The Kinsley graphic. [volume] (Kinsley, Kan.) 1890-1940, 1893-07-14
LETTER AND AN ANSWER.

n L. En- ANU faN ANo"cV'
The Secretary of Agriculture Sends Forth
an Oliver and Gets u Roland In Ex-
change Therefor.
The following letter, written June IL,
at the Office of the secretary OF agri-
cnlture, to Hon. j. +. Lee, Of Manhat-
tan, Kan, is of interest:
My Dear Sir: / am pleased to acknowledge
the receipt Of your agreeable letter OF the isth
inst, indorsng the views in q recent episue ad-
dressed to you over my signature
The continued parchas, of as 0,0N ounces OF
silver per mon III is very debilitating to the god
reserve in the treasury OF the United States
The recent u.terance of Secretary Carlisle
shows conclusively that while in eleven months
we issued $40, s0.00) of treasury notes Tor silver
bullion, more than sr, o 1900 Of the said notes
have been returned to the treasury for redemp-
ton IL gold. Plainly stated in a wild western
way, the question is now, which will hold out
the longest. the gold of the United States or
the silver of the whole world:
1t would be a ,od object lesson In money fall
lacies il the government could legally tender
4I21 grain silver dollars in payment foc the
silver bullion which it buys each month under
the compulsory provisions OF the Sherman act
Silver coinei in 4i2ii grain dollars is silver put
upon the public at 81. . an ounce. Therefore,
when silver bullion is only 81 cents an
ounce, II the producers and vendors
thereof were compelled TO receive their
pay in silver dollars Of ii.h grains each,
the! would be forced TO pay Is cents an ounce
to boot between the plain unst,mped bullion
and the coined Il yer which bears the legend,
I'm God We Trust" and a cameo OF the God
dess OF Liberty. The giving of an ounce of sill
yer bullion which contains 40 grains of silver.
for a dollar which contains only 4i2ii grains o:
silver, would soon teach the advocates OF fat
money that the stamp of the government is
merely a certiication of weight and hneness OF
the coin, and not enhancement OF the metal
IT contains The mint value Of gold Is its bull
lion value A twenty-dollar gold piece, with
the stamp Of the government entirely obliter
ated Qhe weight being retained and the fine
ness unimpaircd), will sell for 50. Whv, then,
should so in silver, reduced 10 bullion. be
worth less than they were before the mint
stamp was erased If silver Is just as good for
q money metal as gold is? Did mankind ever
successfully make money out of any thing which
had no value a commodity before 1t became
money. II the government can, by coinage,
create an artificial value Of IS cents to the
ounce in silver why cannot the government
create 100 cents value in any kind Of metal
that it may coin and stamp 'one dollar:'
Faithfully yours J STERLING MORTON.
We have been shown a recent letter
from Secretary of Agriculture Morton.
in which he discusses some phases of
the silver question from the admins
tration standpoint.
He quotes Secretary Carlisle's state
ment that within eleven months sa9,-
600, 900 of silver bullion treasury notes
were issued and s47. 900, 600 returned to
the treasury for gold. Secretary Nor
ton must know that this is a garbled
statement The notes that were re-
turned for gold during the time named
were not the identical notes that were
issued during that time. They were
simply SO much of the much larger
amount of these silver notes that were
abroad in the country, and that had
been issued not alone during the eleven
months referred to, but during the
nearly three years since the Sherman
act was passed in July, 1890.
Why were they returned for gold?
Not because their holders did not re-
gard them just as good as gold, or as
any other issues of the government,
but because, owing to the great de-
mand for gold for export to pay our
debts resulting from the large balance
of trade against us, and to meet the de-
mands from Austria, which was in the
markets of the world buying gold, a
great amount of gold was needed for ex-
port Mr.. Morton would leave it to be
inferred that during that eleven months
no demands We're made upon the treas
ury for gold except by presentation Of
the silver notes. He carefully omits
to state the fact that many millions of
''greenbacls" were also presented and
redeemed in gold to meet the export
demand. Why does he not mention
this as evidence that the people were
~f III -
reason, no doubt, that it would not suit
the apparent purpose of the admins
tration. of which he is a member, to
| discredit silver and drive the country
to single gold basis.
No effort has been made by our gov
ernment to put and maintain in circu-
| lation the silver dollar. Many millions
| would readily be absorbed by the
people if they were paid out and sub
| stituted in place of the small paper
| bills; but then that would reduce the
formidable mass of silver in the treas
ury. which it's enemies SO delight to
point to as unavailable stock.
But when Mr.. Morton touches upon
the general principles that underlie the
money problem he is most widely
astray. He says:
''The stamp of the government is
merely certification of the weight and
fineness of the coin, and not an en-
hancement of the metal it contains.
The mint value of the gold is its bull
lion value. A twenty-dollar gold piece
with the stamp of the government en-
tirely obliterated (the weight being
maintained and the fineness unim-
paired) will sell for $40 Why, then,
should $50 in silver, reduced to bullion,
be worth less than they were before
the mint stamp was erased, if silver is
| just as good for a money metal as gold
is?''
| 1t is indeed surprising that Mr.. Nor
ton should give utterance to such err
rors. If he should reverse his state
ment, and say that the bullion value of
| gold is it's mint value he would be cor
rect. The earth's yield of gold is now
about sl25, ,OOO,O 600 per annum. The
consumption in the arts is about $685.
900, 900. Suppose gold should be treat
ed as silver has been, and demonetized.
and its mint coinage value taken away,
what does Mr.. Morton suppose would
be the value of gold? 1t would then
be simply a commodity, the price of
which would be fixed by demand and
supply for use otherwise than as
money; and with a supply about double
the requirements for such uses, does
not Mr.. Morton see that it would inev-
itably decline in value? Would not the
same law prevail as in the case of all
other commodities? Does he not see
that the reason why his twenty-dol.
lar gold piece will have the same
value after obliteration of the gov
ernment stamp is because the hold.
er knows he can have it recoined
at the mint valuation which was
Expressed on its face? Does the
mint offer the same privilege to the
holder of silver bullion? If it were not
now as it was from the foundation oi