, 1891-01-25

against the tree coinage OF silver are the
stock arguments Of the Eastern gold bugs.
The senator writes the Sun a letter a col
umn in length, in which he endeayors to
justify his position and, interential'Y at
least. to place The LEADER in the a'ti-
tude Of misrepresenting whatever views
he NAV now on sober second thought,
entertain regarding the silver question.
With a great show Of righteous iuiigna
ton he takes to task the Democratic scua-
tors who voted 10 favor Of the free coin
age Of silver, and expresses the conviction
-ha-not-nne halt them believe in
it. II the senator would only stop
to think about it, isn't u iu-t
As reasonable to suppose that these
gentlemen voted their honest convictions
on the coinage Of silver as TO believe Ia
he wishes Us to do that he Is 10 reality
in favor Of silver even though he voted
against it2 He goes to great lengths to
explain what those who voted in favor of
the bill are to gain by their vote. Some
of them, he alleges. expect to iniure
StNNNiahAa FNAAN NAhGNA ~ NAAal hbAt7 III
Farmers Alliance and mining districts He
n~eglects 10 state what he aad Carey have
gained or expect to gap by their vote
against free coinage.
After imputIng various improper mo-
tives to the Democratic senators who sup
ported the free coinage biIl-he goes on to
state two objections to the senate measure.
The first OF these is hat he objects to the
government paying 81 % for what he
claims to be 81 worth of silver coming
from foreign markets. while he might be
in favor Of doing sl for silver produced in
America. Secondly. he objects because
certificates are TO be issued for the silver.
redeemable in either gold or silver, and
the latter commodity would therefore be
housed in the treasury and not put in
circulation.
We can scarcely give the senator credit
for complete sincerity in the attitude
which be assumes Does he not know
that discrimination against silver produced
elsewhere than the United States would
Immediately create a difference in the
price of il here and abroad Wouldn't
this condition bring about the very state
of uncertainty which he seeks to avoid2
In attempting to jIstify his own anoma-
lous position he attempts to direct the
attention Of the people to one side of the
question solely, The constant reference
is to the price measured on a
gold basi.) which silver now com
mands AZ a commodity in the
market He does not Allude to
the fact that previous u the time when
silver was ~demonetized by a legislative act
in the United State it was commanding a
premium over gold The separation in
the market value Of the two metals began
the moment that silver was degraded as a
money metal and it has continued steadily
widening until this day. It is noticeable
too that as silver fell. downward went
the prices OF all commodities, an IN
dubitable proof Of the increase in tho
purchasing power Of a dollar. in gold. lie
does not mention the fact that from time
immcmorial gold and silver have been
jointly used as money metals; that history
shows that notwithstanding the enormous
huctuation n the production of the
metals their ratio was maintained
with the mot marvellous uniformity
and that their Increasing yield only kent
pace with the Increasing population of the
world and It's consequent increase 10 bust
ness. He does not allude to the fact that
with one tell sweep the gold bugs and
moneyed classes by the demonstration OF
silver reduced the circulating medium by
one half, thus doubling the value OF their
own possessions and iu addition adding
80 per cent more TO every dollar of debt
owed by the people Of the country. He
draws no picture of the financial disaster
which followed the cnartment of this
most crimira, piece Of legislation. He
says nothing of the prolonged effort OF
the silver men to secure relief; of the
passage Of the Bland silver act in 1877,
of the di-a ters then threatened by
the gold bugs and never realized.
He might have quoted from his friend
Sherman's predictions made before the
passage Of the Bland silver bill, and he
might have discovered that the point Of
disaster was raised by that gentleman
from the coinage of a few millions OF sill
yer dollars to hundreds Of millions, aud
yet gradual relief came aud not disaster,
aud the people are still crying for more.
The people believe the value OF a gold
dollar is abnormally high. They prove it
by the range OF prices for commoi iues,
which has steadily fallen with silver since
1873. From this they argue that no read
justnent equitable to the producer and
borrower can be brought about except by
restoring silver to the position it occupied
IN the eyes Of the law previous to 1873.
They nave no fears Of such an initiation of
the currency as is based upon a reasonable
conception of the business needs of the
country
As to the paper money proposed T. be
issued ia lieu OF silver Warren should not
forget that even his friend Sherman pro
posed a scheme which involved the
issuance Of certificates for silver. although
under his plan silver was to be MAINTAIN
ed as a COMMODITY. To afford an adequate
degree OF relief no half way measures will
do. For the past seventeen wears the pc
htical doctors have been applying plasters
IN tho hrnk on hones without first s~ettint