Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1895-05-24
FOR SOUND MONEY.
The Speech of Secretary of the
Treasury J. G. Carlisle
Before the Convention of Business
Men at Memphis.
Free Coinage Not What We Want-his Ideas
On That Point.

Memphis, May 22-The convention
called by the sound money people had g
large attendance, here, today. The prin
cipal address was by Secretary of tn,
Treasury Carlisle.
After reference to the attitude of The
South toward free coinage and a re
sumo of the history of similar attempts in
other countries Secretary Carlisle said
All who have been or may be induced tc
give their support to this revolutionary
policy, upon the assurance that it will
give the country more money for use in
the transaction of business, will be great
ly disappointed, for they will find, when
it is too late. that instead of having moro
money they will have less. and that it will
be deprecated in value besides. The in
PRODUCTION into the currency of country
of any kind of money about which there
is the least doubt will always operate to
drive out the same amount, or about the
same amount, of better money and thus
leave the people with substantially the
same volume of currency they had at the
beginning. The act providing for the
purchase of silver bullion and the issue of
legal tender treasury notes in payment for
it was passed on the 18th day of July,
1890, and the purchasing clause of that
act was repealed November 1898. While
it remained in force. United States treas
ury notes were issued to the amount of
s155, 93l, 0O2, and there were many peo-
pie who believed that this was making a
material and permanent addition to the
volume Of our currency; but the official
records show that during the same time
the net exports of gold from this country
amounted to SOB, 419, 491, SO that the real
addition to our circulation accomplished
by the issue of nearly s156. 900, 600 of new
notes was about fifty-two and half mil
lion dollars during period of more than
three years The mere apprehension that
the government would not be able to
maintain the parity of the two metals I'M
der the policy inauguratcd by that act,
not only discredited the new treasury
notes themselves, but the whole volume
of our currency, and gold went out about
as fast as the new notes came in. While,
therefore 1t is not at all certain that free
coinage would ultimately make any con-
siderable addition to our circulation, it
is absolutely certain that it would give
us a deprecated and nuotuating curren-
cy, and the question is whether the pro
ducers of cotton, wheat, corn, beef, pork,
oil. lard. cheese, and other exportable ar
tieles will be benefited or injured by such
a result. 1t is an axiom In trade that the
prices Of exportable products are fixed in
the foreign market where the surplus Is
sold, and are fixed in the currency of that
country according to its nominal value
there. The establishment of n silver stan
dard here could not possibly increase the
price of cotton or wheat or any other
American product iu Liverpool, London,
Paris, or Berlin, whatever effect it might
have upon the nominal price in this coun-
try The only effect would be that the
exchange would be doubled, and the pound
sterling instead of being worth 81. SOC in
our currency, as it is now, would be
worth 50. 1872 and when our people wanted
tn make remittance to pay debt abroad
they would have to pay twice as much in
our money for the same number of pounds
as they pay now, while the foreigner who
wanted to make remittance to pay y
debt here would pay only half as much in
his money for the same number OF dol
lars as he pays now But the exchange
would be in constant change of fluctua-
ton. and the American producer would be
compelledto pay for the risk taken on &C
count Of the fluctuations by receiving q
less price for his cotton, wheat. beef. and
other articles The farmers and planters
do not export their own products but they
sell them at home to somebody else who
sends them abroad, and il the exchange is
steady and the money in which he is to
pay for the products has fixed value rela.
lively to the money in use in the country