The Indiana State sentinel. [volume] (Indianapolis) 1868-1895, 1891-05-13
The SILVER QUESTION.
Congress should COnfine It's Attention 60
Coming Money for This Country.

Congress Should COnfine It's Attention 60
Coming Money for This Country
To THE EDIToR-Sir: Money is the rep
resentative of the surplus product of
labor or Of profits in business transactions
"a medium of exchange
Congress alone possesses the power to
make money, and for this purpose may
/ use any material it elects; but it is no
more the business of congress to supply
money TO meet the demands of the peo-
| pie for sufficient quantity of circulating
medium than it is to supply wheat to
the milers OF the United States to enable
them to supply the demand for -four. It
is the business OF the farmers to supply
the demand for wheat, and of the capi-
| tallsts TO supply the demand for money.
! In selecting a material IRON which 10
make money, one of the principal requi-
| sites Is metal not easily counterfeited,
and another, though less important reQui-
| site, is a material the commercial value of
which before coinage is nearly, but not
quite as great as is its exchange
value after coinage. For CONNER
| cial purposes, particularly foreign COM
merce, a coin containing a guam
tity of metal the commercial value
| change value is better coin for the country
issuing it, than is a coin of which the
| commercial value of the metal used to
make it is equal to or greater than its
coin or exchange value.
am aware that this theory is directly
| opposite to that which is advocated by
those who are in favor OF gold standard
! only.
Ii the commercial value of the metal in
q coin is the same as its coin value, then
| coin is melted and used for manufacturing
| purposes. To prevent such destruction OF
coin its legal tender value should be
greater than the commercial value of the
| metal it contains.
With gold standard or with double
standard with the same commercial value
| to the amount of silver used In a silver
dollar as that of the gold in gold dollar,
and this amount having the same COM
| mercial value as its coin value, money
| coined by the United States would leave
this country to pay for imports, and would
as a consequence, impoverlsh labor. dry
up commerce, cripple agriculture and
| bankrupt American manufactures. 1t is
solely because the commercial value
| of gold coin is taken as Its exchange value
! in paying for imports or debts
! due the United States that gold leaves
".
to paw for imports One-idea men conclude
that the country would 90 to the "demni-
ton bow-wows' if the gold standard were
abolished and in its stead double stand
ard be adopted. In foreign transactions
| gold does not circulate at its coin value
but at its commercial value determined by
weighing the coin. The q. S. government
will not accept gold coin at its face value
in payment of duties but by weight and
the debtor must make up the loss caused
by use of the coin.
1t should be evident to all that when
imports are paid for by coin that is ex-
ported then money needed in this coun-
try for business purposes is Withdrawn
from circulation, that labor, the agricult-
ural. mining and manufacturing indus
tries are all injured by the transaction.
If instead of the old fOgy gold standard
humbug, silver be coined with legal ten
der value. for debts OF all kinds and of
any amount, of say one-third more than
the commercial value of the metal re-
ouired in the coin and all unnecessary re-
strictions be removed from commerce
that is destroy the artificial barriers
to foreign commerce, imposed by
the Mckinley bill-imports would
largely increase and be paid for in silver
coin. which would not leave the country,
being far below its home exchange value,
but would be exchanged for the products
of the American farm and work shop.
The effect of such exchange would be the
same on American labor, agriculture and
manufactures as If the import purchases
had all been made in this country,
with this advantage to the people
of the United States, that by
exchanging American products, at profit,
for foreign products, the latter are OBJ
tanned at cost far below that which
would be required to produce them In this
country; and the farm and work shop
would employ labor to produce products
for foreign exchange which are not needed
for home consumption.
So long as silver is coined by congress IL
should make from it money for any indi-
vidual to the full extent OF ma
terial furnished, no matter from
what source obtained, and charge
the individual for manufacturing the
coin, the difference between the CONNER.
cial value of the amount of silver used in
a coin at the time OF coinage and the legal
tender value of the coin, except when
such values are nearly equal or the COM
mercial value is the larger when the owner
of the bullion should be charged the &C
tual cost of coinage.
Silver coin would circulate among the
people for small exchanges and in large
transactions would be transferred from
one owner TO another by means of bank
check or draft. Ii would not then
be piled up by the cord at WASH
ington as a standing temptation
to foreign countries to go to war with the
United States and make the Washington
silver vaults an important objective point.
This menace TO the peace OF our country
should be removed by calling in the gold
and silver certificates and by paying OF
first of all the non-interest bearing debt
forced loan.
Congress should confue its attention to
coming money for circulation in the
United States, instead of trying to make q
silver coin which shall have the same
legal tender value in all foreign countries
as in the United States. Such coin
would be disastrous to the interests OF
the United States. j. NJ. III.
Muncie, May l.
Who Knows?
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