The Seattle post-intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, Wash. Terr. [Wash.]) 1888-1914, 1892-06-08
FREE COINAGE OF SILVER.
"A Farmers Alliance Member Whs
Wants q New System OF Finance.

SILVER LAKE, June 5, 1892
To THE EDITOR: The question that will be
especially urged before the people in this coming
election campaign is the financial or money
question. 1t is on top of all other questions,
and a third party In formed whose foremost
plank Is financial reform and urging to abolish
our present banking. system, to be superseded
by government sub-treasuries
The present bank system will fade away of
itself in ratio as the bonds are being paid that
government holds In security for the banking
business of the country, and which system,
therefore. should be superseded by another on
the sub-treasury PLAN Would free silver coin.
age be financial reform? Would it give US
more money? History answers no; not for US
When the free silver coinage act was repealed in
1873 no money was coined from silver of our
mines for us. 1t was sold to foreign countries.
In the sixty years before that time the free silver
coinage law had existed, only 100000 dollars
OF silver had been coined, but by the time of
the repeal OF that coinage law it was in fact
only dead letter law, not mattering whether it
remained in the statutes or not, therefore it was
repealed, together with the double standard. and
the single or gold standard was adopted.
So long as the double stan dard remained 1t
was subject to raise or fall, one time gold, an.
other time silver. When foreigners wanted
either OF our gold or our silver it raised the
course on that metal needed a few ceuts above
standard value, and the metal WAS then exported
and sold at this premium In this way we have
time and again been exporting these metals, for
eigners thus getting it for money for themselves.
and we getting shorter of 1t. Had it not been
for these proceedings we would have had the
full gold or silver value behind every dollar OF
money we could use Instead, it has been sold
say at cents premium on the dollar, which we
then must have loaned back from them, paying
more interest on it annually as a loan than it
had been sold for the gain of this little pre-
MUM. Such was the case with silver in 1873,
when it was at cents premium in foreign
countries and sold there This double standard
then benefited the foreigners most Its repeal
and the adoption OF the present silver law
causes the silver now to stay and make money
for US to the tune OF sos 100000 annually where,
under the free coinage law, We did not get any
money from it the last years of its existence.
With this experience 1t will be folly to again
go back to the old-time double standard.
tlIhe repeal of the free coinage law was a genu.
Inc financial reform. It should be followed up
by the repeal OF free coinage OF gold, too. Then
the holders of gold would be compelled to sell
its gold to the government just as our silver
kings now sell their silver, and get treasury
notes instead. They could then not corner, Or
raise, or depreciate values OF gold or silver aud
speculation in these metals would stop First,
then, we could agree about stable value be-
tween gold and silver and thus gain a genuine
standard of values, which we have not yet had.
as the standard or standards have been subjects
themselves of change in value. Out OF the
hands of private manpulators we would have
a standard, single or double, of unchanged
value. as yardstioks, weights or gallons are un-
changed measures each of its kind
Much more could be said against frss and un-
! limited coinage OF silver, but would only be a
| repetition OF what has been told before And
| the free and unlimited coinage OF gold act, too,
| should be repealed for reasons as above stated.
A FARMERS ALLIANCE MEMBER.