Daily Texarkana Democrat., 1893-07-01
THE SILVER QUESTION.
The Situation Summed Up From a
Monetary Standpoint.

Monetary Standpoint.
One of the fairest and most concise
summaries of the silver question, taken
from every standpoint has been pre-
pared as follows:
The greatest financial sensation in
many years is the action of the ludia
government in suspending the free
coinage of silve in India. Coming
Just at this time when the question OF
the repeal of the Sherman silver pur-
shase act is paramount in the minds
of the people of the United States, the
currency problem assumes phase
altogether novel. India has had free
coinage of silver always, and its sudden
sessation, because of the depreciation
in the value of the rupee, is confession
that the world has more silver than it
can absorb as money or in arts. India
has, therefore, been forced to the gold
standard. The silver dollar of the
United States is now worth only about
60 cents, and stoppage of free coinage
in India will mako it less. 1t would
seem that the secretary of the treasury
would be compelled to abandon the
monthly purchases Of silver at once,
or that Mr.. Cleveland would be COM
PEELED to call all extra session of con-
gress within the month. 1t is rank
folly to continue longer the paying of
gold for silver, and boarding silver pig
IN the vaults of the treasury. 1t may
be that the action of the India govern
ment is flash of lightning which viii
clear the financial sky. What the the
orists and economists have been unble
to make plain, the hard law of COM
merce Is revealing. 1t is now becom-
ing manifest what is the cause of the
present financial depression in all
parts of the world. 1t must be the
steady depreciation in values growing
out Of the retrogression of silver as a
commercial coin. There are neither
wars nor epidemics, nor famines in
the world. Men are just as energetic
as they ever were. There has been
no retardation of commercial inter-
change. 1t must be that the solution
of the unparalleled mystery has been
found in the overstock of silver as a
medium of exchange. The sooner
Mr. Cleveland can put things to rights
in this country the better. Within
twelve months there has been loss OF
$700,000,000 in property values in the
United States. This cannot be ex-
planned on the theory of overtrading,
but it is to be explained by the drop
ping of silver from nearly par in 1890
to 60 cents today. One may now un-
derstand why the international none
tary conference, having in view the
establishment of a parity between gold
and silver, failed at Brussels last win
ter. With no further free coinage OF
silver in linda, the United States can
not proceed alone in that direction
We must come to halt. The coin has
practically been rejected by the Brit
ish government as being no longer
available for commercial purposes at
the existing ratio. The British gov
ernment has struck down silver al
most without warning. Whatever the
future of silver may be, it is now ap-
parent that period for the assimila-
ton of the present worlds supply
must be allowed, and it is difficult to
see how the United States government
can afford to buy another ounce of it,
with such a tremendous stock now on
hand. 1t looks like the whole world
had been driven to the gold standard.