St. Paul daily globe., 1892-02-15

would be shipped to the United States
for deposit for treasury notes. There
Is much less reason for shipping coin to
TINS country than bullion, for. while the
leading nations of Europe have diScon-
tlnued the coinage of full legal tender
silver pieces, they have provided by
law Tor maintaining their existing stock
OF silver coins at par. In England,
Portugal and the states of the Scahdi-
naylan union there is 10 stock of silver
coin except subsidiary coins required
for change purposes, the nominal value
OF which is far in excess of the bullion
value. Germany has in circulation
about 100000, 900 in
Old Silver Thalers.
but ten years have passed since the sales
OF bullion arising under the anti-silver
legislation of 1878 were discontinued.
The states Of the Latin union and Spain.
which has similar monetary system,
are the only countries in Europe which
have any large stock of silver coins. and
the commercial necessities of these
countries are sdch that they could not
afford without serious financial distress
to Withdraw from circulation silver
coins 10 deposit them at our mints on
payment of their bullion value
in notes. The truth ISL the
majority report then continues,
THAT the conspiracy formed in the old
world, planned and successfully carried
through there and here, was aimed to
confine the debt-paying mediums of
the nations concerned to the single
metal, gold. For this purpose the par
OF centuries was broken. Gold was de-
creed to rapidly rise in value, thus
adding 80 per cent to the value of cred
Its, enrchlng creditors, public and pri-
Vate, at the expense of debtors and tax
payers; enormously depressing the
value OF labor and the products of labor
as compared to notes, bonds and mort
cages. The words free coinage of silver
send thrill OF terror to the promoters
OF this conspiracy and the beneticiaries.
They know that when this great gov
ernment thus throws It's weight in the
silver balance the world will again be
restored to full
Faith and Confidence
in the future safety of silver as the
money of the world. The conspiracy
would be exposed and defeated. 1t is
this phase of the issue they fear, not
the swapping of shiploads of silver for
silver dollars. 1t is the restoration Of
the bi-metaIic par. 1t is the skeleton
of defeated fraud and avarice that turks
i'll the closet of the gold palace that we
are called upon TO meet in battle OH the
free coinage question. The buShwhack-
ing warfare Waged against restoration
of silver is the most potent exhibition
of the weakening of the enemy. 1t is
argued, first, that all our gold will go
to a premium and be boarded. In
the next breath it is said that the silver
| miner will be enriched by coming his
bullion, worth rs cents, into a dollar
worth lC0 cents, not stopping to think
that this could not be so unless the free
coinage OF silver puts it at par with gold,
in which case there could be no pre-
| MUM on gold, and no boarding for such
reasons. The next slogan is that the
billions Of silver coins OF other countries
would Immediately be brought here to
exchange for our gold: this, without
stopping to reflect that today we have
only 1925, 100000 of gold in the federal
treasury, and even this cannot by any
free coinage law be drawn out i'll pay
ment for silver dollars or coined notes.
Again, it is said. we give the silver
miner at our mintS dollar for bullion
that
Costs Only Al Cents.
without hesitatlng moment to reflect
that the gold miner, as is often done,
extracts five ounces day in gold that
we coin into S100. when his days wages
is worth only So or s4, thus coming his
product that costs but S4 into money of
500. There are no mining statistics
that can even approximate the vast out
lay of labor and capital, not to say pri-
yation and deprivation, wasted abso-
lutely i'll the search of precious metals
gold and silver. The old adage, that
| it takes gold to work silver mine, is
| an illustration of the costs of
| such mining. Many thousands waste
| their LABOR and capital in truitless
| search for the hidden treasure.
As a mining question it may be
| fairly said that the gold miner now has
a monopoly at our mints, that equality
and equal justice would give the silver
miner the same privilege. 1t is tugged
IN to prejudice and blind the mind.
| When the utter Inconsistencies and fall
lacies of all the other objections to free
coinage are shown, we are confronted
| With the ultimatum that our gold will
flee this country at once, contracting
| our currency to tue amount of 1886, ,000,-
900. The monthly statement of the
secretary of the treasury for Jan. 1,
| 1892, shows we have in the treasury
gold coin and bullion $27S, ,246. $50 The
last annual report of the controller of
the currency shows gold in national
banks amounting to SS7, 1915. 142, and in
| private banks and other institutions
$S, 9S3.5 .552, total in banks of S96, sos. .694,
making total in treasury and in banks
of 1876, ,402, ,554. Of all
The Objections
urged against free coinage, this, in the
| opinion of our committee, is the only
one that deserves serious consideration.
That the change proposed in our cur
q jnv OlHrit1 fl,n Iot1
toration of the bimetallic standard, a
return to the coinage OF both metals on
equal terms, will cause for the moment
some apprehension and probably dis
position to hoard gold, may be expected.
Yet any evils that may result must in
the nature of the situation be transitory.
Yet it will not be contended that our
| laws relating to the currency or tariff or
other methods of taxation need to be
altered. The ultimate good to
be obtained is and always has
been a sufficient argument for
| amendments. To restore silver
now would not make the radical
change that was effected in our cur
J rency laws by the act demonetizing it.
Indeed, decentralization took place with
out warning, and at time when we
were looking to resumption OF coin
payments, and surely needed all the
specie possible. We have approached
free coinage gradually. We resumed
the coinage of the standard silver dollar
in 1878 with the distinct purpose of put.
ting this country on the gold and silver
basis. At no time since then has there
been cessation on the part of a vast
majority of our people of efforts for its
complete rehabilitation. We have
coined over 400,0G0,00G of silver dollars
and we have besides over $4,000, 900 OF
silver bullion. and are now purchasing
100000 ounces every month or $4,000,
600 ounces annually. Our approach t.
free coinage has been
Steady and Persis sent.
"We believe silver should have beer
restored at once in 1878. Then th,
longer it is delayed the greater the in
justice done to our people. A few timi(
people and few misers might for
moment hoard gold, but the gold in thi: