
finally
INTO A SUSPENSION OF IT.
The coinage demand for silver being thus
cut off, the price of silver bullion was cut
loose from the relative legal valuation be-
tween silver coin and gold, and was left to
drift with the variations in the commercial
demand and to decline in consequence of
an excess of supply over demand This is
Il brief explanation of the causes of the
present depreciation in the value of silver.
l know of no way of repairing the value
of that metal, other than by establishing an
international union, similar in its objects
and conditions 10 the now virtually defunct
Latin union, but embracing wider range
of governments than that combination did.
the cooperation of the United States, Eng
land and Germany being especially import
ant.
Possibly existing stocks of gold in Europe
and America might be sufficient to serve
the purposes of banking reserves and for
transmission in the international exchanges;
but it is impracticable to use such valua-
Bile metal to the extent required for the pur-
poses of active circulation, and this creates
necessity for 4 silver legal tender coin for
the retail transactions of business. For
this reason regard the use of silver, co-or-
dinately with gold, as an Indispensable ele-
ment in the worlds currency.
l regard an international union as abso-
lutely necessary for maintaining the joint
use of gold and silver if the relative value
between those metals is to be maintained.
If uniform value of silver were adopted
by members of such union and if the mint
of each nation were bound to coin all silver
brought to it, and the COINS were made
legal tender it appears to me that this
would establish uniform value for silver
bullion the world over, on parity with the
legal valuation of silver coin; and this con-
yentional value of bullion would be pre-
served as long as the union should be con-
tinued. Even the limited international AZ
rangement known as the Latin union Suf-
feed to keep silver at about 60 pence per
ounce until its members, taking fright at
the decentralization of silver by Germany,
stopped the coinage of silver; when, the
conventional support being withdrawn and
the coinage demand suspended, bullion fell
to its value
AS MERE COMMODITY.
This shows how effective the union prin-
ciple is, and what becomes of silver with
out it.
If an international union were to fix the
value of the two metals at fifteen and one
half weights of silver to one of gold, the
rate now general in Europe, and the men,
bers of the union We're compelled to coin it
on demand at that rate, then the free con-
vertibility of bullion into coin would neces-
Sarily make the coin and the bullion of
equal value, except the slight difference
that might arise from coinage charges;
which is tantamount to making silver
worth about 60 pence an ounce, or its for
mer value.
In view of the differences of opinion in
Europe on the standard question and the
strong prejudices in England in favor of
the gold standard, it appears to me more
than doubtful whether any step will be
taken on this subject until those countries
are made to carry the burthenCof the large
surplus of silver that we are now coming.
But with So, 600 600 to $50, 000, 900 of bullion
of our silver going thither every year, the
effect would be so serious upon Asiatic trade
and upon the immense silver circulation of
the Latin nations, that it seems certain
they would soon become willing TO assume
their share in restoring silver. At any
rate it is proper and necessary compul-
sion for US to apply.
The government is very closely threat
ened with suspension of gold payments if
the coinage is continued. We have already
seen point at which the treasury had to
negotiate with the banks for six millions of
gold to avert that catastrophe, and tits only
a thin margin of very few millions that
separates US from such condition all the
time. OF course, if the government sus-
pended coin payments, gold would be apt to
go to an indefinite premium with the con-
sequence of rush of greenbacks into the
treasury for redemption and a depreciation
of such paper as is redeemable in silver to
the purchasing power of that coin. In my
view, these dangers are much nearer than
is generally supposed, and it is a most un-
jus tifable policy that needlessly perpetuates
this state of things.
For the reasons already given / regard
the suspension of the coinage of the silver
dollars as to the last degree imperative.
And the suspension should be both total and
unconditional. Either a partial or temper
airy suspension would fail equally to avert
home dangers with which we are threatened.
and to- bring about that European action
which is Indispensable to sound and per-
manent settlement of the question.
So long as there is no efficient conven4
tional arrangement for maintaining the
value of silver, no nation can safely con-
tinue its coinage, because, in so doing, it is
increasing its stock of currency, the futufNs
value of which cannot be depended Supoh
and which might easily become source of
embarrassment and injustice between citi-
zen and citizen, between debtor and credi-
tor. In our country, however, such was the
political influence of the silver producing
states that they easily induced congress to
order the coinage of not less than s24 Oh, 900
per annum of standard silver dollars The
effect of this has been undoubtedly to some