The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1893-08-04
Re.olntlonn go silrnriten.


The resolutions adopted by the silver
convention at Chicago. q full synopsis N
which was published in the MoHSIsG
! NEWS yesterday, were just about what &C.
/ was expected they would be. and the inn
/ preston they make upon fair-minded men
/ rs that those who participated in the con
/ vention are Indifferent 20 truth in respect
/ TO silver, and that they do not expect
/ their demand for free silver coinage at the
ratio Of 10 to l will be granted by con
prcss.
The insiuuation they make that the de-
monetization of silver in 1873 was corrupt
act, the work Of foreigners. they must
know is not justified by the facts. The
records Of congress are open TO them
and If they had wanted the world to
| know the truth about the act Of 1873
| they could easily have obtained the facts
That act was not passed hastily nor
secretly 1t was discussed in congress
for more than two years, and it was
adopted without any opposition of conse-
quence. The silver men did not oppose
it. II has been stated, and not contra
dicted, that Senator Stewart, who is now
one OF the most conspicuous of the lead
ers OF the silver men, voted for it, The
Senator, however, although present in the
silver convention, did not have the frank
ness to say why he voted for it, nor to
give the reasons why congress passed it.
At the time the act was passed the sill
yer dollar was at premium of about 3
per cent. This difference between the
gold dollar and the silver dollar was the
source of great deal of annoyance in
business.
But why did not the silver producers
object to the act of 1872 They had am
pie opportunity to do So The reason is
that silver was comparatively scarce, and
was selling at 81. 30 an ounece. 1t is on
parity with gold when selling at 81 20 an
ounce. Very little silver was being
coined, and they had no interest in pre-
venting the passage of the act.
1t was not until 1875, when
the price of silver had fallen to 51.25 an
ounce, that they began to denounce the
act of 1873 as a ''crime." The reason
the price fell was that the pro-
duction was increased, and the reason
the price is so low now is that the output
of the silver mines is out of all proportion
to the demand for silver.
Do the silverites hope to mislead the
country in respect to the facts about sill
verl The resolutions they adopted
at Chicago Justify the conclusion that
they do. Some Of them may be ignorant
of the facts, but their leaders are not.
All the facts will be put before the
country by the discussion that will take
place in congress. The silverites, there
fore are only weakening their cause by
making statements that cannot be sus-
tanned
They must know that there is not the
remotest probability of the enactment of
a law providing for free silver coinage
at the ratio of 16 to l. II free silver
coinage act at that ratio was passed by
congress it would be vetoed by the Pres
ident. He would never consent to hay
ing our currency placed on a level with
that of Mexico and the Central and
South American States. We should have
Just such an unstable and debased cur
rency as those states have if we should
open our mints to free silver coinage at
the ratio of IS to 1.
A practical Illustration Of the way the
silver standard works and the annoyances
in business it causes is furnished by an
Oshkosh (Wis.) paper. An Oshkosh man
recently sent a package of goods by ex-
press 10 his agent in a Mexican town
marked c. o. d. The amount in United
States money to be paid in order to OBJ
tain the package was $G950 The day
the package arrived Sl23 in Mexican
money was required to pay the charges.
The agent thought the amount might be
less if he waited few days. But in the
meantime the price of silver declined and
when he called again the charges were
$3.50. He again delayed a few
days in getting the package and
then the price of silver had de-
clined so much that he had to pay $40.
We don't want debased. auctuating
currency of that kind in this country, and
yet that is the kind silveritcs insist the
country shall have.