Delaware gazette and state journal. (Wilmington, Del.) 1883-1902, 1892-03-17


coinage OF the precious metals, or either
OF them. by the government of the
United States? These precious metals
are not public property they belong
ny whose labor they were produced out
OF the earth--but are certified by the
stamp oil the mint-not as to 9diue-but
as to actual weight and fneness for
money dealings. Who will deny that
the simple creed under the constitution,
OF the Democratic party in relation to
money has ever been that it has two
essentials,
THE MATERIAL AND TIE STAMP;
the former giving il Its value; and the
latter assurance of the weight and fine
ness OF the metal of which il is COM
posed.
Natural laws, the laws of demand
and supply, and the right of private
contract, properly and Justly control
the presence or absence of gold or silver;
and statutes arbitrarily replacing these
laws will be always maeiicient and
creative of confusion and disaster in the
business of mankind. These truths are
plainly written on the face Of history
ana all human experience. Their denial
or rejection viii be met by speedy proof
oil their necessary and memorable ac-
ceptance, Ii those who now propose to
deny them-and, being possessed of the
temporary representative power, shall
assert by the passage Of a statute their
power TO create u value in the metal of
SILVER, or any other commodity, and en-
force its free and unlimited coinage at q
ratio Of value as compared to gold far
above the intrinsic value attested by the
prices current in every market in the
the civilized world--they will soon find
themselves and their followers face to
face with the "opinions of mankind"-
that tribunal to which our forefathers
so solemnly appealed when they struck
the shield of the arbitrary power of a
British king and his ministry, and de-
clared for Liberty and Independence.
A MEASURE OF TyRANNICAL POWER,
"For there is not one of the acts of
tyrannical power complained Of in the
Declaration of Independence that would
intlict such widespread disaster and per.
manent loss and suffering, as that now
claimed by the advocates of free coin
age OF silver at the minis of the United
States without regard to the actual
value of the material of which such
coins are to be composed.
up to this time the government alone
has assumed, and for the public profit
only, to coin silver bullion into pieces
OF money issued at nominal value,
whose intrinsic value is far below in
open market, but the proposition is
now strangely advanced to hand over
this power, and the enormous profit at
tending the transmutaton of 70 cents
into 100, to the class of private owners
of silver bullion for their indi-
vidual enrichment But must this
not inevitably and in the nature
of things, stimulate the production of
the metal, and attract to our minis as a
centre of deposit all the disused silver
OF the world, in all its shapes and forms
thus increasing an already redundant
supplyG
with such flood set in motion.
what must become of the carefully con
served power of our present gold reserve
Of $lOO,00O,00O, expressly set apart for
the single and special end of maintain
ing specie resumption and the inter-
conyertibility of the two precious
metals-a fund, be it remembered,
bought and paid for by the sale of gov
eminent bonds upon which interest has
ever since been regularly paidg
'cAN THIS SINGLE BuLwARK,
which has been the great potential fac
TORN maintaining the unquestloned con
tidence in every dollar in the hands of the
men, women and children Of the land,
withstand the current of demand for
gold when il has reached a premium,
and the panic that is sure to follow?
Let any man ask himself why the en-
tire business of the country has been
carried on for the last twelve years with
such smoothness and facility-alike in
the smallest as the greatest transaction
from the dollar that paid for the toll
of Il day to the millions represented in
the loans of great states or incorporated
cOmpanies-with no discounts or calcu-
lations arising from the money en-
ployed. IL has been because
the central pinot upon which
the entire business Of the country has
revolved has been Me piCOt Of gold coin
held IN rGserce IN tie Treasury placed
there to meet, and ready and able to
pay when due and on demand every
obligation Of the government in specie
in coin of either metal And the gold so
reserved has impaired its own stability
of value to the silver coin, to which was
attached the quality and legal right of
convertibility into gold.
But if the silver coin had not been
fortified by this convertibility at the will
of the holder into gold-then we would
have witnessed the disastrous effects of
,,,rta1,,1,t,t st.
the transactions of business have re-
ferred to would have been well nigh
impossible.
Only by careful administration
only by the creation and maintenance
of their gold reserve have the United
States been able to maintain in circula-
ton everywhere within their iurisdic-
ton, every dollar under every form of
authorized paper or coin emission-on
an absolute, unquestioned equality
equal only because convertible into gold.
Now who will dare-or what Amcri-
can who pauses TO think, will have the
heart to deprive the masses of his coun-
trymen of that which gives life and
health to their daily dealings?
Yet the free coinage of silver as now
proposed would accomplish this helm
Gus wrong.
"How long would it be before the sue
ton pipes of demand for gold would
drain the treasury of every ounce of
that metal and throw upon our silver
currency and the various forms of paper
substitutes, the test of their actual gul0o !?
If Congress can create values ruin may
be stayed; but Congress can do no such
thing-Congressc cannot make blade of
grass. Yet such is the power claimed by
such legislation as is now proposed.
Then would come
THE ERA OF DIsTRusT,