The Somerset herald. [volume] (Somerset, Pa.) 1870-1936, 1891-09-02
sHERMAN's SPEECH ON SILVER.
The Veteran Ohio Senator Makes
Strong Address ut Pauldins.

er the holder of silver ballion may deposit il
in the Treasury Of the United States and de-
mand and receive for it one dollar Of coined
money for every 81 grains Of fine silver de-
pcsited. The market value of 80 much sill
yer bullion is nov about ~ cents. varying
however, from day to day like other COM
modities, sometimes more and sometimes
less. The other question is whether the
policy of taxing imported goods by the Gov
eminent of the United States, embodied in
our existing tariff is wise public policy or
whether il should be succeeded by what is
called tariff for revenue only as embodied
in what is known as the Mills bill, which
passed the House OF Representatives In 1855
and was rejected BY the Senate.
sNow these measures affect directly the
business interests. the life and work and
labor and property Of every inhabitant OF
the United States, from the humblest toiler
10 thelgreatest capitalist in all his multiplied
employment Of human life, and every grade
Of human industry Surely such questions
ought 70 be considered free from party bias
or heat OF excitement, and solely with
view 10 promote the greatest good Of the
greatest number. Under our free system of
government there is no way to determine
them except by the judgment Of the people
authorized to vote, each voter having an
equal voice through representative chosen
By them, either directly by ballot or indi-
rectly through the legislatures Of these
eral States.
Now. you all know that the money in
circulation in the United States-all of it's
good, as good as gold 1t will pass every
where and buy as much as the same amount
Of any other money in the world Our
money is of many kinds-gold, silver nickel
and copper are all coined into money. Then
we have United States notes. or greenbaeks,
gold certificates, Treasury notes and Nation
al bank notes But the virtue of all these
many kinds Of money is that they are all
good. A dollar Of each is as good as dollar
Of any other kind. All are As good as gold.
But, and here comes the first difficulty, the
silver in the silver dollar is not worth as
much as the gold in the gold dollar. The
nickel in that coin is worth but small part
of cents worth Of silver. And the copper
in the cents is not worth one-fifth OF the
nickel in a Scent piece. How then, you
may ask me, can these coins be made equal
TO each other? TheSnswe is that coinage
is Government monopoly, and though the
copper in cents is not worth q nickel, and
the nickel in 20 pieces is not worth silver
dollar, and the silver in 10 dollars is not
worth l6 dollars in gold, yet, ss the Govern
ment coins them, and receives them, and
maintains them at par with gold coin, they
are, for all purposes, money equal to each
other, and wherever, they go, even into
foreign countries, they are received and paid
out as equivalents
TIE reason of ali this is that the United
States limits the amount of all the coins 70
be issued except gold, which being the most
valuable, is coined without limit. If coin
age all these metals was free. and any
holder of copper, nickel. silver or gold could
carry it TO the mint to be coined, we would
hove no money but copper and nickel, be
cause they are the cheaper metals, worth
less than One-fourth Of what, rs coin, they
purport to be. For the same reason. if the
coinage of silver was free at the ratio Of IL
of silver to l of gold, no gold would be coin
ed, because l6 ounces of silver are not worth
one ounce of gold. A holder Of both silver
and gold would take his silver to the mint
and get dollar for every 81 grains. He
would sell his gold in the market or expori
il and get 25 per cent more dollars for gold
than he could at the mint As q matter o.
course he would not take his gold to the
mint"
The Senator then spoke of the purchase BY
the Government of silver bullion, and speak
ing Of free coinage said:
Free coinage means that we shall puT.
chase not merely four and half million
ounces month, but all the silver that is Of
fered, come from where it may, if presented
in quantities of 100 ounces at a time. We
are TO give to the holder either coin ol
Treasury notes, at his option, at the IA o.
81 for every 81 grains, now worth in III,
market Il cents. Who can estimate the un
told hords of silver that will come into th'
Treasury if this policy is adopted. All o.
this will be represented by our Treasury
notes-an increase Of the national debt. Il
is public bid Of g cents an ounce NOR.
than the market price for all the silver afioai
and all that can be hereafter produced, made
at time when silver is declining in value
and when many Of the commercial nations
are seeking to convert their silver into gold
The Latin nations, including France, have
been trying to maintain the value of silver
but the Latin Union is now dissolved. anC
each Of these nations are now seeking fol
gold to replace their silver.
But how can a farmer or laborer or othel
producer be benefited by cheaper dollar
The dollar is the measure of his toll. 1t i.
only useful TO him to buy the necessaries Of
life or 10 accumulate property for advancing
age It's value is measured by its purchasing
power. Cheaper dollars make more dollars
necessary for his wants The relative mar
|
fall with the marke, value of the dollar, ant
unless the silver dollar is worth as much a,
the gold dollar il viii not buy as much hos
and hominy as the gold dollar. No govern
ment is powerful enough to fix the prices o
anything. We tried during the war bu
the price went up as the dollar went down
In the North the greenback dollar, the sacred
promise of nation, would at one time bus
only as much as 40 cents in coin. In th,
South the dollar of the Confederacy wen
down to the value Of rags. A Government
may say what shall be money and may cal
it dollar, dime or g cent and make ii {
legal tender, but no one but the owner o
property, from cup Of milk TO an improved
farm, can say bow many dollars or dimes o.
cents can buy the milk or the farm"
Speaking Of the features Of the campaign
Senator Sherman said: Al believe the fre'
coinage Of silver idea is the result Of q bar
gain between what is called the nationa
executive silver committee, composed o
representative Of the great silver mining
corporations Of the United States, with som,
of the leaders of the Democratic party, BY
which 5 portion Of the profits Of these corpo
rations is to be invested in this Ohio canvas,
20 defect the Republican party, and especial
IL to down John sherman on the issue o
the free coinage OF silver. As for myself it il
a matter Of little importance. / have hsC
| some experience in such contests before