Pine Bluff daily graphic., 1895-11-03
CARLISLE ON TIE CURRENCY.
The Secretary of the Treasury Inveighs
 Against Free Silver.

lisle, of the United States treasury, spoke at length upon the nations finances and the subject of the free coinage of silver. On the latter subject he said:
 Fortunately one of the causes which con tributed largely to produce feeling Of dis trust and apprehension. and which very great y intensified that feeling at all the stages of our long financial struggle, has substantially ceased to exert any influence over tho minds of the people here or abroad. mean the per sistent and aggressive agitation in favor of the eafree coinage of legal tender silver, which for long time seriously threatened to revolu- tionize our monetary system and reduce our l entire volume of currency to about half it's present value I do not mean to assert that there was ever a time when there was real danger that this would be done, but there were times when the sentiment in it's favor was so strong and aggressive in its character that there were at least reasonable grounds for the fear that it might be accomplished, and es- peeially reasonable grounds for such 0 fear upon the part of investors abroad, who could not be expected fully to understand the actual situation here, but the free coinage movement has lost it's momentum and is no longer for midable or aggressive.
 Tt is on the defensive now, and when q rev olutionary movement is compelled to halt and defend itself the end Is not far off It would not be correct to say that the contest is over, because the sentiment in favor of the free coinage of silver is still quite strong in some parts of the country, but it is not strong enough to exert a controlling influence in the councils of either of the great political par ties. and without this it can accomplish noth- ing in the form of legislation or in the deter imitation of administrative policy.
 No well-informed man now believes that our standard of value will be changed or that the financial policy which has been steadily rod abandoned and foreign holders of our securi- ties and foreign investors in our industrial en- terprises will make great mistake if they permit themselves to be fnfiuencedoy the fear that our currency will be depreeiated or that all our obligations will not be promptly and honestly discharged.
 ..The proposition that the United States alone shall adopt the policy of free coinage at 8 ratio which would make the silver dollar in- trinsieally worth only about one-half as much as the gold dollar and declare both coins full legal tender in the payment of debts is so un- reasonable upon it's face that 1t is difficult to understand how it could have received the support Of so large part of our people. That two full legal tender coins of the same denom- nation, but of unequal intrinsic value, cannot be kept in circulation at the same time has been so often demonstrated by actual expert ence that the question is no longer open to serious discussion
 '.ln fact, very few of the advocates of free coinage now contend that gold and silver would continue to circulate together under their policy. but they insist that the gold standard ought to be abandoned, even though gold coin should be banished from the coun- try because. they say. the effect of the pres- ent system is to reduce the prices of commodi- ties, increase the burdens of what is called the debtor class and enrich the holders of capital in the form of money at the expense of farmers and other producers
 Tt must be admitted that these are serious allegations, and if they could be proved a strong case for relief would be made. but they have not been and cannot be proved In order to show that the adoption and maintenance of the gold standard of value has of itself re- duced the prices of commodities it would be necessary to prove that it had produced con traction of the currency, or that it had im- paired credit, which is by far the most fmpor- tant factor in trade. 1t has done neither We have much larger circulation in the aggre gate and much larger per capita than We had in 1873, when the gold standard was legally adopted, and it Is evident that the credit of the man who proposes to pay In good money is always better than the credit of the man who proposes to pay in bad money
 lin order to show that the adoption and maintenance of the gold standard has in- creased the burdens of the debtors it would be necessary to prove not only that the existing indebtedness was contracted under different monetary system, but also that the amount of legal tender money In use or available for use Is less now in proportion to the total indebted ness than it tthe time the indebtedness was contracted Neither of these propositions can be established. The entire indebtedness of our people-that is the current indebtedness contracted in the transaction of thelr ordinary ousiness-has been incurred since the passage of the act of 1873 adopting the gold standard of value and certainly there is no injustice in re- quiring payment to be made in the kind of money recognized by law at the date of the contract
 While we know very nearly the amount of legal tender money in circulation or avail able for use in the country at different peri ods, there no authentic statistics showing the total amount of indebtedness at any given date. and therefore It is not possible to make an absolutely correct comparison between the amount of such money and the amount of in- debtedness. but there Is no reason to believe that the proportion has changed to the disad- vantage of the debtor Certainly the advo- cates of free coinage have not proven, or, so far as know, attempted to prove, that such change has occurred. and their argument upon this subject is. therefore, founded upon mere assertion unsupported by evidence
 Tn order to show that the adoption and maintenance of the gold standard of value has enriched or has tendency to enrich the holders of capital at the expense of the pro- dueers, it would be necessary to prove that money yields larger profit to the owner un- Sucn HtOuetary system EHan It would under different one. Idle capital makes no profit, and If the profits of the capitalist have been increased it must be because he receives q higher rate of interest than formerly, or be- cause he realizes larger returns from his in- vestments than formerly. Instead of this be-
 ing the case. however, it is we'll known to every gentleman in this assemblage that the average rate of interest was never lower in this country than at the present time, and that profits upon investments have been reduced to the smallest percentage consistent with the continuance of the enterprises in which the Investments are made
 While this is true. the great body of our producers. the laboring people of the country. are receiving as high wages as they ever re- ceived at any period in our history and the money in which they are paid will purchase in the markets more of the necessaries and comforts of life than ever before. Capital and lahor combined are the only real producers of wealth, and the constant tendency in this country is to give labor more and capital less out Of the proceeds oi their joint products. This is fixed law Of our industrial progress