St. Paul daily globe., 1895-07-01
B0IES Has 4 PLAN.
IOWA EX-GOVERNOR SUGGESTS
A NEW CURRENCY
SCHEME.
WOULD USE TWO METALS,
BY PROVIDING FOR THE ISSUE
OF SILVER CERTIFICATES
FOR BULLION,
REDEEMABLE IN GOLD COIN.
BimetaIIism With the yauo
Metal BoisterinE Up the
White.

DES MONIES, To-, June 3O.-Ex-
Governor Horace Boies. whose nosi-
tion on the money question has been
d subject of much discussion bas
written the following letter to a local
paper for publication:
1hus tar L have not been srIccassfrI
III making myself understood ON the
monetary question. Perhaps this iS
.. because L have paid too little atten-
''Ih 10 detail. Let me try again:
l. Let congress provide thar a,,v
person depositing silver bullion NO,
duced In the United States or IFS Tor
Iitory with the treasurer chaII receiva
1ltereIof ,.n SILVER certificates which shall
aePleseht III dollars 1 per cent in ex-
Gio,S e u the market value of the bui-
non non deposited on the day of its de-
the treasury. Jul 'iiNer 10
z. Provide that for all silver bullion
LooN low owned by the government the
secretary shall issue silver certiticataS
representing in dollars the maTte1
price OF the bullion in question on
the DAY they We're issued.
.. Caii IN all outstanding silver cer-
olitcates and substitute new certif-
Gates for them.
III =; Make the new certificates redeem
able in gold within five wears from .tba
passage of the act. '-i0
.. Make them full legal tender in
payment Of all claims, public and
private, and provide that whenever ~.
free gold in the treasury fails balnW' ,ro
9ioVuUO,OV0 these certificates instead of
gold shall be used by the secretary
OF the treasury in meeting financial
opIlSatlons of the government, the re-
uSiiIPlioh OF all forms of paper cur
fehcy included. We would then have
practical blmetallism at rate which
would substantially represent the buf-
non non price OF gold and silver in the
markets, to remain in force five years.
During this time the great bulk of ax.
lsclhg lndeDtedness would be Cancelled.
b: ProYlde that during such time eX
isting silver coinage should be legal
tender III payment of all claims not ey-
ceeding $f0O; this would cover the
sLlalier business transactions of this
country and utilize our own silver
T.. Provide that from and after a
peilod OF live years from the passa ge of
SAID act money of redemption i'm the
flnanclal system of the United States
snaH consist of silver dollar to con-
tam 4!212 grains of standard silver and
OF gold dollar to contain a sufficient
number of grains of standard gold to
make 1t equivalent in value to the sill
yer dollar aforesaid at the market price
OF 0oth metals in London on the day
the law takes effect, such number TO be-
determined by the secretary of the
treasury, and his determination TO re-
main the measure of the gold dollar
until changed by congress. We would
then have bimetallism at a ratio which
would represent the actual bullion
price of gold and silver on the day of
Its adoption, with the old silver dollar
of our fathers as the practical unit of
value.
9, Provide that there should be main
tanned IN the treasury a surplus of
$lOO OCOO,0OO in gold, and the same sum
in silver to meet obligations of the gov
ernment, and whenever the surplus in
either metal fell to the limit and thera
was an excess in the other, the secre-
tary should use the metal of which
there was an excess to meet all finan-
cial obligations of the government.
We would then have a base for our
financial system of twice the dimen-
sions of the present and twice the
means OF meeting raids upon the treas
ury. We would have cheaper
money, it is true, but cheaper money
means better prices for the products
of labor and better wages for those
who toll. The gigantic wrong en-
bodied in the act demonetizing silver
was the fact that it greatly enhanced
the purchasing power of money, and
correspondingly diminished the value
Of all other forms of property. The re-
suit has been constantly falling prices,
and this must go on if the single gold
standard is continued so long as the
requisites Ol governments or greed or
men continue to enhance the value of
that one metal.
The sole remedy is the reconciliation
of silver. To concede that we are in
capable of accomplishing this without
the consent of other nations is to admit
the utter weakness of our government
at the very point where it should be
strongest, for in a business sense the
very heart of a nation is located in its
financial system.
Permit me to add that I hope no one
will understand this as my own con-
ception of a complete and perfected
measure of the kind suggested. 1t is
only intended as the general outline Of
a plan by which / would Immediately
incorporate the silver of our country
into it's currency system and thereby
increase its bullion price, and finally,
when the country is prepared for it,
bring it back to a bimetallic system Of
finance substantially as it existed be-
fore silver was demonetized.