The Goodland republic. [volume] (Goodland, Kan.) 1891-1907, 1893-10-13
a PLEA ZOE SILVER.


APLEA FOR SILVER.
Mr.. William P. st. John, president
of the Mercantile National bank, had
this to say yesterday at the meeting of
the chamber of commerce, called to
consider the financial situation:
Repeal the Sherman law, stop buy
ing silver" And yet, if Shakespeare is
an authority, "there is some soul of
goodness in things evil" This so-called
Sherman act requires a monthly alb
sorption of a fixed amount of silver
bullion as the market price under the
provision that this bullion is not to be
emitted from the treasury except in le-
gal-tender silver coin, this coin valuing
silver at S1.29 per fine ounce. Our
treasury hord Of silver, therefore, were
the act appreciated, would be without
influence upon the worlds market price
for silver until that price exceeds $1.29
per ounce. This monthly absorption
of bullion serves to create an issue of
United States legal-tender notes at the
market price of the bullion when alb
sorbed. Manifestly, the lower the price
of silver the smaller the sum of notes
put out At the present price of silver
the sum of notes thus issued will barely
exceed 100000 month, or S26,OO0,OO0
& year. The present secretary of the
treasury, adopting his predecessors in
depreciation of the statute, determines
that these notes are redeemable, on de-
mand, invariably in gold. The urgency
of the need of the repeal of the act is
therefore to be determined by the
: measure of the ability of &he United
States to provide the gold with which
to redeem, on demand, an annual ad-
dition of S36OOO,OOO to S5O,O0OOOO of it's
legal-tender notes.
my friend who offers your resolutions
today and asks you to adopt them pro-
poses to substitute bank notes for
these automatically created notes of
the United States and he offers these
substituted bank notes for United
States notes as a restorative of conf
dence among the people. value more
highly than he the ability of the United
States. Hence see no urgency of need
for repeal of the statute which 1 think
so much maligned. But if the United
States, as body polite of 65,0OO,OO0
people, thought to be among the wealth
lest of nations, is indeed unable to
maintain it's legal-tender notes, redeem
able in gold, am not persuaded that
the banks of the United States assure
US a better ability to maintain their
notes in gold.
LAS have not INDUCED myself with
any of the fears that have been en-
gagged, cannot take part in the demand
for undue haste on the part of congress
about to be assembled. This statute
will fall into the hands of majority in
both houses committed by the party
platform to repeal it. That platform
makes quite as loud demand for the
equal access to the minis of the United
States ofgoId and silver and Requires the
findings Of safeguards that shall make
such a measure an acceptable substi-
tute for the act repealed. On these terms
I am with you in the demand that we
stop buying silver and let it share with
the full obligation of primary money.
My friend, Mr.. Claim, has attributed
to this so-called Sherman bill our re-
cent exports of SCI, 100000 gold. I think
that this gold export is as independent,
in fact, of our silver legislstion as of
our internal revenue legislation. We
had vast excess of imports of merch-
andise to pay for. Our debt to Europe
matured at,a time when the Australian
bank failures we're beginning to be mys-
teriously predicted in English bank
ing circles; when Argentine interest
payments, due under the guaranty of
English bankers, were in default; when
the Australian syndicate of bankers
was accommodating gold at premium,
as is well known. Under such condi-
tions prevailing with our creditors they
exacted payment instead of re-investing
their moneys here. It is now entirely
likely, that unless unforeseen events
trapspire to prohibit it, return flow
of gold to the United States in payment
for-our surplus of serials, meats and
cotton will begin ere long. Let us re-
member that the United States export
ed nearly S70,O00,O0O of gold during the
year ending June 80, 1891, but after
wards re-imported sSS.0O0.OoO gold in
four months, ending with january l,
1892 The Sherman law was then in
operation turning out a greater sum of
legaI-tender notes at that time than
now, because of a higher price than
now for silver.
aBubwe are asked to abandon silver
temporarily, in order that the United