Southwest-sentinel. [volume] (Silver City, N.M.) 1883-189?, 1893-07-11

The members Of congress who
have not yet declared their inten-
tions as TO the repeal Of the SBer-
man law, as well as those who
avow themselves in doubt as to
what they ought TO do, have had
occasion to do a good deal of think
ing in the week that has passed
since the revised results Of the
Times canvass were presented.
AT that time we counted 100 rep
resentatives in favor Of repeal, "a
against it, and 10 who had said
they were undecided total of
203 who had responded to our in
quiries. The entire house con-
sists of..356 members, a majority
is 179. OF course, il we could fair
ly infer that the proportion of
those favoring repeal would hold
in those not heard from, repeal,
prompt and unconditional, could
be counted on with confidence, for
Of our answers "a per cent. and
over were for repeal. While this
is not an entirely safe conclusion,
we believe that there is very little
doubt that, if congress were in ses-
sion now and a vote could be taken,
there would be a majority for re-
peal in both the house and the
senate. Whether that will be the
case when congress comes togeth-
err is a different question. The
answer depends partly on the
course of events and partly on the
degree to which public opinion is
aroused and directed by those who
really understand the question and
have a direct and dominating in
terest in its direct solution.-New
York Times.
One Of the staple arguments of
the gold bug press in opposition
to silver is that while the coinage
of standard silver dollars in this
country since rs amounts to about
$4,000, 900, the total number in
actual circulation is only about
S58,OO0,000. They say all the rest
of the silver is piled up idle in the
vaults of the treasury and that this
is a proof that the people do not
want this kind of money. This
objection would be valid if it were
true, but being utterly false it is
disgraceful to those who offer it.
OF the 330,0O0,0 900 standard silver
dollars stored in the vaults Of the
treasury more than 800, 900 are
in actual circulation every day
through the silver certificates is
sued against them. These certif-
Gates fulfill all the functions of
money just as completely as silver
dollars or gold dollars possibly
could, and if they were withdrawn
from circulation tomorrow without
the issue of equally good money in
their placethe entire country would
be forced into bankruptcy. Why
don't the eastern gold bugs object
to gold as money because the
treasury now contains about S97,-
100000 Of gold against which GER
tihcates to an equal amount have
been issued exactly as in the case
Of the silver dollars? If congress
had not yielded to the popular de-
mand for paper money when the
law providing Cor the issue of sill
yer certificates was passed, it is
almost certain that all of the silver
dollars coined under the provisions
of the Bland act and the Sherman
law would have gone into circula-
ton, but inasmuch as the certif-
Gates perform all the monetary
functions pertaining to coin dol
lars, there a be no question that
congress acted wisely in promoting
the public convenience by author
izing the issue of certificates, and
it is both nonsensical and wrong
for the opponents of silver to use
the fact that the coined dollars are
held for the redemption Of c%ertii-
Gates issued against them as a rea-
son why silver should be discard
ed entirely as money in the coun-
try. Republican.
Mr.. BANDS letter is a notice
that when congress meets there
will be a fight against a complete
surrender to the monomctallists.
Mr.. Bland may make a mistake,
however, if he plants his flagstaff
on the untenable ground of the
Sherman bullion act. The law is
~ H. L.,A I'LL.