The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1895-04-28
speaker FIeming's silver Letter.

The letter OF W n tlemlnE. speaker 81
/ the Georgia House OF Representatives. ir
f favor Of free silver coinage at the ratio
I Of Is 10 is heralded abroad by the silver
/ organs as If he had suddenly become a
/ convert from the gold standard to the
T silver standard. We assume from what
T he says in his letter that ne has favored
the free. coinage Of silver all along. and
has simply seized the present opportunity
to ten his political friends that the Presi-
dents sound money letter has not caused
him % change his views on the silver
question.
Mr.. Fleming declares that he wants 20 be
entirely honest and candid in arguing the
silver question. and we have no doubt
that he is, but II he will read over his
letter carefully ne will find. we think.
that he does not examine the silver ques-
ton impartially. as a judge would exam
inc a case to be put before jury. but
as a lawyer who is intent on making the
side he is on appear the better.
We find only two points in Mr.. Fleming's
voluminous letter that deserve attention.
though we do not. Of course. say there are
no Others. one relates to the demonetiza-
ton Of silver in 1873 and the other to the
price OF farm products. Mr.. Fleming
seems to think that the act of 1873 was
great crime and that it was got through
congress by the influence Of gold mono
metauists. who wanted to control the
currency so as to appreciate the purchas-
ing power of gold. He assumes that con-
traction was effected. and that. conse-
quently, the prices OF all farm products
declined But is Mr.. Fleming right in TAX
ing such position? II he is. why does
he not show that he is? Why does he
content himself with assertions?
As a matter of fact there were no silver
dollars in circulation in 1873. and had not
been for years. The reason was that the
silver in a silver dollar was worth more
than a dollar. When therefore the act Of
1873 was passed there was no contraction
of what he calls primary money. In fact.
there was no contraction whatever. In
1873, there were no silver dollars in circu-
lation. At present there are over six hun
dred millions of them and silver certif-
Gates and they circulate on a parity with
gold dollars. Doesn't this look as If sill
yer had been given pretty fair showing?
In view of this statement what becomes
of Mr.. Jennings contraction argument?
But If the mint should be opened to the
free coinage of silver there would be ex-
traordinary contraction, because the six
hundred millions Of dollars in gold now in
the country would disappear from circu-
lation. And why would 1t disappear? For
the same reason that silver dollars disap-
peared prior to 1873. viz: gold dollar
would be worth more than a dollar in sill
yer. which would be the standard of value.
The cheaper money always drives out of
circulation the better money.
Now. as to Mr. Flemings second point,
viz, that the decentralization of silver
caused a great decline in farm products
What farm products have declined?
Mr. Fleming mentions only two. wheat
and cotton. Are there no other farm prod
ucts? Why does he confine himself to
these two? If he is anxious that only the
facts shall go before the public, why
doesn't he draw attention to the prices of
other farm products? What has he to say
about corn, which is a greater farm
product than either wheat or cotton?
What about oats. and lard and pork?
Are not all of these great farm products?
And the prices of all of them are higher
now than they were in 1873. Does Mr.
Fleming mean to say that the demonetiza-
ton of silver has forced down the prices
of wheat and cotton and forced up the
prices of corn, oats, lard and pork? If he
does not mean to say that, what does he
mean to say? Believing he is DESTROYS of
being candid, will ne please explain why it
is that If the decentralization of silver has
caused a decline in the prices of wheat
and cotton. as he claims. there has been
a rise in the prices of corn, oats, pork
and lard, and other farm products that
could be named? After all, isn't it a fact
that the true cause of the decline in the
prices of wheat and cotton is overproduc-
ton and not the decentralization of silver?
We think Mr.. Fleming should write an
other letter.