New-York tribune., 1894-03-21
THE OufUd "SIIGNIORiEE l..

There are practical jokcrS in Omaha. The
detectives Of the Government Secret Service
found oulte a little nest of them the other day.
The iokers had got on 10 tie "Scgnorasr
game proposcd by the present Congress. and
were playing 1t for all il is worth AS they
understood the game. She Government had been
buying silver for Il long time NJ varying prices
and after putting certain marks ol ii selling it
10 the public at Il handsome profit. II not being
handy 10 move. the Government ceased putting
marks on il and paying Il on. but Kept "n
buying 1t and issuing lis own notes in payment
f,r H. The notes were mad" payable in silver.
but as nobody wanted silver il was enacted
that in the eye of the Government silver WAS
as good rs gold. which. though it WIS al in The
Governments eye. served to Keep the notes III
circulation. The main purpose in This was 10
maintain the volume of currency. - mat
there should b" plenty Of money anl everybody
would have enough to bc comfortable. and mort
cages would cease 10 b, rriniins and opprcsSiv"
after the mortgasc,rS had spent the borrowed
money I;ut it WAS presently found that the
volume Of the currency wl' insufficient. ana
that many deserving persons ENGAGED in asri-
cultural pursuits in the West. who bad BOUGHT
farm lands for two or three dollars an acre aud
/ bDllOWtI
cages and spent the money like mon. had some
difficulty In paving interest. Naturally th"
acriculuristS elected some Governors aud
Legislatures and mcmDsrS Of Congress Ia fix
il np. These statesmen are getting ready 10
.coIn the scigniora.c" in order 10 relieve The
distress
The Omaha lokcrS began 10 study the
.scignioracc" question. They found that the
4
Of silver and stored 1t IN lhr Treasury vaults.
and that ~ the market price the notes issued
for the purchase represented loss Of many
/ millions to the Government. Hut they also
found that If the Government should take the
| entire, amount stored anh stamp every fifty
cents worth Of it rs dollar there would De a
nroft Of SI,WU0W 10 the Government; and
that this was tobc the Government view Of the
matter They observed that under this con
! sr,iction Il losing transaction was made profit
! able and what was more. that II was possible
for the Government to put out more notes at
the rate Of a dollars worth OF notes on fifty
cents worth of collateral The jokers thought
that II this was a good thing for the Govern
mont they might 90 into it themselves. But
thcy found that they could not borrow II dollar
ON their own notes with fifty cents worth Of
|
notes but TO help TIE Government relieve the
general distress by going into the business or
sellinr fifty cents worth of silver for Il dollar
and SO maintaining the volume OF the cur
rencv" So for some time they have been buy
ing silver bullion OF the Omaha smeltcrs and.
after stamping It precisely as the Government
does, putting it in circulation In other words
they are selling silver TO the public at precisely
~ hoy pr
renortcd 10 have put in circulation something
like $5OOOOO The proceeding lacks formaiity'
hut IL the issue OF l5OOOOOO Of certificates on
the theory that an obviously ana undenlaDiy
losing transaction has been profitable, and on
the basis OF fifty cents worth OF collateral 10
the dollar is wise craftsmanship and honest
fpanciering and calculated TO relieve the gen
oral distress. what is the matter with the per
formance Of the Omaha jokers, who nave Deeh
doing by a shorter process and with less luSs
about it precisely what the united States "oV'
ernment Is doing!
! Strictly speaking, the segniorage Is the prod
uct OF n Government prerogative, but the coin
age Of 1t Is avowedly to relieve the nnahcla'
distress Of agricultural communities IN tho
South and West by maintaining the volume OF
| the currency That is what the Omaha JoKers
! have been doing In Il quiet anu "h"oi"''o
manner There il a question, or course as ~
how the distressed agricultirists who complain
Of the scarcity OF money are to get hold or the
Omaha dollars without paying for them; but the
same question arises with regard To the ISSUES
Of the Government. The jokers do not concern
themselves with that. No more does the G"v'
ernment. Both the jokers and the Government
are doing their best to make money pient'iui
1t Is the business Of the agrculturists 10 get II
In whatever way they can when the proper
''per capita" Is established There seems 10 DC
a feeling in Treasury circles at washington tha'
the Omaha fellows are carrying the JOKE too