The Indiana State sentinel. [volume] (Indianapolis) 1868-1895, 1893-07-12

day . enjoy the most unbounded
prosperity. We should have had
the best and most abundant currency-a
gold currency of universal value and of
such volume as to force its circulation,
as in England, France and Germany.
into the hands of the people. To be as
sured of this fact it is only necessary
again to examine the conditions Of COM
merce for the last seventeen years. In
the first year after resolving upon specie
payments the excess of our exports of
merchandise over imports was S79,643,-
4s1. In the next year. ending June 80.
1877. this excess was s151, 152.Os4. For
1873 it was s257.S14.2s4. For 1879 it was
s264,e61, 666, and this excess continued,
with various amounts, down to 1892, ex-
cepting only small adverse balances in
the years 1883 and 1889. The net balance
OF trade in our favor from June 30, 1876.
to June 30. 1892. amounted to the enor-
nous sum of 1882, 1855, 446"
Everyone who lived through those
years knows that this country never had
worse times than from 1873 to 1880, and
that the decrease of imports meant
simply a decrease of ability to buy.
which shook the business world to its
very foundation. We have pointed out
this fallaey before We have shown
that the mere balance of trade was no
index to the movement Of specie, and no
index to the prosperity of a country.
We have shown that during all these
years of our silver demonstration, and
for many years before, England has
always had very heavy adverse bal
ance Of trade" and yet has imported
specie nearly all the time. Mr.. Hender-
son follows his delusion throughout.
He says: Finally, after passing the
Sherman law of 1890, which more than
doubled the silver purchases, the re-
marka5le fact is disclosed that no
amount Of expectation Of merchandise
could stay the shipments of gold from
the United States. For instance, in 1890
we exported an excess of merchandise
Of over s6s,000,0o0 and in the same year
exported an excess of gold Of over $751;
Of merchandise of over s3s,OOO,OOO, and
exported an excess of gold of over $72,-
100000, and although the excess of our
exports of product in 1892 amounted to
nearly 5000, 1000. 900. yet the almost start
ling fact appears that during that year
we exported over $13, O0o,O 900 of gold, and
now that the balance of trade has
naturally turned against us the country
is being drained of its remaining gold
with alarming rapidity. If any gold be
left in this country it is boarded by the
timid. 1t is as completely absent from
the circulation as if it had no existence"
This is amusing. With about $780,
100000 Of gold in the treasury, and $780,
100000 more elsewhere in the country,
we have no gold. 1t is boarded by 1.-The
timid'-probabl he means the timid
bankers who nave been hoping it would
go to a premium. Mr.. Henderson fails
to explain why anyone could expect the
low " h0fC dAAy CAACSI VI sup
ping gold shipments. They have stopped,
nevertheless. VIZ their cause stopped.
and that ought - good evidence that
the Sherman law had nothing to do with
them further than facilitating the extrac-
ton Of gold from the national treasury.
Indeed, Mr.. Henderson's argument
throughout is equally fallacious, and it
is to be hoped that neither Mr.. Carlisle
nor anyone else connected with the
government will waste any time on his
recommendations, and especially on the
one for an issue of bonds. all the
country needs for the present is the
stoppage of the silver purchases and
provision for a revenue that will be in
excess of our expenditures. With that
done, the country can have as stable a
currency as can exist on a mono
metallic basis, and we shall have fair
trial of monometallism without any pre-
tense that danger of the use of silver
produces the effects which necessarily
follow from a, single standard.