Evening journal., 1893-06-15

the great party Of finance and commerce
stopped the coinage Of silver to resume
in 1878 and purchase "and coin into
standard silver dollars, of 412l grains
each, not less than 81 600, 600 worth nor
more than Sb0OO.0OO worth Of silver
bullion each month"; and between The
date Of act and the l4th of July, 1890, D
period Of twelve years, there was coined
S37S, l6G. .793 In addition to this there has
been coined from trade dollars s.. 07S, ,472.
and from the seigniorage of bullion
purchased and coined under the act of
July IA. 1890, the sum of $G,Gli, 109,
making in the aggregate $3.50, ooG, 314 in
full legal tender silver money issued by
the government since 1873 OF this
amount only S5s,016, Ol0 were in actual
circulation on the FIRST day Of the present
month, the remainder being held in the
Treasury as part of the assets Of the
government, or being represented by
outstanding certificates
That shows that there is a surplus not
drth Of silver There is more than we
have used or can use.
Adding the silver that the government
has been compelled TO buy from 1873 to
July !, 1891 we have grand total Of
$ll9 294, s35, fifty times more than we
coined in eighty-one years and meantime
we were using only $js coo O0O
We have been borrowing gold TO buy
silver and building vaults TO hold IT,
Meantime we have eight times as much
as we can use and are still buying more
in a depreciating market
Was there ever such folly-such
criminal folly This loss does not come
from superhuman thing some dema-
gogues call "the government" it comes
directly from the pockets Of the people
Secretary Carlisle says:
The records Of the Treasury Depart
ment show that during the eleven
months beginning May 81. 1899, and
ending May /, 1898, the coin Treasury
notes issued for the purchase of silver
bullion, under the act Of July IA, 1890,
amounted to $40 0Gl 1884, and that dur
ing the same period the amount Of euch
notes paid in gold was $i7.745. l13 It
thus appears that all the silver bullion
| purchased during that time, except
| S22l6,Oll worth, was paid for i'm
gold while the bullion itself Is
stored in the vaults of the Treasury.
and can neither be sold nor used
for the payment of any kind of obliga
! tion. How long the government shall
! thus be compelled TO purchase silver
| bullion and increase the public debt by
| issuing coin obligations In payment for
| IL is a question which Congress alone can
answer. II Is evident that If this policy
| is continued, and the Secretary of the
! Treasury shall be compelled to issue
/ bonds or otherwise increase the interest.
! bearing public debt, it will be done for
! the purpose of procuring gold with
which TO pay for silver bullion purchased
under The act referred to-
OF course thers will be useless dis
putes, that will be more or less silly, ac-
cording to the disputant's mental condi-
tion ON the superhuman power Of protec.
tionism, as TO the political responsibility
for this condition. We expect that and
cannot prevent IT,. What shall we do
about Il is another thing.
We are al ageed that the Sherman
bill must be repealed. But the Republi
can party Is preparing to oppose the re-
peal for fear of wildcat banks. That
is the plea Of the financial editor of the
Morning News. Net a very wise or worthy
plea from an editor who has been justi.
flying the policy which put $4,000, ,OOO
useless and depreoiating silver in the
Treasury to give the people sos, OO0, OOO
in currency. But the editor Of the News
is as wise as his party No conceivable
Ignorance or folly could have brought
about a worse condition than the iguor
ance or folly the leaders Of his party
have brought about
We buy 40 tons Of silver per month
aud use scarcely one eighth Of il.