The Caucasian. (Clinton, N.C.) 188?-1913, 1892-09-08
SOME QUESTIONS AND AN
SwEUS
On Free Coinage of Silver.
LAtian.a Constitutions

the subject was dDDut tAHdHSb
ed-tLat every phase of tn
: question had been discussed and
D make clear-but here is All "En-
guiref" i'll search Of information:
ATLANTA, GA. August :.
Editor ConstitutIon-Will you
kindly throw light on the free
, coinage Of silver subject, by an
swering the following questions,
! and by giving all the informa-
ton about it. Tie people are
ignorant, and are being misled
|. Does the government buy
the silver bullion before it is
coined?
2. What does it pay for what
is contained IN our silver dollar?
,. Does the miner get the full,
Intrinsic value of bis silver? or
in other woods, if there is only
~ cents worth of it in a dollar,
does the government pay that
for it, and il SO, who gets the
othe- 2S cents when the silver
is coined and put into circula-
ton? The assertion has been
made that the government pays
only 81 to Y cents for dollars
worth Of bullion and keeps the
balance, while the miner is en-
titled to it.
Please clear up the doubts of
the people on this vexed ques-
ton.
|. "DOes the government buy
the silver bullion before it is
coined ?" Under the present
law, known as the Sherman law,
there is no coinage of silver
whatever. The government
simply issues treasury notes in
payment for the bullion at the
market rate, and the note repre-
SCENTS dollars worth of bullion
at the prevailing market rate.
This il a special issue Of notes,
and it is kept outstanding to an
amount equal to the cost Of the
silver bullion. The law makes
the bullion d commodity and
nothinA else. 1t is as if the
government were to buy wheat
and issue notes against it. I'll
the wheat were so cents a bush
ell, dollar note would repre-
sent two bushels, and SO on.
The law is the sub-treasury plan
applied to nOn-perishable pro-
duct; but as it makes a mere
comm Odity out of what ought
to be money metal, it is a |
fraud on the people. 1t is SIM
ply part of the Wall street
scheme to enable the foreign |
partners Of eastern bankers to |
buy IL dollars worth Of Ameri-
can cotton and wheat for 50
cents. That this scheme is in
operation was shown by Mr..
Daniel Manning, Mr.. Cleve-
lands first secretary of the
treasury. Under free coinage,
there would be no market for
silver bullion. 1T would be in
vested with the potential power
Of money. The government
would no longer buy it, but
would receive it at the minis
to be coined into dollars free Oh
private account. Either coined |
or in bars an ounce Of the bull
lion would be worth Sl.29 an
ounce, for the simple reason
that it would be exchang liable
at the mint for that amount of
legal tender money.
2. "What does the govern
ment pay for what is contained
in our silver dollar ?" Under
the present laws, it pays the
market rate, which is now be-
tween 81 and So cents. Thus.
when a British merchant wants
to buy dollar 5 worth of Indian
wheat and cotton, he pays So
cents i'll gold fora dollars worth
of American silver and makes a
vsly neat transaction. This is
why these sharp Bcitishers have
the single gold standard in
Great Britain aud the single
silver standard in India. The
American wheat and cotton
farmers are the victims of the
crisis -cross-the-whip saw ar
rangement-and Wall street is
the intermediary. That is the
whole situation in a nutshell.
Nearly every banker in Wall
street and the east is the finan-
cial agent Of some European
concern, representing a world
wide combination which is
coming gold out Of the unfortu-
nate producers Of American
wheat and cotton. The p,odu-
cels of Indian wheat and cotton
are not losers. They coin their
50 cents worth of silver into
rupees worth a dollar, and are
very we'll satisfied with their
bargain. Free coinage of silver
by lhe United States would stop
TINS robbery OF the people, and
would restore prosperity. |,
3 "Does the mines get the
full intrinsic value of his sill I
yer? In other words, if there
is only 70 cents worth of it in ,
a dollar, does the government
pay that for it? If so, who gets
the other % cents when the {
silver is coined and put into cir
cu!atinn ?" Under the present
law, there is no coinage of Sill
yer at all. That has been Who'll