The progressive farmer. [volume] (Winston, N.C.) 1886-1904, 1893-01-03
NJ RECONCILIATION OF SILVER.
p..vuntion of Specie Payments" The
way to Resume is to Resume"

VWAV to NGSu44C - ~ ~SA
Editor of The National VteaU:
The act of February ID, 1873, de-
~onotizine silver was not felt until
oftor the legal tender currency was
bro1oht TO a under the act that went
into effect January 1, 1879. At the
time said act of February IL, 1873, was
nassed silver was at a premium ana
Continued thus until after January 1,
8 At one time, between said dates,
7 recollect well that the premium on
large pieces quarters and halVes) was
10 6er cent. and the premium on small
n;ococ dimes and half dime5) was 8
9or cent. The premium or gold at
This time was II per cent. Silver, like
the gold. was boarded, there being but
little or none in circulation. The act
of RESUMPTION was signed by the Presl-
dent. January IA, 1875, to take effect
January 1, 1879, but there was but lit
tie if any Improvement in the value OF
the currency until the government
recognized the fact that a paper dollar
was worth a dollar in coin, as will be
hereinafter more fully set forth.
During 1874. and subsequently, | en-
ployed considerable silver in payment
for mail service rendered on the Pacific
Slope. Coin was then the universal
currency of that section. Greenbacks
were at a heavy discount. Silver cir
culated at par, the same as gold. Con
seuuently, it was to my advantage to
purchase silver and ship by express
By dividing the percentage gained, l
made this silver worth more to the
sub-contractors than gold.
Upon one occasion l bought all the
silver that I could procure from the
banks IN this city and Baltimore, clean
ing them out down to dimes and half
dimes, and could then barely procure
asufficiency. | paid the u contractor
on the stage line to the Yosemite Val
lev. Cal. $50 in dimes and $40 In half
dimes. In acknowledging reception he
said: "YCu have sent me small change
enough for this whole Coast" l men
ton this circumstance to show how
very scarce silver was, yet 1T had been
demonetized and limited, as a legal
tender, to sums OF So.
The first effort to reach the resump-
ton Of specie, or rather restore the
greenback currency to par, was through
the medium of a contraction OF d
currency. From September l, 1865, to
January 1 1868. the currency was con-
tracted 1907. 724, 847 without attaining
resumption, or any prospect of 1t,
simply for the reason that the conf
dence of the people in the currency re-
manned the same.
At length the Hon. John Sherman,
then Secretary of the Trea <ury, adopted
Horace Greeley's plan: The way to
resume is to resume" He issued an
order that Treasury warrants would, if
desirable, be paid in silver coin, dollar
for dollar, limiting the amount to $500
- 49, Cr,o oO-oOn in q dow 10of Wno
Just into my hand and I procured $500
in silver daily for several days. At
length the cashier at the Treasury in
formed me that he was growing tired
of my visits and proposed to pay me
81, 900 il [ would come no more. That
was about the amount | still needed,
and, consequently, IaCcepted his prOpO-
sitiOn. The three Currencies- gold,
silver and paper-were thus restored
to the same value before the end Of the
next quarter and, consequently, there
was no further necessity for sending
coin to the West.
But the unfortunate act of demOne-
tization, silver bullion would doubtless
be at par to-day throughout the world.
All that is lacking to restore it to par
is for Congress to pass an act making
it worth 81, 1929 per ounce and it would
soon &c to par and remain there. Con
sequently, all the silver that may be
offered should be purchased at said
price and either coined or converted
into bars. If the latter, legal tenders,
dollar for dollar, should be issued,
based thereon, redeemable in either
gold or silver coin, silver bars TO back
said currency would have the same
effect in maintaining it at par that
they would if converted into com.
When needed they could very Don be
converted into coin.
The act of February II, 1878, very
probably started Germany in the same
direction. She demonetiZed silver the
July following.
Gold needs no legislation and can
take care of itself.
Silver having been clandestinely and
unjustly trodden down, needs lifting
up. The only way TO do this is to re-
store it where it was when demone-
tized. Treat the noble white metal
justly and it will render yeoman ser
vice for the toiling masses
1t is claimed by some that the re-
monetization of silver would send gold
abroad "a false dOctrine.) Well, sup,
pose it would. IL it can only remain
here under circumstances that threaten
a money panic as almost any moment,
let it go abroad and stay there. The
the sooner the better. Like silver,
when at a premium, it is now boarded
and renders but little service, compare
lively speaking, as a currency. Give
III a sufficiency of silver and a currency
based thereon and we can be a thriv
ing, prosperous people without a dol
lar Of gold. BRYAN TYSON,
P~rOcOpriEV N q