The progressive farmer. [volume] (Winston, N.C.) 1886-1904, 1894-02-06
STEWART TO CLEVELAND.
A Mastery Showing of the Presidents
Ruinous Policy,

President Of h 0nIted STATES:
SR-My great respect for your high
Office and my desire to contribute TO
the extent Of my power to the success
of your administration, have induces
me to present to you certain facts Tor
your consideration.
You say in your message to Congress
of August 9th, 1898, that "our untor-
tunate financial plight is not the result
of untoward events, nor of conditions
related to our natural resources, nor is
it traceabIe to any of the Affections
which frequently check national
growth aad prosperity"
You are right in %supposing that "our
unfortunate financial plight" is not the
result of want of natural resources,
abundant crops, or an honest, indus
trious and enterprising people. But
you are mistaken when you say, nor
is it traceable to any of the affections
which frequently check national
growth and prosperity"
You overlooked the fact hat want
of money is a very common affection,
and that a deficient supply Of money
of ultimate payment, more frequently
than any other brings calamity, checks
national growth and prosperity. Coin
has been the money of ultimate pay
ment and the basis Of redemption for
paper money and all other credits for
thousands of years. The only limit to
the volume of coin previous to 1873 vas
the amount of gold and silver bullion
which might be brought to the mint
for coinage. The government coined
both metals without limit for the bene-
fit of the owners of the bullion. Adolf
lar was coined out of % 8 10 grains of
standard gold, or ALP 2 grains of stan
dard silver. The owners of bonds and
other fixed incomes, for the purpose of
increasing the purchasing power of
the money which the debtor class was
bound to pay them, determined to
limit legal tender coin to n of the
precious metals.
The mint act of 1873 stopped the
coinage of silver and confined the coin
age of full legal tender money to gold
alone. The Bland act of 1878 restored
the standard dollar and required the
purchase and coinage into such dollars
of not less than two nor more than
81, 600, 900 worth of silver bullion each
month. TIE Sherman act required the
Issuance Of sufficient legal tender treas
ury notes to buy 4 500, 600 ounces of sill
yer bullion each month, and made it the
dut! of the Secretary of the Treasury
to buy sufficient of such bullion to pro
vide for the redemption of such notes.
The latter act, while in force. furnished
the country with about 1854 600. 600 of
new money at the rate Of about 81 OOO,-
900 per month. The mint act of 1873
wholly rejected silver as a money
metal and reduced the supply of ma
terial for coinage more than one-half.
That act, which you have revived,
doubled the purchasing power of gold
and correspondingly increased the
amount of property or services neces
sary to obtain money to pay a debt. 1t
made a 81, ZOO bond, measured in the |
property required to it equal to a 81, 900 |
bond. Can you distinguish between
the moral quality of legislation which
raises the burden of debts by increas-
ing the value of money and a change
in the figures on a check or a bond
which will accomplish the same RESULT
10 not thn foot fh0T Tho 10000. = IL
result of a statute fraudulently or
ignOrantly enacted and the latter the
crime Of an individual in violation of a
the only difference in the moral
of the two tr-ansactlons9 If
the managers Of concentrated capital
may innocently double the value of all
bonds by legislation, why is it criminal
for the poor man to accomplish the
same result as to a single bond by the
change of a figure3 The former robs
the whole human race while the latter
only injuries the individual debtor.
The acts of 1878 and go, known re- 5
5pectively as the Bland and Sherman I
acts, made a limitel and arbitrary use Z
IL silver as money to the extent above /
stated. The law gave the option to the {
States to pay all obligations IN
either gold Dr. silver. You gave that I
which belonged to the govern q
nent, to the public creditors without T
consideration. The world was short c
If gold because Europe combined with s
United States and refused to coin C
into legal tender money, but the [
great commercial nations Of Europe a
llso retained the option to pay govern &