The Caucasian. (Clinton, N.C.) 188?-1913, 1894-04-12

oPp".st 10 any Further Infusion 81 silver
s"to "UF Cure ort---Ths HIaGI BiII a
III -ad I&s-d ant Dangerous scheme. s5ut
- ~ swallow IS ia Exchange for NOR.
Cold i!U.tds.


fCo&TISUEr PROM LAST WEEK.
Doubts also arise a. 10 the mean.
ing ana construction Of the sec6nd
section OF the bill. !, the silver dol
Jars therein directed 10 be coined
are, as the section provides, to be
hcIdIn the Treasury for the redemp-
/ ton 81 Treasury notes. II - suggest
/ ed that, strictly speaking. certificates
/ cannot cannot be issued on such
/ coin I'm the manner now provided
I by law" because these dollars are
money held in the Treasury for the
eXplcss purpose OF fcd~emIug Treas
ury notes. on demand. which would
ordinarily mean that they were sci
apart for the purpose OF substituting
/ them for these Treasury notes. They
are not, therefore held ia such Il
/ Way as to furnish IA basis for certiti-
. Gates according to any provision Of
rxistIug law. II. however, silver
/ certificates can properly be issued
/ upOn these dollars, there Is nothin 9
II the section To Indicate the cha rae
/ Ierlstlcs and functions of these cert
/ iicatrs. If they Were to be Of the
same character as SILVER certificates
III circulation under existing laws
/ hey would at best be receivable on '
| for customs, taxes. and all public
/ dues; and under the language of
This section it is, 10 say the least. OK
jromcIy Doubt vi whether the ccrt!ti-
/ Gates II contcmpIates would be law
! fuiIy received even for such pur-
/ poses.
Whatever else may be said Of tn
! uncertainties Of expires sion IN this
oil, they certainly ought not to be
| found IN legislation affecting sui
Jects so important and far-reachiug
as our finances and currency. In
stating other and more important
reasons for my dlsapprovai Of this
sections | shall, however, assume
that under its provisions the Treas
dry notes ISSUE in payment tor sill
! yer bullion will contine to ne redeem
| I'd as heretofore in silver or gold at
| the option of the holders: and that
II when they are presented for re
| demptIOn, or reach the treasury in
any manner, there are IN the Treas
| ury coined silver dollars equal III
nominal value to such Treasury
notes, then and in that case. the
notes viii be destroyed and silver
certificates to an equal amount be
substituted.
| am convinced that this scheme
is ill-advised and dangerous. AS an
| ultimate result Of its operation
Treasury notes which are legal ten
der for all debts public and private,
and which are redeemab!t IN gold or
silver, at the option of the holder.
will be replaced by silver certificates,
winch, whatever may be their char
| acter and description, will have none
Of these qualities. In anticipation
of this result, and as an immediate
fleet, the Treasury notes will natur-
| ally appreciate IN value and desira-
| bllIty. The fact that gold can be
realized upon them, and the further
! fact that their destruction has been
decreed when they reach the treas
| ury, must tend to their withdra wal
! from general circulation to be lmme-
dlately presented for gold redemp-
| ION or TO be boarded Tor presenta-
/ non at a more convenient season.
The sequel of both operations will be
a large addition to the silver curren-
cy Ill our circulation and a CORES
treasury. The argument has been
made that these things will not oc-
Gun at once because a long time must
elapse before the coinage of any
thing but the seigniorage can be en-
tered upon. If the physical effects
of the execution of the second see
ton OF this bill are not to be realized
until far III the future, this may fur
nIsh a strong reason why it should
not be passed so much in advance
! but the pOstponement of its actual
! operation cannot prevent the fear
and loss of confidence and nervous
! precautlon, which would immediate
| ly follow its passage and bring about
Its worst consequences | regard
this section of the bill as embodying
a plan by which the government will
be obliged to pay out Its scanty store
If gold for no other purpose than to
force an unnatural addition of silver
money into the hands Of our people.
This is an exact reversal of the poll
" which safe finance dictates if we
are to preserve parity between gold
and silver and maintain sensible BIZ
metAllism.
We have now outstanding more
than three hundred aud thirty-eight
millions of dollars in silver certif-
Gates issued under existing laws.
They are serving the purpose of mo-
uey usefully and without question.
Our gold reserve, amounting to only
a little more than one hundred mil
lions of dollars, is directly charged
with the redemption of three hun
bred and forty-six millions of Unit
ed States notes. When it is proposed
to initiate our silver currency it is a
time for strens thening our gold re-
serve instead Of depicting it. | can
not conceive of a longer step toward
silver monometallism than we take
when We spend our gold to buy sill
yer certificates for circulation, espe-
cially IN view of the practical diff
culties surrounding the leplenish.
ment of onr gold.
This leads me to earnestly present
the desirability of granting to the
Secretary of the Treasury a better
power than now exists to issue bonds
to protect our gold reserve when fol
any reason it should be necessary
Our currency is in such confused
condition and our financial affairs art
apt to assume at any time SO critlca
a position that it seems to ME such {
course is dictated by ordinary pru