Vermont phÅ“nix. [volume] (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1834-1955, 1893-08-25
SOUND MONEY
CHEATS NOBODY"
Senator Morrill, on the Silver
Question.
The Main Points In his Able and uIu-
minatIng Speech, Delivered In the
Senate Last Monday.

9enAtt A1hHN
In opening his speech Senator Morrill,
said he had not yet abandoned all hope of
bimetalsm; and, accordingly, he should
gladly vote for the repeal of so much of
the act of 1890 as requires the purchase of
silver, which originally did not receive any
favor from him, and the wide distrust it
has excited should be speedily removed.
But, after its repeal, we shall not be de-
pendent upon gold alone for currency, as
there will be in the treasury much more of
silver than of gold, more of paper curren-
cy than ever before, and the silver dollar
will not be demonetized. Whenever more
silver can be coined and utilized without
crowding gold to a premium, it will be
done by universal consent; but the treas
ury of the United States should be relieved
from its embarrassment of furnishing gold
to pay for silver bullion.
For 20 years Germany, France, and all
the Latin nations have ceased from the
coinage of silver, and every year the an
nual surplus, beyond consumption for the
arts, has glutted and cloyed all markets
Other metals are meeting the same fate,
and from no other reason than that of an
excessive production. The vast and alb
normal overproduction of silver can no
more escape from depreciation in price
than iron or copper, or than cotton, corn or
wheat, with redundant production. 1t is
well known that for several years there has
been downward tendency in the prices of
food products and of many other materials,
and the silver extremists claim this to have
arisen solely from demonetizing silver.
But here it is not demonetized. 1t is
manifest that so far the silver dollar here,
tarrh 4 L
larger purchasing power, but is as barren
of influence as to the depreciation of the
price of cotton or wheat as copper or tin,
r~as TO the winding sheet of an Egyptian
mummy.
Wherever depreciation of the price of
any article has occurred all the world
knows, save the unfortunate dupes of sill
yer extremists, that it has arisen from re-
dundance or from cheaper cost of pro-
duction. In such cases the supply is great
er than the demand. For many years
there has been prodigious annual increase
of silver bullion, and the downward ten
dency of its price has followed step by
step. So tempting were mining profits
that over 1000 mines, according to the CEN
sus reports of 1890, We're being worked,
though producing neither silver nor gold
and apparently exhausted; but all the
same they still keep on barking, like Mr.
Bucher's dog, at the old hole, long after
the disappearance Of the squirrel. But
the labor lost in such mines creates no
claim to be included in the average cost of
labor in successful silver mines.
The delusive efforts, made by all the
power and prestige of the national govern
ment to enhance the value of silver, show
that the universal law of supply and de-
mand is still invincible, and cannot be set
aside even by the dynamics of legal tender
laws. 1t has been too obvious that our
nominal consumption of silver did not con-
sumo, Its swollen bulk of over 1900
tons, ever visibly increasing, perpetually
suggests that it may be too great to be for
ever held above and away from all contact
with the worlds markets, and that, like an
Alpine avalanche when jostled by some
thunderbolt, it may ere long be let loose, and
by its fall finally and forever crush out its
own life as precious metal
Foreign nations, too ready to believe
whatever may be derogatory of the Amer
lean people, have confidently believed that,
with Beotian stolidity, we should be con-
tented with silver only, and that the stock
of gold now in America and all future
productions would easily be transferred to
their possession. Four of the great pow
ers of Europe are training soldiers possibly
to make famous other fields than Waterloo
and Sedan. Their success, as they believe,
requires not merely the heaviest artillery,
but the heaviest stock of gold; and this
they are financially maneuvering to acquire
These ambitious powers have regarded
America, not as a formidable competitor
for gold, but as one of their uufailine
sources of its supply, as well as an unfal.
tering and hungry market for silver.
America, however, can be competitor for
gold, and by far one of the strongest, fol
the reason that it is home producer Of
gold as well as silver, and will use both
only for all the beatitudes of peace anC
prosperous commerce. By the great cost
OF large armies, and greater loss of labor
in domestic industries, European nations
are really crippling their financial resources
while our small army and our peace-lovine
habits relieve our people from such exces
sive burdens, and will surely in the END
give us the primacy in financial power. A
repeal of the silver purchasing clause il
the act of 1890 will give us practica
force, so long manifestly disregarded, in
the final determination of the silver problem
and Europe, after all, to provide for its
| own financial necessities, is most likely tC
reach the conclusion that silver should moi
remain obsolete and useless only as a com.
modify.
lcannot, however, favor bimetallism with
out an increase of silver in silver coinage
as without an increase it would be impos
sible to maintain any parity between golC
and silver, even with the cooperation OF
many nations. Nor can l favor the fire.,
coinage of silver by the United Statei
alone, were the ratio between the two met
ais TO be advanced from 16 to 25 to l, O.
| even 2S to /, for the reason that the pres
entcolossal output of silver cannot be an
nually absorbed by any single nation. A
preposterous attempt to absorb it on on
part might win smile from the governo
OF Colorado, but would provoke the ridi
/ cule Of the commercial world and inexora
bly, cause its further depreciation. N,
remedy will have a prosperous endin,
which does not squarely and fully recogniz,
the existing extraordinary magnitude o
silver which must be furnished with ney
market.
Mr.. Chemuschi, by far the ablest bimet
allist that has yet appeared, has always in
sisted that it was only necessary for tn
United States for the time to cease fror
coming or from purchasing silver to brin
European nations to a proper and lust in
ternational arrangement by which the ger
eral use of silver as an integral part of tn
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