Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1891-02-17
The SILVER QUESTION.
vurthcr Mouse Committee Hearings
Touching Free Coinage.

Furthor House Committee ho""h'
Touching Free Coinage.
tBy telegraph to me Dispatchi
WARRINGTON, ID. e., February l6.-Ihe
House Coinage Committee to-day gave y
bearing on the silver question to deleeeas
ton sent here by the New York Board OK
Trade and Transportation. u, Waloo
Smith, their first spokesman, said tneIe
was not q single banker IN tine D9aru
every member being either 2 mercnan.Is
OF a manufacturer; Mr.. smith E s
York Wholesale -Gsocers' Association,
and that both bodies were utterly ana en-.
tirely opposed 10 any silver Legislation ~
present. believing il would be dangerous
Unfortunate. and unwise. he tnen pIcl,
scented the memorial adopted by the Doaru
al il last meeting. This memorial de-
clared that free coinage would demonetlze
gold. and expressed belief IN an int H,,rad
tional monetary agreement penn ,St;on
Mr.. Il, Fllery Anderson. president OF tne
Cooper Union meeting in New YORK, spoks,
AGAINST the pending bill. he argued
AGAINST debasement of the coinage ana AZ ~,
serted that If the act passed ana snteI III
NOT Greatly and permanently rise IN tne
wortd,s market. not another dollars worth
Of cold would come to the Treasury On-
der the present bill, silver wouIo ne We
rise TO a parity with gold until tneres NE NE
an entire change IN the conditlons. % no
world and an agreement among ine ma
tions was reached. The legal tender Iest
ture would be lost as soon az the pfeseh.s
debt were paid, because the new oeO'
would be payable in gold. c.rol-
MIR. w. I. Trenholm, formerly Comptrol;,
Ter of the Currency and now presldent Oh
the American Security Company Oh WV
York. said that his company could not 10
injured by this legislation, and spoke SIN,
NV as a student of finance: The poun9
Sterling or sovereign, he said, was nxeu
point. Those who thought free coinage
was going to make money, easy, ne pc
lieved would find themselves mistaken:
Snnnose the effect of the free coinage OF
silver Is 10 make 412x grains OF silver
worth % g. 10 grains of gold In tins coun-
try-that is, par. There was no siVs5 ~
Europe OF Asia exchangeaole 1or goiu ~
ANYTHING like this rate. There Wouiu,
therefore, be nothing TO pIeuye .ho o 1me
immediate shipment here OF all the SUI,
nlus foreign silver, because II would
be worth more here than any
where else. He remembered when there
was a cotton corner in New York ana cot
TON was reshipped here from Liverpool.
The same thing would happen with sliVer
If cold should not rise TO premium. But
he believed gold and silver must ineVlta-
Div part company. He thought the mo-
ment free coinage came this country would
begin to lose silver. 1t was estimated that
between seven and eight hundred millions
Of cold was in circulation in the United
states. AT least FIVE hundred millions
of that gold would cease to be
money and would become property,
and il would be the very easiest
property on which to borrow money.
The effect would be that gold would go 9p
and bring about all the. disturbed condl;;
tions of trade that had always followed
gold fluctuations: The United states
would reinstate all the speculation anu
ali the disasters of the time when gold was
a matter of speculation.
A number OF other arguments were made
and letters and resolutions read IN line
with thnaa here renresented.