The times. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1890-1903, 1892-08-06
TO prscoNTENTED DEMOCRATS OF
WORTH CAROLINA AND VIRGINIA.

| Your onnostion TO Mr.. Cleveland 10 based
/ ,oloixunon considerations relative to silver.
| We therefore beg your earnest attention To
a few facts which we shall state. We aihrm
| on the honor of The TINES that every state
ment made is an actual fact. and each one
| of Won can ascertain II to be 80 II you will
! examine the authorities to which we refer.
Those who manage the affairs OF the
| Farmers Alliance have taught you to be-
| lieve that the currency Of the United States
| is less than 90 per capita. Whether know
ingly or not. they have deceived you. The
currency of the United States. per capita,
gold. silver and paper, is s2562, of England
is Ell. co. Of Germany is sl64O. of Austria Is
s952. of Russia is s6.63, of France is s4S.11.
(See statement of the Director of the Mint
Of May "a. 1892. furnished BY Mr.. Sherman
and quoted by him in his speech of May 81,
92-Congressonal Globe All the Demo
cratic Senators agree that the table Is cor
rect France, thus, Is the only one Of these
countries whose circulation per capita is
greater than that Of the United States.
You say that free coinage OF 4l21s grain
dollar will make money much more abundant.
and. therefore, increase the price Of your
crops. We admit that this may in time be-
come so, but we tell you that the dollar
under free coinage will buy much less than
the dollar now; 412H grains OF silver is worth
less than seventy cents.
Silver Is practically demonetized now all
over Europe and European countries are try
ing 10 sell their stocks of silver Four bill
lion Of dollars Of this are now in sight, oil of
which we must buy and coin TO keep q silver
dollar up to par with a gold dollar IL Is
more .han the debt Of the United States was
during the war. Do you think it possible to
do this? II is not. Besides, the silver mines
are adding TO this stock about $50, 600
more of silver each year and their supply
is increasing, owing 10 the improved meth
DDS of smelling ores. BY free coinage
you will in the course Of time. perhaps, in
crease the stock of money but it will be
with debased money. The dollar you get
will be worth only two-thirds of dollar.
You will send gold TO premium and drive
1t out of the country and you will create a
financial panic such as the world never
dreamed of.
You have been taught to believe that some
injustice was done you by the act Of Con-
gross passed in 1878, demonetizing silver.
No injustice was done you by that act, as
you will see by attending to the following
statement of facts:
One Of the earliest acts Of General Wash
ington's administration was giving attention
to putting the currency on a permanent
basis. The subject was committed to Thomas
Jefferson, Secretary of State. and Alex
ander Hamilton, Secretary of the Treasury.
They took gold and silver coins melted
them down, weighed them and compared
them. They fixed the ratio az fifteen
to one But because they had used
worn and abrsded silver coin they
undervalued silver. Consequently, when
fifteen ounces of silver were coined into sill
yer dollars and one ounce of gold was
coined into gold dollars, each silver dol
lar was intrinsicslly worth more than each
gold dollar. At that time silver was the
money of account Of the world. and it
was in demand for currency. Consequently
but little silver was offered for coinage and
what was coined WAS at once shipped
TO Europe and sold as bullion. In
1905 there had been coined only 1,439.-
600 silver dollars, and as these were
shipped to Europe as fast as they we're
coined Mr.. Jefferson, then President, with
out any authority of law for it, stopped
further coinage of silver dollars, and no
more were coined until 1886. About that
time the ratio between 81. or and gold
was raised to 16 to /, but this still under
valued silver, making the silver dollar
worth about five cents more than che gold
dollar. Between 1896 and 1873 6.592. 900 sill
yer dollars were coined, and all Of these
had gone out of the country, except 81 $50
900 which we're deposited in the Treasury
of the United States. There had been a
good deal of subsidiary coinage in the mean
time, but that being undervalued, it also
had gone out of the country. so that in 1851
we were entirely without change and the
'shinplaster' was invented and came into
vogue as a substitute for change.
In 1864 Hon. r. NJ. T. Hunter, chairman
of the Finance Committee Of the Senate. on
representing the facts to Congress got it 70
pass bill making the half dollars. quarters
and dimes contain s per cent. less of silver
and thus made them stay here. But they
were made legal tender for only s5, conse-
quently no transactions were based on
them. They we're used for change only.
Between 1854 and 1878 S43, 00O 900 of this
subsidiary silver coinage was put out so
that in 1878 this amount of token coinage
and 1,250,000 of silver dollars was all the
silver money in this country. Stick pin
then. night there, you are not injured by
decentralization because when tho demone-
tizing act WAS passed in 1873 there 1oas no
Sater money IN he country II you will
look at the report of the Director of the
Mint for 1891 at page 2s9 you will find proof
of all this.
You are told that the act demonetizino
silver was surreptitiously and fraudulently
passed through Congress- The records
prove the charge 10 be false, and if you will
attend for moment to the facts existing at
the time your own common sense will tell
you it is false. Prior to 1878 American
coined silver had never been currency in
the United States except small coins for
change, because silver was so much under
valued that it left the country as soon as il