The Big Stone post. (Big Stone Gap, Va.) 1890-1892, 1891-01-16
SHERMAN ON SILVER.
Clear and Exhaustive Argument Against
the Free and Unlimited Coinage of
Silver and the Evils that
Must Follow.

the Free and Unlimited Coinage of
Silver and the Evils that
Must Follow.
FACTS WORTH STUDYING.
Mr.. Sherman: "Mr President, gold is
the standard in France precisely as it is
in the United States, and while the Bank
of France, a private corporation, although
somewhat in the nature of public cor
poration, has the option to pay in either
silver or gold, yet it never does exercise
the option to pay in silver except where it
is manifest that the demand is forthe pur-
pose of disturbing the equipoise now estab-
| lishcd in France between silver and gold.
But France is upon the gold standard.
France coins TO silver coin except for sub
sidiary purposes. 1t has not coined 1t for
wears, not, / think, since the dissolution
of the Latin Union, and its position, so far
as the standard of value is concerned, is
precisely like ours. Gold is the standard,
but silver is used as an aid an adjunct TO
their circulation precisely and to the same
extent it is here, except that we have gone
further, because we measure our silver d.
rectly by the gold standard.
Silver has been coined upon the gold
standard and never upon anything else,
since 1873
But let us 60 little further. That is
only incidental to Il remark to which
wish to call the attention of the Senate
The Senator from Nevada commenced his
argument with the proposition that he
proposes to increase by the coinage of sill
yer the volume Of the currency OF this
country What strange proposition IL
that Does not the Senator know that
the proposition he offers, if it should be
adopted and be approved by the President
of the United States and become law,
would at once convert the whole of the
gold and gold bullion of our country into
a mere commodity, to he measured, it Is
true, at premium, but to he absolutely
excluded from circulation?
Tie very fear which haunts the minds
of the business men all over the country
now is that new standard is TO he adopt
ed. That has and will lead to the hoard
ing of gold and the making OF gold con-
tracts in every case where it is possIhle
and to the issue of nearly all the bonds
recently or now issued by great corpora
tions payable in gold. 1t is the fear OF
this -vcry stroke which is now aimed at
the business interests Of our country that
still keeps the people of this country agl-
tatcd and alarmed lest the stringcncy
which came from the Argentine confcdcr-
alton, silver country, which extended to
: the markets of Europe, and finally crossed
the ocean and now lives with us here, may
be increased.
All the circumstances which surround
our financial condition are favorable to
the United States, They were never so
strong AS they arc today, and never before
in the history of the world did nation
command more lofty or noble position
than the United States now holds; and yet,
sir, that position which has given it
strength and power and credit everywhere,
is threatened by this sudden change of the
standard of value.
Increase the currency Why, the most
fatal effect Of this will lie an enormous
dminution of the currency. because more
than one half of the currency Of our coun-
try is now gold or is based upon gold,
and every dollar of that is demonetized
when this bill goes into actual operation.
Mr.. Plumb: If the Senator will allow
me
Mr.. Sherman: hope the Senator will
allow me to 20 on.
Mr.. Plumb: | should like TO know the
AUTHORITY for the statement of the Senator
that United States notes are based upon
gold?
Mr.. Sherman: That is a dispute upon
which we shall differ; but say all our con-
tracts arc now based on gold values. Why,
Mr.. President, we today buy silver bullion
at its gold value and issue notes only up
on the gold value of that silver bullion.
With all our efforts to do so, rs ! shall
show hercaftcr-and am just as anxious
to raise the value OF silver up to gold
as ANYBODY can bc--we have thus far fall
ed The hill of the last session, which,
in nv Judgment, was a wise bill under the
circumstances, was founded upon the idea
that our values should be based upon gold
but that silver should be used to the full
est extent possible as security for notes
and that it should he coined, if necessary,
into silver dollars and into subsidiary sill
yer, to be lifted, if possible, by the power
and weight Of oui influence up to the
standard of gold, for after ali they are all
founded on gold.
| have before me a statement made
by the Secretary Of the Treasury within
a day or two, from which it appears that
there is now in the possession OF the
Government of the United States gold coin
to the amount Of $226, 220,6O4. There is
bullion in possession of the Government
TO the amount of $6G, 799, eco, or $293,000,-
600 OF gold in the Treasury. The Secre-
tary also in recent report tells us that
from the statistics Of the national hanks
and from other sources the amount of gold
in this country is over $GG0,000,OC0, a
greater sum than exists in the treasury or
in the circulation Of any country III the
world
Not only arc our transactions based up
on this gold, but VIC have larger amount
of this precious metal than any other ma
ton in the world. Nowyo propose to de-
monetize this great mass OF money, 10
change the value to some other standard
to use some other as the unit of coinage
and unit of value. This is the proposition
made here.
/ Now, let us look little further into this
matter. That this will contract the cur
rency no man doubts ordisbeleves. What
man who looks to his interest-and all
men are guided by self-interest in all mat
ters of business-would exchange this
mass of gold, dollar for dollar, with sill
yer, at 81 for gold for 81 grains of sill
yer? Will any man who possesses gold
knowing that its market value now for
series Of years has been far in advance OF
4 =. Ia oil