The Bessemer indicator., 1893-08-12

rowed capital. This is true alike OF those
which are conducted by corporations and by
fndiylduals When the oppressiveness OF
debt becomes unbcnrable We tftus' expect
Scnhand for inconvertlble paper money which
no power I'm Ne able 10 resist ] candIdly
believe that the RELIEF @.tch has been afforded
by what Is known AS the Blanc hEo Sherman
acts for the past fifteen years, as inadequate
a. 1t has been, has prevented the flooding the
country with paper money.
President Andrews plan would be TO re-
peal the Sherman nc. 9'd SLOW silver 10 fall
still lower, ''and thus preclpitatt ~ Europe
another fall in prices so aggravated that TIC
most obdurate banker Of Lombard street Will
tav- 10 admit that gold cannot safely be
taken as 'he sol. metallic money"
must confess thn' n me this seems like
most uncertain and dangerous c-rcrlfnent
SupposIng that after we had stiil fir'hcr
discarded silver and deprecated its value by
repeating tine Sherman act 1t thould turn out
that England should still adhere 10 its an
cient policy OF monometallism. We would
have Joined with the monometnliic countries
of Europe to still further disparagc silver
money, OF which we have now more than
t6o0, 200, 900 in coin and bullion, including
subsidiary coin. We would have struck II
fatal blow to the interests of the silver states
Of the Union Of which the principal Industry
| IL silver mining and II we should then tiudcr.
take to retracc our steps inuumcrable obsta-
cles would besct our patti.
Ynr u,,., who could be made 70 Delicfe that
after repeating the Sherman act any leFlsla-
! tiou favorable to silver could be secured for
| tbh beSt todr years while Mr.. Cleveland Is
| President would be credu'crs indeed.
| fear that the suppositiou that hy tepsnl-
| ing the Sherman act and thus bringing, on a
| srrrt fal in the price of the metal we can CO.
cree Europe into q bl,tretallic treaty would
prove n dclusion and snare. iGere is a
surcr method OF coerclng Europe, which !
shall present to you further on.
| III ia plain enough that decentralization was
a grleyous folly Oh the part * tl'o United
| States, although there was something to rec.
ommcnd 1t to Germany, which is creditor
country in Its international relations.
| But for the present It ID clearly the duty OF
the United States, the principal silyer-produe-
ing country OF the world, and with suen a
large stool. n ei-cr In use as uoney, to su'-
tain tic price of it, and not 70 dtPres' IT..
| We arc suffering from contraction, and not
| from imitation, and to now take a step which
is admitted by It's advocates Will result in a
further fail in the price Of silver, and thus
strergthon tito hahds OF tie rtionomctallsts
OF Europe and Of this country, whose prlnci-
pal avowed ground of attack upon silver Is
Its actual depreciation would be suicidal
step.
The United States is the one country and
the only gold country which could safely
venture upon the free coinagc of silver. 1t Is
strong enough. 70 make It's own standard In
| depcndei.tly u the rest " the Hotlh, aud ii
|
tanning the stcadincss of the valnc OF our own
currency In our internal trade and with but
little regard 10 the relation of value which
may exist between our country and that OF
foreign countries.
A Legislative blunicr which is seldom re.
ferred to and which was almost equally fatal
with that OF 1873 was the act OF 1884, by
which the ratio at which We should coin sill
yer was raised from 15 TO to Ii 10 1, in fact,
but fo- the act OF 1881 ii Is almost sure that
From 1894 to 1873 for thirty-uinc years, 1t
was impossible for rs to circulate II silver
dollar in this country Furinr. MI that time
France r,alntflnel gold Payments and tie
Unlimited coinage OF silver at the ratio of 10 !
| to |. Our silver dollars were worth 3 per
cent more than their face value to melt and
sell in bullion form; consequently when the
action of 1873 was taken we had no silver dol
lars in circulation, AMI the disastrous effects
of that act were not apparent until some time
| afterwards.
II 1t turns out in the end that the old hi
metallic condition cannot be restored, aud If
we finally have 10 choose between silver and
| gold AS the sole metal money In use In this
| country, beyond all question we should
choose silver Efers bcn5ldcrat,on points to
that conclusion.
A metallic standard exclusively OF gold for
this country; which has to-day SLIGO, 900, 900
of metallic money, and which will within
twenty-five years require tSice that amount,
If we preserve in our circulation the present
proportion of paper to coin, Is something
which brstles all over with inlpo.sib.ltles
Such an absorption of gold as tha. would
carry up its height 10 value never before
dreamed of, and would bankrupt every ma.
tion on the gold standard Wheat would fall
to 90 cents per bushel, mud general prices In
Europe would probably feturh I'd the lcvel
which existed before the discovery of
America.
We are to-day the leading nation OF the
world and have only made 4 Beginning IN the
development OF our rcsnrrhoe, We the abrnd-
antly dBia ibid tal Welt ltdri 10 frame our
own policy with respect TO our monntarv af-
ia'rs ...pi.-nucntiy OF the rest OF the world.
Those who are afflicted with the fear that
the condition OF this country will BIS brought
to that Of Ghinh by the unfolding rf hi-tr'elhll
lisii ih5uli rrmcriber our experience from
1861 to 1879, when we had neither god or
silver, but only an inconvcrtible paper money.
| am not TO be understood as favoring an in
convertible paper money. / am radically op-
posed TO fiat money, brt after tho expcrisnee
of tbGsN ycats ali, not iibio I'd Participate in
tho fcellhg ot dnuger, so prevalent now, or
must adpp. the policy Of maintaining b-mef-
allism, inyolying M T. should the Unlimited
coitagt Of gold and silver.
But, II In the course of things not Of our
own choice or making, but BIZ the natural
working OF our mmcmorablc double standard,
our metallic money comes to consist eNclu-
sively OF silver, we will escape u Loss to which
they will remain subjected We will thereby
obtain precisely that tdSantagc ryer Westetn
Europe which hns aiteady enabled iriilsh lii
dia TO supcrccdc the English Ia supplying
China with cotton yarns, aud to maiutan n
gaining competition with them in supplying
China with cotton cloths. We shall then sell
goods In qll silver standard countries for the
! same hind OF money, by the expenditure of
which the goods are produced With that
! nd vpn ntnyr pvp Eu hpr Il. ,tnth IA
Ing to prevent our vnultiug by singe bound
into the mastery Of the worlds commerce
which in modern times consists essentially in
the profitable exchange of the iinishcl pro-
highly citlliz6d natloiis fdr the pro urfs oh.
ta!ned by the rude labor of srm!-civillzed
peoples, with the aid OF rich soils, benignant
suns and other natural advantages.
If this country steadily perscvcrcs in coin
age OF silver and II, at some future time, hich
may never come, 1t shall result from that
colnase and from the refusal of Western
Europe to restore the old birnetallie condi-
tions which 1t voluntarily aud deliber
atcly destroyed, the metallic money of
this country becomes exclusively silver, one
of two things must happen: Western Europe
must then either abandon it, gold uono-
mctalllsm or It will, by adhering 10 it, trans
fer to us the substantial monopoly Of supply
ing Asia and South America with mauufac-
lures, which means for the commercial and
inNHuihctuiluE biit'ous VI fhrppc. WIN tEcir
crowded populations not merely the loss Of
prosperity, but absolute financial, political
and social ruin.
II Is not Western Europe WHICH Is the mas
ter of the situation, but the uutel States.
| We have had bismetallic currency since the
first settlement OF America by the transat-
lantlc races. All our traditions are hlmctal-
lie. In the constitution of our present form
OF national government, now more than a
century old, bnetallism is immovably I'M
Hal. II ,..I.
doubtcdy In favor of continuing in the old
way. In all events will, by maintaining
our double standard law, make to mankind a
standing offer 10 continue in the old way by
| keeping our mlnts always open 80 all couers
| for the coinage of gold at the ratio 70 silver
| of IN LIZ Rul IL Mnslnrn Eurnnn nnrsernecs