The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1895-04-19
ABOUT SILVER.
Why the Present Determination
Againat Ii Cannot Continue.


any other dollar in the purchase of goods
or the payment of debts. and good in
every part of our common country as 1T is
in any other part; and promising that this
is precisely the character of our present
currency; and promising, further, that no
such condition ever existed until the cur
rency system inaugurated by the Republic
an party had matured, making gold and
silver and all bank notes and the green
backs each readily interchangeable for any
of the others: and still further promising
that at every stage of the progress of the
development of this system it was opposed
in detail by the Democratic party, and that
in its latest deliverance on the subject that
party proposed to destroy all this by re-
establishing State banks, with all their de-
moralizing tendencies-I wish to say that
just now there are some very crude notions
on what is called the silver problem; and
there are some speeches and editorials
which. to say the least. are quite unworthy
the men who make the speeches or write
the editorials. For instance. when either
editor or orator calls a silver dollar. con-
tanning 4121a grains of standard silver,
dishonest dollar because the amount of sill
yer contained in it is worth less in COM
merce than the gold is which is contained
in gold dollar, he reflects no credit on
talks OF a gold dollar or a silver dollar
being the unit of value he talks wildly.
Each or either is unit OF. value, and one
as much as the other, while neither alone
is or ever has been, or probably ever will
be, the unit of value. Twenty-Five years
ago the commercial value of silver in a dol
lar was more than the commercial value of
the gold In a dollar, yet each was a unit
of value. Silver dollars practically disap-
business men preferred to buy goods or pay
debts with gold rather than with silver,
but whoever says silver was .demonetized
proclaims his ignorance or his demagog-
ism. The tables are turned now, and to-
day men prefer to buy goods or pay debts
with silver rather than with gold. and for
that is the only difference between then and
now. But when the Republican platform
islation the parity. of values of the two
metals, so that the purchasing and the
debt-paying power of the dollar. whether OF
equal" he talks of a physical impossbil-
ity. The relative purchasing value of gold
laughs ss or ees Jaw It
unvarying as the law of gravitation. The
debtpaying power Is another dntng na at
treaties, and it is just because legislation
can do the one and cannot do the other
And a now a .n Who pe shall say that under the ops
GRAFTON of the relentless law of supply and
demand we shall not find silver in the lead
ly to, if not absolutely sure to, If late ru-
mors of rich gold discoveries prove to be
even half true.
But the burning question of to-day as to
silver is what to do with it. Shall we treat
it as we treat gold, and coin it without
limit and free? Fortunately or unfortu-
nately, this is question that cannot be
settled by the logic OF debate There are
too many conflicting interests at stake, or
determine it. This is ordinarily the most
expensive method of settling such ques-
tions, but, once settled in this way, 1t Is
likely to remain settled. This much al
ready seems clear: 1t cannot be made the
basis of a political party. neither can 1T be
listing party. He is very short sighted who
for moment imagines that any line of leg
islation can eyer make either 500 or s1ise r.
any other, figure. the single unit OF value:
A silver dollar of 421a grains will forever
remain unit of value with us. and the
ratio of l to 16 is likely to remain the
ratio between the metals unless by inter-
national agreement some other ratio shaH
be agreed upon by leading commercial ma
lions, which is hardly probable. What then!
Can any man who thinks moment inlag-
silver can continue? If there is to remain
parity between the metals at any ratio.
even as to the debt-paying power, there
must be a parity in our treatment OF the
raw material This will come. 1t may not
be this year or next. or this decade or the
next but it will come, not through the
wild rawlings of a so-caled silver party, nor
of a silverized Democratic party, but 1t
will come as the sober second thought OF
men Oh all PARTIES " -. f7AzA1'
Indianapolis, April l6.
A Breach That Must BE Repaired.
To the Editor of the Indianapolis Journal:
Silver is here to stay, and no one need
have fears on that score. 1t will stay with
the other precious metal. and not alone.
We can't afford to lose either. and won't.
The present trouble arose from quite
different cause from that to which it is
. he, 1,rl, 3v1<c
down of the dixie and letting in the food.
We can't bail out the food with tincups,
nor repair the broken place in the dixie
by attempts at fruitless expenditure at
other points Look at the situation, and
hear the ratings about it. The people who
made the breach in the dixie all stand
aghast at what they have done. Half OF
them declare that the whole trouble is
due to the fact that the country needs a
greater quantity of the thing it is loaded
down more heavily with than it was when
the break was made. while the other half
sees the folly of that, but not the cause
of the breach, and stands railing at the
other.
There is little hope of better conditions
from either wing of the stranded, dis
severed party which brought on the trout
ble 1t is fair to say that the party is
honest in its belef In the polcy WnlcH
has overturned the system of revenues and
commerce upon which our prosperity was
bulded That being so, as a matter OF
course they hunt around in the dark for
another cause of the trouble. They do not
find it, but in asserting a false one may
be able to make some trouble.
Let it be said over and over. and then
remembered often as the saying Is de-
MED that We have more coined silver per
capita vastly more. than ever before in
the history of the Nation, and it did not
prevent our commercial troubles. The
cause was in another direction, and causes
must be removed before restoration can
100000 of gold left us annually from two
or three causes-interest and fixed charges
abroad on all kinds of American securities,
and the expenditures In annual travel
abroad To this has been added 800. 200 goo
more of gold to buy what we formerly
made at home. This is due to the break
in the dixie. The interest and fixed charges
on our debts abroad are payable to peo-
pie who won't accept silver, and the extra
hundred millions annually go to purchase
goods from the same people, and we have
to use the gold in travel for the same rea-
son. We came into condition two years
ago which stopped our revenues, and we
had to go to using up what capital We
had accumulated. That was checked out
and we sold bonds to get more. The rev.
enues continued far less than current ex-
and sold more. The revenues are still be-
low expenditures. and our creditors must
have what is due them in gold. 1t was
using up the capital on hand that started
and keeps up the trouble. We can and
do keep hundreds Of millions of silver busy