St. Paul daily globe., 1893-06-22
ECONOMIC Law 1NExoRABLE.

EGONOMIC LAW 1NEAORABLE.
There is nothing so universally dis
astrous in its consequences to all the
people and industries of country as a
mistaken financial policy. 1t reaches
the highest and the lowest. and casts a
whitening blight on all; but, as is usual
in all disasters, the poor are the worst
sufferers. 1t is difficult to convince the
unlearned and inexperienced that a
natural law cannot be violated with i'm
punitv; that punishment must certainly
follow such infraction; how much great
er the difficulty to impress upon such
minds that the violation of an economic
law is followed inevitably by disaster.
If country is isolated from the world,
as Japan was prior TO 1858, having no for
eign commerce or interchange of prod
ucts with other nations, it would make
very little difference what its currency
consisted of, so long as it possessed legal
tender properties. Paper backed by the
government, iron or leather money,
would answer all the purposes OF COM
mercial intercourse, so long as the
power issuing it controlled every one of
those among whom it circulated; but an
effort to force its circulation beyond the
limits of its home jurisdiction would, of
course. meet with resistance that
would render it worthless. 1t is pre-
cisely the same with the silver issues of
the United States government. The
dollars are not worth much more than
Ga cents compared with the gold stand
ard coin of the world, and, while they
may be received at home in small do
mestic transactions without material
detriment to any one. they are only
worth their bullion value anywhere out
side of the border line, and they very
soon become tabooed and rejected in
home transactions by parties insisting
in their contracts that payments shall be
made in standard gold coin no one wants
to be paid in cheap money when he can
as we'll have the best. The necessary
result of the issue of SUCH short money
is to put the sound money at a pre-
MUM, and thus withdraw il from circu-
lation.
Most men now in active life have seen
cheap money drive gold,and even silver
out of commercial channels. We have
only to go back to the time of the civil
war for the proof of this. When the
greenback with legal tender power ap-
peared, all coin at once disappeared.
The same result must follow the pres
ent immense issue of silver legal tender
dollars. Gold will leave the country as
they increase in volume, or rise in price
to meet the demands of those who must
have gold. Every one who knew any
thing about finance predicted this state
of things, but there were enough people
interested in the production and sale of
silver to work upon the credulity of The
financial crooks and crankS of the coun-
try, and make them believa that the
greater the volume of money afioat. no
matter of what quality, the better would
be the times: and hence our silver laws,
with their evils and calamities.
Ii an economic law cannot be vio-
lated with impunity, neither can it be
compromised. 1t must be followed in
its integrity. or let alone: it admits of
no halfway tinkering. Suppose two
QlllCl do W IllO plOpOI liiiV VI
planting wheat, one says spring-time
aud the other fall, and they compromise
on summer or winter, the result is fail
ure. The SHERMAN law is just such
compromise, and consequently equally
disastrous. The demagogues and silver
men were clamoring for free coinage,
and the wise financiers demanded the
worlds standard of gold; compromise
was made on the coinage of S4,500,000
a month, and now the country IS in the
throes of financial dissolution.
There is no remedy but the unquali-
fed repeal of the SHERMAN law, and
the sooner it is done the better. The
hard times so pressing upon all have
convinced even the Populists and silver
men that it is for the general interest
that this should be done, and it will be
done; but when? Is the absorbing ques-
ton. We have unbounded confidence
in the wisdom and absolute good faith
of President CLEVELAND in this mat
ter, ard while we hope for the earliest
possible call of an extra session of con-
gress, we are satisfied to wait his good
time, being assured that his opportuni-
ties of knowing what is best far exceed
those of any private citizen. Let the
SHERMAN law be repealed.