The Indiana State sentinel. [volume] (Indianapolis) 1868-1895, 1893-08-30
CHANGED CONDITIONS.

Mr.. Bynum in his speech on the repeal
OF the Sherman law very justly calls TO
the attention of the public the changed
now where it was then as to its ability
to maintain the free coinage Of silver,
and any man who will look atthe changed
condition is obliged to recognize the fact.
1t is evident that no country can main
tain several kinds of currency on an
equality with each other unless it is able
to redeem each Kind in the most valuable
one of them all. We had a full demon
stration of this during the civil war,
when the government was forced to issue
paper money. That money at once went
to a discount because the government had
not The gold and silver to maintain spe-
of the government fluctuated. At one
time coin was at a premium Of 2S5. but
as the war was brought to successful
termination it rose. Even after the war
there was considerable fluctuation, gold
having reached 1921 in 1869. but with
the resumption of specie payments paper
came to par value.
At the present time all of our currency
is on a gold basis; paper, silver, nickel
and copper, all have back of them the
country's express or implied promise to
redeem in gold, and so long as the gov
eminent stands ready with the gold so
Io,1c~ will fbaxr in at
fore, the country proposes to extend its
credit, as free coinage of silver would
extend 1T, the question Of ability to main
tain gold payments becomes the vital
cratic party is pledged to maintain the
parity of the dollar" Of whatever ma
terial it may be. The question of restor-
ing the market value Of silver bullion,
which is a totally different thing from
silver dollars, lies back of the question
of maintaining the equal current value
of our dollars. Any person must easily
understand the disadvantages that would
result from having part of our money at
a discount, and we believe that all intelli-
gent persons will agree that the preven-
tion of such calamity is the first and
highest duty of the government.
Are we as we'll prepared to extend
our credit now as we were in 1890?
Everybody knows that we are not. In
1890 we had surplus in the treasury
Now we have a deficit. In 1890 our in
come exceeded our expenses. Now our
expenses exceed our income. The con-
gless of 1890, in its effort to get rid Of
the hated surplus, resorted to the wild
est extravaganza that the country has
ever known. 1t increased our pension
charges from s3O.OOO.OOO to $40, 900, 900 per
year. 1t created sugar bounty of about
$1o,O00.OOO per year. 1t more than dou-
bled our silver purchase, making an an
nual expenditure for silver of about $4O,-
100000 per year. At the same time, by
that monstrosity. the Mckinley bill. it
reduced our income from the tariff S42-
100000. This year the reduction will be
still greater. The tariff receipts for the
first twenty days of August. at the New
York custom house alone, show a falling
off Of $S,6O0.OOO. There is no room for
question that the country has been put
in very bad financial condition, and
for that reason we cannot safely DO
now what we might have done in 1890
The thing now urgent is to cut down
expenses and build up revenues. Repeal
the Sherman law and pass a tariff for
revenue law.