The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1893-07-10
BUSINESS SENTIMENT IN Favor OF A
SOUND CURRENCY.

No recent utterance on the silver
question has been marked by more
financial conservatism than the resolu-
tions adopted by the New York Cham
Der of Commerce. The meeting was
fully attended, and Owe $500, 000, 900 of
capital was represented. The preamble
to the resolutions, admirable alike for
its clearness of language and force of
statement, was convincing to the point
that the present partial paralysis of
business will not be cured until money
can be obtained by manufacturers and
merchants at moderate rates of interest,
and that this condition could not be ex-
pected until confidence in the sta bility
OF all the money of the country shall be
thoroughly re-established, so hat the
lars less valuable than those he lends.
The report of the meeting shows that
the cause of silver was ably presented,
but it's advocates recognized the neces-
sity of maintaining its parity with gold,
and the resolutions were so worded as
to command the support of all advocates
of a sound currency. 1t was the over
whelming sentiment of the meeting that
the silver purchase clause of the Sher-
man act should be Internationally re-
pealed.
The speech that seemed tohave great
er weight with the Chamber, judging
from the applause with which the re-
port was punctuated, was that of Mr..
John Clafiin, whOargued that the United
States had been chiefly responsible for
the decentralization and depression of
silver. because its course had made it
easy for other nations to abandon silver
and TO get gold instead, and that this
country could now help toward the re-
monetization of silver in no other way
than by ceasing to buy or keep that
metal. by throwing it's products on the
markets of the world, and by getting
and keeping all the gold it could. In
that way, only, he maintained, would
other nations be forced to consider
whether they could get along with gold
alone as a metallic basis. Mr.. Clatin
said he thought it a shame that silver
should be ~demOnetized. but practically
the world. except ourselves, had been
demonetizing the white metal, and W
had made iteasy for them to do SO because
we had sent them our gold and they had
been piliDg up gold while we had been
liling up silver. 81 have always been
most hopeful until recently" saId Mr..
Claflin, "that it would be possible for
thesnations of the earth to get together
and remonetize silver. should be glad
if We could safely remonetize silver our
selves, but it seems to me that in view
of the experience which we have had, it
would be the most hazardous expert
ment that could possibly be undertaken
for us to endeavor to support silver
alone, and that is what we are trying to
do with the Sherman act" The hearty
York Chamber of Commerce shows that
its members are capable of rising above
partisan and factional clamor and hold
ing fast to principles which they be-
lieve to be for the general good. The
secretary of tho chamber al instructed
to send a copy of the resolutions to all
chambers of commerce, boards of trade
and other commercial bodies through
out the United States. with a letter ad-
dressed to the president of each, re-
questing early action on the subject. 1t
is quite safe to predict that when this
action is taken it will show that the
business sentiment of the country is
unanimously in favor of a sound cur
rency.