The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1893-09-10
The Mistake Of Southern Senators.

The Mistake Of Southern Senators.
The mistake those southern senators
who are acting with the si.yert,s Hre
making IS that they think their cuu-t.tH-
euts want dishonest silver dollar There
may be few people iu the south who
favor "a dollar Of that kind but the u-w-
Der OF them IN any southern state IS not
great. Many who thought free sill
vcr coinage would be a good thing for the
country Lave changed their minds since
they have found out that free silver coin
age, "a, any rate acceptable 10 the silver
ties, would result in debased currency,
in those sections of the south in which
the silver sentiment was strongest it is
not now an easy matter TO find an inte.I-
gent man who wants free silver coinage.
except upon terms stated ia the national
democratic platform. and they understand
the platform to mean that silver dollar
shall have the same power in the mar
kcts of the world and In the payment Of
debts as a gold dollar. in other words
they don't want a silver dollar that is
not intrinsically worth a dollar The prop
osition Of the silverites put only 60 cents
or IS cents or so cents worth of silver in a
coin and call it a dollar does not please
them at all
The silver senator's from the south
think that because some Of their constit-
uents are clamoring for a greater volume
Of currency they are anxious for silver
currency. a state bank currency would
be as satisfactory 10 them as silver cur
rency. The kind of currency is not a
matter of a great deal of importance to
them, so long as it is honest currency.
An increase in the volume of the money
in circulation is what they are clamoring
for.
If the silver senators from the south
could get a statement of views from their
constituents on the silver question, they
would be surprised to find how few of
them there are who are urging the free
coinage of silver at the existing ratio, or at
any other one of the ratios that the sill
verites have proposed. In all the south
ern states there is a strong sentiment in
favor of the repeal of the Sherman silver
law, and the most intelligent people
would like to see it repealed uncondition-
ally. They are willing to let congress set
tie the silver question after the Sherman
law is out of the way, having confidence
that congress will do the best it can for
silver, if it should become necessary to do
anything for it at this time
The silver senators from the south,
therefore, who are assisting to obstruct
the repeal of the Sherman silver law un-
der the impression that they are serving
their constituents are likely to discover,
if they have not done so already, that
they are acting under a misapprehen-
sion. If they had taken the trouble to in
quire as to what the sentiment in their
respective states is relative to silver,
they would not now be trying to prevent
the legislation that is so urgently needed
to restore confidence and prosperity to
the country. They would be in harmony
with Senators Voorhees, and Gordon,
both of whom are strong silver men, but
who, recognizing the need for immediate
relief legislation, are willing to assist in
repeating Internationally the Sherman
silver law and to wait until more favor
able time to do something for silver.
Those of the southern senators who are
against repeal, unless accompanied by
legislation providing for the free coinage
of silver, viii find themselves much less
popular than they were when they return
to their homes. The cotton plan
ter, the country merchant and
the wageworkers have all had to make
sacitices on account of the stringency in
the money market. and they will not be
Influenced again quickly to support those
senators and representatives whose knowl-
edge of financial matters seems to be ex-
tremely limited, and who have refused to
act in accordance with their wishes.