The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1895-05-21

tized in this country, but its coinage has
been so limited and regulated b. law and
the financial affairs OF the government
have been 50 conducted that up to uht
present time its purchasing power Aas
been preserved and its circulation to
large amount has been maintained con-
currently with other forms of money, not
wtthStanding it has been coined at a ra-
ito which does not conform to the real
value of the metal contained in it: IN
the United States, sixteen pounds or sll-
Yer coined into dollars, will now purchase
as much as one pound of gold coins, bul
this would not be the case under a sys-
TEN Of free and unlimited coinage on III
dividua1 account.
81 have never been, and am not now.
unfriendly to silver in the sense of oeSlF-
ing TO see 1t excluded from the monetary
system of the United States, or OF any
other country; but know that it cannot
be kert III circulation along with gold py
means of any ratio the law of any one
country may attempt to establish be-
tween the two metals, and that the only
way to secure the use of both at the same
time is to make one of them the STANDARD
of value, and so limit the coinage OF the
other that the government when issues
them and receives them for puoilc cues
exchaL geability, either directly or lndlI
rectly through the operation % It's hscal
system.
DOdging the Issue.
81 am, therefore, in favor of the preser-
walton OF the existing standard OF value
with Such use OF Iull legal lenuSI Sl4NCI
coins, and paper convertible into coin on
demand, as can lie maintained without
:mpairing or endangering the credit OF the
government or diminishing the purchas-
ing or debt-paying power of the money
in the han0s OF the people This IS what
/ mean by the terms sound money, and'
in NY opinion, it is what is meant by an
overwhelming majority OF she opponents
of free coinage at the ratio OF 10 10 l.
This is neither gold monometalllSm nor
SLY er moncmetallism, but 1t means that
maintained, and that all forms of stand
ard coins in use shall be kept equal
TO that standard in the purchase OF COM
moditieS and in the payment OF debts.
How long do you suppose the S625, OOO,-
900 of gold in this country would remain
here and be used as money under free
great financial Institutions, which own
and hold in their reserves much the
greater part of this gold, would at once
sell 1t at a large premium for silver
about two dollars for one dollar-or they
would exchange it for silver bullion IN
the market at a ratio of about 81
pounds Of silver for each one pound or
gold, have the 81 pounds of silver coined
into dollars at the expense OF the people,
and with this cheap money pay the de-
nlands Of their depositors and other cred
do this for they have no gold, nor have
they any silver bullion TO be coined at the
expense of the government.
Would Soon Recover.
IF the immediate effect of the adop-
ton of a free coinage policy at the ratio
OF Is 10 !, would be to contract the cur
rency 10 the extent of about S620, OOO GOO, by
the withdrawal of that amount of gold
from circulation and from use as the ba-
sis OF notes and other forms Of credit,
prices would not even nominally advance.
On the contrary, for the time being, at
least, this contraction would greatly re-
duce prices, because it would alarm the
country, destroy credit, and undoubtedly
produce the most serious financial dis
lurbance this country has ever wit
messed.
"Of course, a great country like this,
rich in natural resources, would ultimate
~ recover, in some measure, from even
such a disaster, but how long a time
would be required to do SO I'D man can
predict All the minis of the United
States, If devoted entirely to the coinage
Of silver dollars, could produce only about
forty millieI dollars per annum, and,
therefore, with free coinage II would re-
Quire more than fifteen years to put sill
Yer dollars in the place of the gold we
now have and give back to the country
the same amount of metallic money now
existing. But, in the meantime, we would
have d deprecated standard of value with
collapse was over-on account of the re-
duced purchasing power of the dollar, and
at the same time we would have for
long time fewer dollars 10 pay with. Com
mon prudence would dictate that, when
any considerable change is to be made in
our monetary system, some provision
should be made in advance of the actual
change for a gradual transition from the
old 10 the new order of things; a tranSl-
ton period should be provided for so as
10 avoid, as far as possible. sudden dis
turbance of business and contraction or
the currency; but the advocates of free
coinage have no such purpose.
Silver and Prices.
TT is well known personally to every
gentleman in this audience who was old
enough to know what was transpiring in
hat was NOT y nf eli
in circulation at that date. The only
metallic or redemption money in use
here at that time was gold, which
amounted to only S135, 000,G COO including
what the government was using; whereas,
We now have about $e25, 000, 900 in gold,
and 1891 652,S73 in full legal tender silver.
besides about 900 in subsidiary sill
Yer coin. II, therefore, prices have fallen
since 1873, the decline has taken place
in spite of the fact that our full legal
tender metallic money has been increased,
until it now amounts to more than seven
times as much as it did at that date, and
consequently the alleged decline in prices
must be attributed to some other cause
than the demonetization- of silver. These
facts prove not only that the demonetiZa-
ton Of silver did not reduce the amount
Of redemption money in this country, but
proposition of tee advocates of free COIN
age is erroneous and that prices are not
fixed or regulated by the amount of re-
denlption money alone, for, if so, prices
Should have increased since 1873.
Apollo yizeS for the Past.
as long as there appeared to be reas-
enable ground for the hope that silver
could be raised to a parity of value with
gold at the ratio of 16 to l by the separ-
ate action CT the United States, l was
willing TO make the experiment, but I
was never willing to make it by legisla-
ton providing for the free and unlimited
coinage of silver at that or any other
ratio This only speech l ever made in
Congress on this subject was delivered
in the House OF Representatives more
than seventeen years ago, at a time when
the value of the bullion contained in 4
silver dollar was only about seven cents
less than the value Of the bullion con.
tanned in = gold dollar, and l. together
with many other opponents of free coin
age, believing that restoration of silver
10 our minis would bring il to a parity
with gold, supported a measure providing
for the limited coinage OF silver dollars on
private individuals and corporations as
IS now proposed. Fifteen years eXper-
fence. however, demonstrated that those
of US who believed in 1873 that a larger
use OF silver by the United States would
enhance its price OF value were mistaken.
instead Of increasing the price of silver
it continued TO fall with greater rapidity
thar before, Notwithstanding all the eff
il. until now the bullion contained in a
oliver dollar is worth only about y alf as
much as the bullion contained in d gold
dollar.
"ChanGed Conditions"
1.-The conditions have entirely changed
since 1873 and I do not understand that
even our free coinage friends in Kentucky
iation by this country alone could place
silver on parity with gold ar the ratio of
IS 10 /. On the contrary, they insist that
.Ae free and unlimited coinage of silver
Haf rriU To oh