The daily morning Astorian. [volume] (Astoria, Oregon) 1883-1899, 1893-08-06
NEW FINANCIAL LIGHT

1t was very little thing to happen;
but 1t upset the calculations of so
many statesmen, and challenged the
views Of so many great authorities
that 1t will go into history as the turn
ing point of q nations financial
history.
Day before yesterday, in the after
noon, the subtreasury Of the United
States, in New York city, refused to
pay out the despised fifty-three-cent
silver dollar disk, In exchange for a
piece of paper that was worth gold
dollar on its face.
At that institution. down in Wall
street,
Where Mammon doth hold
His thousands and millions
In silver and gold,
several citizens appeared with,
thousand-dollar greenbacks, and
could not get the much bemocked
buzzard dollar of Mr.. Bland therefor.
Those paper evidences OF government
indebtedness. which, since the day of
resumption of specie payments in 1872,
were popularity supposed to be worth
their face value in gold, could not pur-
chase the silver coins demanded by
the commerce of the country, in the
ordinary channels of business. The
holders could have demanded double
eagles fdr the greenbacks and the
yellow metal would have been SHOW
elled across the counter; but they
wanted something smaller than the
precious twenty-dolar disks and they
could not get them.
Silver dollars were, at that partlcu-
lar moment, more desired, and, there
fore, more valuable than gold dollars.
"The full limit of silver dollars is
coined according to law" said the
official representative of the United
States government and mint, "and
only silver certificates or treasury
notes will now be redeemed in silver
on demand" The silver certificate
then is ON parity with treasury notes,
to redeem which the jlngling gold is
always ready. The money changers
who wanted small government "docu-
ments' instead of large ones, Were
told to go on the street and hunt up
one, two, five, ten, flve-hundred dollar
silver certificates. trade off their one
thousand, five thousand, and ten thous-
and dollar gold certificates and apply
again for relief. But that would take
time and cost cash. So widely are the
pieces of paper representing the total
minting of SS7SS6,S27 dollars of our
daddies according to the Bland act,
distributed among our 65,000,0 900 of peo-
pie, that 1t is doubtful IL five million
dollars worth could be collected by any
one man In the land at less cost than
one per cent premium in gold, or in
other words, $4,000. Then the clumsy
coins themselves. or the small pepers
which represent them, by a sudden
turn OF the financial wheel, are more
valuable than gold; for gold could moi
buy them. last Friday afternoon. In
the money center of this nation,
Small money. and subsidiary coins
are a prime factor in the exchange Of
labor and valuables in every populou,
community, Time was when nothing
smaller than two-bit piece went
west OF the mississippi; now the nicke
has invaded all that territory; and
pretty soon. the desplsed penny" viii
be current. The present money strin
gency has demonstrated one thing, /
It has not upset all previously con
ceived theories, In this country wher
small deposits are made In saving
banks. there is not even respectabl
fraction Of small money enough afloa
TO pay those deposits on demand. Tn
number of deposItors under one hun
dred dollars form the vast majorlt
OF that class today. II every saving
hank or other bank depositor had evel
thousands to draw ''at one fell swoop,
Il would not be 50 bad; but just tn