The progressive farmer. [volume] (Winston, N.C.) 1886-1904, 1893-03-14
THIS SILVER QUESTION.
By Howard M. Holden, a Banker, Read
in the Senate by Senator
Stewart, of Nevada.
From Congressional Record

From congressional R6cOFQ.I
The demand for honest money" IS a
proper one. What is honest money?
Not wild and unlimited government Is
size. breeding vast general speculation
and enormous initiation of prices, only
to be followed by collapse and prostra-
ton. Not the issue of State banks, IN
calculable as to amount and uuccn-
trOlled bv any central authority, issued
under forty four different State laws,
MANY of them repeating the wildcat -
sWindIes of the days before the war, Tor
in this instance, as in most others, his
tory will repeat itself j" but 1t is the
gold and silver of the Constitution, the
gold and silver that, as one has graplc
ally said, from the days Of Abraham
of the Cnaldees to the daysOt Abraham
Lincoln formed the basis moneys OF
the world; and then, IN proper proper
ton, resting on that, the paper money
OF the government. Attacks nave een
made upon the national banks OF the
country. The national banking system
Is the safest and best that has ever been
devised ana these banks should be per
peGuated as banks Of discount and de
posit; but there would seem TO be no
reason why national bank circulation
should nOJ nov be replaced by the Gil
rect issues Of the government.
Such q system would constitute hon
est money, and with some we'll ordered
plan giving elasticity to the currency,
and providing for its expansion and
contraction with the varying demands
Of the seasons tor a greater or lesser
supply Of money, would stand as a last
ing bulwark against the construction
Of =, rTy,rrlo Gold Cfo0I md on tho ono
hand and deranging initiation Of unlIm-
tied jrredeemable fat paper money on
The other hand.
There never was a timein the worlds
history when a broad and ample sup
ply Of sOunC money vas as necessary
aS now. 1t is the age Of public and CDR
pOrate debts of almost lncalculable
amount; Of the expansion Of credit I'M
known in former times; Of enterprise
unparalleled; OF commercial and indus
trial activities wholly without prece
dent. The world needs q constant
fresh supply of metal money, and the
| production of gold Is stationary Or oil
miniShing.
Bageh0t wisely says:
I'VE must remember that the III
rency of a stationary country requires
constant renewal, and that Of a progress
sive country constant Increase, and
therefore Ifyouk keep thequan1ity fixed,
prices are ure to fall"
How shall this increase be supplied2
BY the new and fresh blood Of the pre-
ciouS metals in the circuiatory system
Or by irredeemable fiat paper money
1t is impossible within the limits of a
newspaper article, however literally
extended, to do Justice to this great
| question. A full and exhaustive discus
SION of it, with supporting statistics
| and authorities, would fill a volume.
! Enough has been said, the writer be,
| lieves, to show, first, that the general
value of great staples, wheat and
| cotton, are largely controlled by the
| status Of silver, and also that, general
ly speaking, in the welfare OF silver is
involved the welfare of all forms of
property and, second, that the demon.
! citation of silver and its resulting de-
| graduation from it's ancient position of
money of ultimate redemption, co.
| ordinate with gold, was not based upon
any necessity of the existing situation,
Or upon any changed relation of the
two metals with respect to each other
to the disparagament of silver, or upon
any general nyerest of mankind call
! A"S - 0SCA tSCNASAA ~ L LO 4NCASO q
mistake Of unmeasured sweep, and the
harsher criticism seems justified that it
proceeded from unworthy and specula-
tive motives, which had for their end
the profit of the few and the loss of the
many and, third, that gold cannot per
| form the functions of both metals.
What is the remedy? UnquestiOn,
/ ably there is but one, and that is the
remonetiz alton of silver, and the plac
ing it again where from immemOrial
! time it had stood. How shall this be
| accomplished? 1t is not the purpose of
| this article to enter intO'details OF meth
DDS while the subject is under discus
| zion by the monetary conference. Con
current action by the leading nations
upon some agreed ratio would certain
IL be desirable. The apprehension has
been expressed that if silver was read
mitted to unrestricted coinage at the
old ratios, the product would soon be.
come excessive. If this apprehension
be we'll founded there Is nothing to pre-
vent the present adoption of such new
ratio, for instance, IS or 20 to 1, as
would tend to restrict the production
of silver. Buj it is not believed that
there is any reasonable ground for such
apprehension.
1t is the same old fear that was ex-
pressed by the mOnOmetallists and the
Orists of Europe when California and
Australia were pouring forth their
treasures of gold for the enrichment of
mankind. AS has been stated, it was
predicted thAt the annual output of
gold would soon equal 1850, 600, 900. It
never did, and the output Of silver in
any n year has never equaled the out
put of gold in single years, The lamp
of e%Xperienee illumines the days that
are to come, and by the past we can
judge of the future. The cupidity of
man and his utmost energy have in all
periods been aroused in the search for
the precious metals, bus while they