Little Falls weekly transcript. (Little Falls, Morrison Co., Minn.) 1894-19??, 1895-10-04
BURROWS POSITION.
THE MICHIGAN SENATOR ARGUES
+, AGAINST FREE COINAGE
1t Would Exrel Our Gold and Gold Paper
y and Cause = Disastrous Panic--Resul,
ues-EYilH of q Si,ler Basin.


Of Having Two Dollars Of Different Val
ues--Evils of a s...er BASH.
In all address, delivered ut Bay View,
Mich, Senator Burrows OF Michigan
vigorously opposed the free coinage fal.
lacy and upheld our present financial
sylte.a. After reviewing ou1 nlonetury
legislation he said:
Sin the first place the free and I'M
limited coinage of silver at 16 to l
would in my Judgment expel from onr
circulation not only our entire volume of
gold, but every dollar OF pa ,er money
redaemable III gold, and cause Il contrac-
ton Of the currency and re :ultant
panic the hike Of which has not been
seen in this generation.
"This would follow az the inevitable
result Of that law Of none arv sc;ence
which where TWO nlunrvs ire issued of
unequal value the cheaper will always
expel the uearer from circulation. 1t
certainly needs no argument TO demon
strate the truth Of the proposition that
If two dollars ale issued, one worth so
cents and the Oher 100 cents, the 80
cent dollar will he the only dollar in
circulation ard the lcO cent dollar will
be boarded by The b;'l,as aud individuals
until the whole volume If each currency
entirely disappears. This law is of uni.
ve.sc! application and has it's origin in
human nature Itself 10 do!o4or owing
500 would discharge that indebtedness
in the moro valuable Of two moneys. He
would surely make u3e c. TIE cheaper
ard 2etain rhc dc:*:"e-. I; WIS he knowl-
e!go Of this lay chat Gsit,o1 tie fathers
in firing the ratio in the beg inning at
Is tc !.
"Ihey knew tl'"t ..!';rs IF ur equal
commercial value coal! not J., made to
'circu late permanently ::Ae ty side, and
so, having ascertailcd t!,;.tt > n grains
of pure gold were Of equal value with
871] glai@S Of pr;-c si.vc:', 10y pro-
vldcd for TIE coin&gc If these two met
als into do:.lrs at he ::..t::o:: of "a to /.
But tho t, ltl Of this; =, .ci bic has been
demonstrated over %:d oyc' again even
in our OWL history. Ito :,o!t! mi silver
coins Issue at tle ra; 10 O. Is to uu-
der the act # 1892 s,,''.::!y bee mo Of
unequal cor NIX -tii;! v:l@e, .!:c bullion
in the gold dollar being Of greater value
thai the l.. :. o,. IN he :i!ycr dollar.
The silver dollar became cheaper than
tne gold COLLAR, and the consequence
WAS that silver alone circulated and
gold gl'suu,lly Disappeared. Indeed,
and for the same rCa:;n, The coinage of
gold utcllhed, lor tl.o 24A gralls of
pnre t34d l4uvitied for i'll the gold dol
jar We're worth more uncojned than
When coined, and th' retore It's coinage
naturally ceased, ami silver bullion
alone hound it's way to the mlnrs OF the
United St;,,es.
ut remains only to lie inquired what
would be the probable effect of adopting
the saver dollar or 81 a grains as our
single standard Of value. the st and
most patent result, as already noticed,
would be to drive from our circulation
every CHER dollar oi superior value,
whether III coiu or paper. Our $780,
GOO, coo OF gold, constituting one-third |!
Of the entire volume OF our money, |
would be Cnick'v eliminated from our |
circulation bv being boarded O. sent
abroad, followed by the retirement of !
our $500, 600, 600 OF paper currency re-
deemab.e III gold. prodacing a CONTRACT |
ton of the currencv '!nexalnpled in Our !
history, OF over 81 900, 900, 900, to he
followed nv financial CONFUSION nm
in modern timcs. 1t will !
not do to say that with free and nnlim-
tied coinage this vacuum would be
quickly supplied, for It wocld require
25 ye :-s, with Tho present. cac:c!ty of
our minis, to replace this vast Volume
CT currency with silver.
"This consideration alone o-ght to be
sufficient to deter us from ventu"ing
rpon such a hazardous policy More |
than this. The silver dollar Of SIX
grains prot'rc"! under free coinage and
not ma 'ntainef at parity with the gold !
dollar, as it surely would not be, would,
as we have seen, 1T once sink to the level
Of its bullion u.uc and be forth only
about so cents. Every depositor in saw
ings, national and state banks, the hold
ers Of policies in life, fire and al other
insurance compan les, investments in
loan and building associations, re present
Cd by a g. eat body Of people numbering
1lore than 10000, 900, would be forced
to receive in return for their deposits.
premiums and investments dollar OF
only one-haf the value of that with
which they parted, to the enormous and
incalculable advantage of these great
Suppose an importer of
foreign goods should become indebted to
the government Of the United States in
the sum of $4,000 for customs dues,
what would prevent him from purchas-
ing S., 900 Of silver bullion and under
free coinage converting it into 10000
silver dollars, and with these liquidate
the indebtedness to the government?
Every pensioner would find his meager
stipend lessened one-haf, and many Of
them would be reduced to beggary. Not
only this, but all the recipients Of fixed
salaries, every clerk, teacher, railway
employee and receiver Of stated in
come would be forced to take money
which in procuring the necessities OF
life for himself and family would pos
sess only one-haf Of its former purchas-
ing power, for it must be remembered