The Lamar register., 1893-08-12


values of the two metals Is now greater than
IL was when the United States Monetary COM
mission made their report, and no absolute
bound can be set to the degree Of divergence
which may be reached hereafter, especially II
this country. the foremost in the world, shall
lend itself to the schemes OF the partlsans OF
gold The causes tending TO raise II are In
full view and are very powerful, being the In
creasing consumption OF gold In the arts,
which cuts off any new supply for monetary
purposes, and the rapidity Of the expansion
of the demand for money in the commercial
gold standard countries, and all the while
there Is possibility that the adrolt and ever
active leaders of the gold conspiracy may
persuade some of the gold standard countries
TO discard the silver heretofore coined
Ii is plain that the divergence between the
two metals has arisen from the great rise in
the value of gold, and tht 1t will become
still more marked II the value Of gold rises
higher. and that the only means of correcting
the divergence Is to lessen the employment of
gold and enlarge the employment of silver in
gold standard countries. In the actual pre-
dicament of affairs the policy which this
country must pursue in order to uphold JUS
tice between classes and geographical sec
tions, between debtors and creditors and be-
tween tax payers and tax receivers, and in
order TO sustain our grievously suffering agri-
culture, commerce, manufactures and labor,
Is straight, plain and luminous before us.
We must manifest constant readiness to
join In any safe international arrangement
which promises to restore the bl-metalilc con-
ditions which existed prior to 1873
But whatever we may do or may not do
with respect to treaties with other countries,
we must so regulate the volume Of our own
currency as to impede or forever stop the
destruction of values of everything except
money in our own country.
III the burden caused by the long-cpntinued
and persistent fall of prices fell on all alike;
II there were no debtors and no creditors, 1t
might be borne with cquanimity; In fact, IL
would eease to be a burden. But the burden
falls on the debtor classes, and what is now
Of the greatest concern TO us is their ability
to bear it. How long can 1t and will 1t be
botnei While It may be to certain degree
for the interest of money lenders to so con-
tract the volume of money as TO give to each
unit Of value the greatest purchasing power,
IL should not be forgotten that In the general
ruin which must follow a continuation of an
insufficient circulation. from which we now
suffer or the still more disastrous effects of
greater contraction by discarding the fur
ther use Of silver a means of making addi-
tons to our currency, the debtor and creditor
must suffer alike. General bankruptcy caused
By low prices Is as disastrous 10 the lender as
to the borrower
A very large proportion of the great enter
prises of the world are conducted with bor-
roved capital This Is true alike of those
which are conducted by corporations and by
individuals. When the oppressiveness of
debt becomes unbearabie we must expect a
{
no power Will be able to resist. / candidly
believe that the relief which has been afforded
By what is known the Bland and Sherman
acts for the past fifteen years, as INADEQUATE
as IL has been, has prevented the flooding the
country with paper money.
President Andrews plan would he to re-
peal the Sherman act and ALLOW silver to fall
stlll lower, land thus precipitate In Europe
another falf In prices so aggravated that the
most obdurate banker OF Lombard street viii
[ safely
taken as the sole metallic money!
must confess that 10 me this seems like n
most uncertain ard dangerous experiment.
Supposlng that after we had still further
discarded silver and depreclated It's value by
repeating the Sherman act II Ghould turn out
that England should still adhere TO Its an
Client policy of recommendation. We would
have Joined with the monometallic countries
7 Of Europe to still further disparage silver
money, of which we have now more than
500, 100000 Ia coin and bullion, including
( subsidiary coin. We would have struck q
fatal blow to the interests of the silver states
OF the Union OF which the principal industry
Is silver mining, and II we should then under
/ take to retrace orr steps innumerabe obsta-
eles would beset our path.
The man who could be made to believe that
after repeating the Sherman act any legisla-
ton favorable to silver could be secured for
the next four years while Mr.. Cleveland is
/ President, would be credulous indeed.
fear that the supposition that by repeal
ing the Sherman act and thus bringing on a
great fall In the price of the metal we can CO.
cree Europe into bi-metallic treaty would
prove n deluslon and snare. There Is a
surer method OF eoerclng Europe, which |
shall present to you further on.
- IL Is plain enough that decentralization was
grievous folly gu the part OF the United
States, although there was something to rec
ommend II to Germany, which Is 4 creditor
country In Its international relations.
But for the present it IS clearly the duty of
] the L nited States. the principal silyer-produc-
I ing country of the world, and with sucn a
I large stock OF silver IN use rs money, to sus-
tain the price of 1t, and not to depress it.
4 We me suffering from contraction, and not
from imitation, aud TO now take step which
| is admitted by its advocates will result In a
further fail in the price of silver, and thus
strengthen the hands of the monometallists
of Europe and of this country, whose princi-
/ pal ayosed ground of attack upon silver Is
I It's actual depreciation, would be a suicidal
step.
] The United States is the one country and
! the only gold country which could safely
venture upon the free coinage of silver. 1t is
/ strong enough to make its own standard In
l dependently of the rest of the world and It
] should do Ii mainly with reference TO main
| tanning the sicadiness of the value OF our own
currency In our internal trade and with but
/ little regard 10 the relation Of value which
may exist between our country and that of
| foreign countries.
/ legislative blunder which Is seldom re-
I ferred TO and which was almost equally fatal
with that of 1873 was the act of 1884, by
| which the ratio at which we should coin sill
yer was raised from 10 TO to l6 TO |, in fact,
but fo- the act of 1884 1t is almost sure that
Z the act of 1S..l pnulu mt have hpen enacted