Evening journal. [volume] (Wilmington, Del.) 1888-1932, 1891-10-23
Secretary Fosters Views on
the Silver Question.
HIS FIRST SPEECH OUT IN OHIO
lie Believes That Unlimited Coinage
Would Bring tho Worlds silver Here,
Drive All the Gold Out and Cause q
Sad Condition Of Affairs Generally.

the subject OF silver coinage. which Is now an
Issue between the two parties in Ohio, and IN
most Of tho states Of the Union, The Demo
cratic party in Ohio have declared for the free
| and unlimited coinage OF silver, The Repub
lican party stands upon conservative ground,
and in favor Of the present law upon that sub
| ject. think it may be safely assumed that the
mass Of our people, OF all parties, favor the use
| Of both gold and silver as money. The object
20 be sought II how 70 best obtain this result
| So far, by conservative management the Re
| publican party has been able 70 maintain both
metals and TO keep iQS00 900 silver dollars, coin
ed since 1873, in domestic circulation at par with
| gold for money uses The danger 10 be avoided
| is such legislation viii place US upon a silver
basis. That gold alone IS too narrow basis
/ npon which TO conduct tho business of the
| world must be apparent 20 every thinking man
| Il is safe. think, TO assume that members OF
| The Democratic party Of Ohio and Of the coun
1 try, whose occupation and modes Of thought
| give them the best opportunity TO form cor
/ rect judgment upon questions Of finance, are
| almost without exception, opposed 20 the free
! and unlimited coinage OF silver. Such course
| by this government without an international
/ agreement with other countries would newt
| ably place US upon a silver bagis-a basis Of
measurement Of values huctuating with the
market price of silver bullion. The yardstick
or dollar by which we measure values would be
elastic and uncertain.
The Two silver Dollars.
can best Illustrate this condition Of affairs
| by exhibiting two silver dollars Of two differ.
ent countries The first, which now hold in
my hand, Is a United States dollar; It contains
ll2t6 grains Of standard silver, and is worth at
the present market value Of silver bullion
about seventy-hve cents and that h all IL would
bring In any other country but our own. But
in this country, because the secretary Of the
treasury has maintained the parity between
gold and silver on the basis OF sixteen 70 one,
and because we have been able to maintain
| gold payments this dollar Is worth as much as
a gold dollar to the man who wants 70 use il.
The dollar now show you Is minted in Mex
loo II has nearly six more grains Of pure
silver in It than the United States dollar. You
cannot uso Il in Mexico, the United States OF
any other country for any more than the oul
lion value Of the silver that Is in it, which Il
about seventy seven cents. The great DANCE
OF free and unlimited coinage Is that the silve
dollar which first exhibited win be worth les
than the Mexican silver dollar. II Is i'm
mutable law Of finance that the poorer dollar
always displaoes the better one A silver basis
would exclude the S6500OO,00O Of gold now IN
our country from use "a money Il would
largely go abroad 70 pay for the silver that
would be sent TO us from foreign countries
know it is disputed by the advocates Of free
coinage that there Is any silver abroad My
| investigations lead me to believe that there
is in Germany, Austria and other countries oi
Europe more than S9O00O000 Of silver, TO say
nothing Of the vast boards Of silver in Mexics
and South American countries in the shape OF
coin, jewelry, etc, that would come TO thii
country the moment we were ready TO pay
81 per ounce for it, OF even a lower rate.
The influx Of silver which would inevitably
be the result Of free coinage here would very
soon compel this country to abandon gold anc
TO put itself upon a silver basis. What does un
limited free coinage meant II means that the
owner Of seventy-hve cents worth Of silver
! may take it to any Of our mints and have II
coined into a legal tender dollar; a dollar that
If this country is able 10 maintain gold pay
| ments cas- these free silver advocates contend
we CAM gives the holder Of seventy-five cents
worth of silver one hundred cents gold value
If we are to have unlimited coinage, why moi
give the profit to all Of our people, rather thar
to the individual holder Of the bullion? IL is thl
edict Of the government that gives the COINED
dollar the value Of one hundred centF in gold.
Quality Not Quantity.
The advocates of free coinage said 1t wa
necessary to give the country larger vol
/ ume of money, but the speaker though
quality not quantity was first to be con
sidered. Poor money, however plentiful
would soon prove to be a grave disaster
T and the first ia the land to feel its disas
trous effect would be the laborer and tn
farmer The United States, too, today hat
per capita circulation greater than tina
OF any other civilized country on eartl
except France. Besides that, by the pur
chase Of 100000 ounces Of silver we wer
adding about $4,5OO,0OO in legal tende
! treasury notes monthly to the volume o
/ our currency. None Of the civilized ooun
tries OF Europe at this time, he said, per
! mitted the coinage Of silver, except II
limited quantities. Unlimited coinag,
would bring us the worlds silver W.
could not maintain the parity OF thl
81 metals and would soon be placed by thi
side Of Mexico and the Asiatic countries
2 with a currency fuctuating in value anC
having an ever increasing downward ten
dency. The $3.50, 600 in gold we nov
} have, and the S7O0 900, 600 70 $3.50, 900, 900 w
! are soon to have would vanish, creating
the most disastrous contraction of the cur
I rency which this country has ever seen
i, Continuing, Mr.. Foster said;
Concerning the Present Policy. E9
Let no one deude himself into the belief tina
, the world would not deluge us with silver. Un
4 der the stimulus Of the present law silver ad
c vanced fifteen to twenty cents per ounce. Tn
effect was 10 promptly bring TO our shore owe
l. | S27 O0OO0 OF foreign silver, thus flooding ou
market and compelling decline in price to tn
u point from which the advance began. Ad
thirty cents per ounce to the present value an
=, IL viii not require the aid of prophet to fors
tell the result The Republican party propose
| conservative action. IL mas IN my uplnlOi
gone as far as prudence will permit in the ma
ter Of silver legislation But for the feeling e.
isting abroad that public sentiment in th
n country is such as 10 compel the adoption
unlimited free coinage, we could make som
agreement for at least a better use of silver,
not a complete international agreement.
I do not see any immediate danger from ii
present policy, which requires for every dolla
of paper issued for the purchase Of silver bu
r lion an equal dollars worth OF bullion benin
it. This act does not rsquire-except for II
purpose Of rede0ming the treasury notes issue
in payment for bulion-the coinage Of silv,
| dollars.
Modern civilization, together with the legi
lation Of the Republican party, have demo-
strated the superiority Of the paper represent
tive over gold or silver coin. When we col
gold and silver we stack up the product in Il
treasury OF the United States, and issue certii
Gates for these gold and silver dollars, whic
the people use in preference to the gold and 81
ver coin itself, and if you are offered more this
five dollars in silver you absolutely reb
against taking IT, ask, then, what is the u
Of going TO the expense Of coming either go
or silver and after il is coined to stack II up
the treasury aud issue certificates against