Daily Texarkana Democrat., 1893-07-31
trouble ahead, and the mere repeal of
the purchase clause of the act of 1890
cannot long postpone it.

the purchase clause of the act of 1890
cannot long postpone it.
The Recorder believes it is practic-
able to stop the purchase of silver
bullion on the present foolish and
dangerous terms, put intrinsic value
behind every dollar of our circulation,
make every silver certificate honestly
worth Its face in gold, and yet retain
both silver and gold in our currency.
According to the treasury state
ment of July 1, silver certificates to
the amount of $3.50, ,957,504, and treas
ury notes based on silver deposits un-
der the act of 1890 to the amount of
$141190, ,227, had been issued up to
that date. In round numbers the pa
per circulation of the country based
on silver is, therefore, at the present
moment about $4S0,O00,OO0.
The unsoundness of this circulation
founded on silver is that the silver be-
hind each dollar is not worth 100
cents in gold; it is now worth only
somewhere about So cents, little
more or less according to the varia-
tion of the daily market.
The result of this is that outside of
the United States-across the Cana
dian line, for example--the United
States treasury note, which promises
the holder only silver dollars, is look
ed at with suspicion and can not be
passed at its face value. And as the
time goes on and silver remains at its
present low price, or goes lower yet,
even the American people will realize
that to stamp fifty-five cents worth of
metal with the words zone dollar"
does not really supply the missing
forty five cents in its value, and they
too, Will loose respect for il.
The Recorder submits that the
straightest way ont of the difficulty is
for Congress to first stop the monthly
purchases of silver and then order the
purchase by the treasury, at stated in
tervals and in uniform amounts, of
of enough silver from American mines
for deposit in the treasury as collater-
al to make good the difference be-
tween the face value of all the silver
notes that have been issued and the
actual intrinsic value Of the silver now
deposited as collateral against them.
In other words put behind every sill
yer certificate for dollar as much sill
YER as Is actually worth dollar in
gold at the ruling market price. This
would make our silver currency abso-
lutely as good as gold. 1t would do
this without excluding silver from
our circulation and without closing up
our silver mines and inaicting severe
losses upon our brethren of the. silver
states.
The East and the West need not,
and ought not, to be placed IN sharp
and uncompromislng antagonism on
this question. 1t is for the interest of
the West that there should be COM
mercial confidence in the East. 1t Is
for the interest of the East that there
should be business prosperity in the
West. The Eastern demand for an
honest, sound currency, every dollar
Of it good as gold, is sensi-
BILE, and vitally necessary to
the business health of the whole.
country. The demand of the western
states that their great silver industry
shall not be wiped out, and their peo-
pie plunged into bankruptcy, idleneSs
and misery, is also reasonable and
Just, and Congress can not ignore it.
The Recorder has pointed out q
way by which eastern and western
interests can be harmonized, the cur
rency made perfectly sound, the silver
dollar aud gold dollar be made and
kept of equal intrinsic value, and the
market for the silver product of the
west be not only maintained but i'm
proved. Confident that 1t is the
highest patriotism, as well as the best
business policy, to solve the problem
in this way, satisfying the east with
out injuring the west, and helping
the prosperity of the whole nation by
protecting the interests of both sec
tions, the Recorder invites its contem-
porarles, both west and east, to con-
slider and discuss it.
For Sale.
A very fine Jersey bull, aged three