The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1893-09-27
Some Further Remarks Upon the Sll.
yer Question.

Mr.. EDITOR: With your permits
sion I will offer some further remarks
upon the silver question. have no
hopes, however, of satisfying such of
your readers as have already made up
their mind to go with the populists.
The "silver craze has seized upon
some Of our people, and their percep-
tions are SO one sided, it is utterly
impossible to make them comprehend
the force Of an argument.
Every intelligent man knows that
under the Silver Act, known as the
Sherman Act, that silver is there re-
garded as commodity, subject to the
Auctuation of the market like corn,
cotton, wheat, or any other product,
and that it has deprecated in value.
Mr.. Leech, director Of the mint, in
discussing this question, asks this
question "What is to be gained by
discontinuing the use Of one of the
money metals and throwing all the
work upon the other :? Not stability
of value, for as already shown for
nearly a century, when the bimetallic
system existed in France, the relative
value Of gold and silver did not vary
appreciably. These considerations
lead to the query: is there any rene
dy for the evils which have resulted
from the depreciation Of silver and
the consequent appreciation Of gold ?
No settlement of the present monetary
confusion is possible without interna-
tional action. The solution lies i'll the
adoption Of international bimetallism.
international bimetallism is eminent
ly practicable and just. Possibly
Mr.. Leech's authority may be doubt
ed. I turn to Vol. 2, Report Of the
Silver Committee, 1879. Mr.. Bland,
an avowed silverite, was one Of that
Commission. The testimony, ques-
tions and answers of the witnesses ex-
amined are quoted fully. Henri Ger
nushci, one of the most eminent wit
nesses, and an avowed silverite, to
question put by Mr.. Willard
''Is there any probability that the
reconciliation Of silver in the United
States would either affect the public
credit of this country or influence the
value Of American securities p
Answer: "My conviction is abso-
lutte on that point. If you are alone
in coming silver it would be impossi-
Bile for you to place other bonds in
Europe, and then I do not see how
you could resume specie payments. .
Question: "Is it the general belief
among the leading economists and
fnanciers of the old world that the mat
ter of the adoption Of money stand
ard in the United States is one which
our own people are fully entitled to
determine and settle, provided the
national debt is paid in the coin in
which it was stipulated to be paid at
the time the debt was contracted p
Answer: Certainly you have the
right of choosing for your domestic
use monetary standard, and to main
tain for the national debt q different
standard, but in SO doing you would
create great confusion. Z"
Question by Mr.. Bland: eff the
United States resumes specie pay
ments, adopts the bimetallic system
and makes coinage free, will not France
remove the restrictions on coinage of
silver ?"
Answer: Certainly, but she can
hesitate if bimetallism is only nomi-
nal in the United States, and if, in
fact, you continue to make your pay
payments with paper money"
I call up another witness, President
E. Benjamin Andrews, Of Brown
University, a member Of the recent
Silver Conference in Brussels. |
quote his letter in full in the Septem-
Der number of Reuiep of Reviews.
DEAR SIR: ''It seems to me clear
that the commercial world can never
again know stability until the pedes-
tai Of full money, on which the
worlds business stands, is enlarged
by the addition of silver to the worlds
volume of full, final, exportable mon
| ey. To such restitution Of silver to
| it's ancient function [ see no safe or
sure road save through international
| agreement, and to this there is, to my
mind, no other certain means but the
cessation of silver purchases by the
United States. So long as we con-
tinue to purchase silver, Europe will
fully expect to see us soon upon sill
yer basis. That, of course, would re-
lieve the silver troubles Of Great
Britain, Holland, Germany and France
for an indefinite time to come, and
would render it unnecessary for those
nations to take any action on the sub
ject. But if we stop buying silver the
gold price of silver will so fall as to
render the new British experiment in
India total failure. Another result
| would be a further appreciation of
gold (fall prices) in England itself, so
terrible that the most abdurate mono
metallist would at last begin to see
the ruin which the execution of his
theory must entail. In consequence,
I believe that Great Britain would be
forced to make common cause with
us in this important interest. The