Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1895-05-21
CARLISLE ON SILVER
Never Was a Friend Of Free Coin
age.
BELIEVES IN TEE Use OF THE METAL
Dangers That Lie in Its Too High
Valuation.
EFFECT ON COUNTRY'S TRADE

Secretary Carlisle delivered speech on
the money question at Covington, KY, last
night. which may be accepted as declara-
ton OF the administration on this import
ant subject. In the first portion of his adj
dress the Secretary gave an historic review
of the financial transactions of the govern
ment. tending to show that the democratic
administrations have been saddled with the
debts and i'll consequences of republican
rule. and placing the responsibility for the
Sherman act on the republican party.
Not Unfriendly to silver.
Mr.. Carlisle finally announced his views
en- the silver question in these words:
Those of US who oppose the free coin
age of silver at the ratio of 1G to 1 are pro-
posing no change in the measure or stand
ard Of value now existing, nor are We pro-
posing to discontinue the use of silver as
money. 1 have never been, and am not
now, unfriendiy to silver in the sense ST
desiring to See it excluded from the mon
etary system of the United States or of
any other country, but l know that 1t cam
not be kept in circulation along with gold
by means of any ratio the law of any one
country may attempt to establish between
the two metals, and that the only way to
secure the use of both at the same time is
10 make one of them the standard Of value
and SO limit the coinage of the other that
the government which issues them and re-
ceives them for public dues may be able at
all times to maintain their exchangeability,
either directly or indirectly, through the
operation of its fiscal system. / am, there
fore, in favor of the preservation of the
existing standard of value. VITA such use
of the full 1egal-tender silver coins and
paper convertible into coin on demand as
can be maintained without impairing or
endangering tho credit of the government
or Diminishing the purchasing or debt-pay-
ing power of the money in the hands of the
people. This is what 1 mean by the term
sound money. and, in my opinion. it is
what issmeant by an overwhelming ma
jority of the opponents of free coinage at
the ratio of 16 to !. This is neither gold
monometallism nor silver monorletalilsm.
but it means that one standard or measure
Of value shall he maintained. and that all
forms of standard coins in shall lie
kept equal to that standard in the purchase
of commodities and in the payment of
debts.
Eject of Free Coinage.
On the danger of depreciating the cur
rency by free coinage the Secretary said:
In the United States sixteen pounds of
silver, coined into dollars, Will now pur-
chase as much as one pound of gold coins.
but this would not be the case under
system OF free and unlimited coinage on in
dividual account. The coinage of silver dol
lars here has been limited by law for the
purpose Of preventing an excessive issue,
and they have been coined by the govern
public purposes as dollars of full value,
and consequently the government is bound
by every consideration of good faith, to say
nothing of the positive declarations contain
ed in the statutes to keep them as good as
gold or in other words, to maintain the
parity of the two metals, and this 1t has
done and will continue to do as long as
the present system exists. But If the pres
ent system is to be abolished and a new one
established. so that private individuals and
corporations can have their own bullion
coined at the public expense and have the
coins delivered to them for their private
use. the government would be under no
obligation whatever. legal or equitable, to
keep them as good as gold, AID, in fact, it
would be impossible for it to do SO, because
the coinage would be unlimited AMI the
volume of silver in circulation would be-
come SO great in proportion to the gold the
government could procure that the attempt
would necessarily fail.
Deprcc4ntinE the Currency.
Everywhere the people are being told
that under free coinage it will require twice
as many dollars to procure any given guam
tity of commodti ties as are required now,
and this means, of course, that the money
will be only one-half as valuable as it is
now. When the public judgment is finally
passed upon this subject 1 think it Will be
found that the people Of the United States
are determined not to have deprecated
dollar, whether it be gold, silver or paper
They are undoubtedly entitled to have for
use in their business just good money
as any other people in the world have, and
no political party that attempts to deprive
them of it will ever enjoy their confidence
or receive their SURFACES.
Contracting the Currency.
Mr.. Carlisle predicted the following re-
suit IL the free coinage men won:
Every depositor in the savings and other
banks, fearing that he would ultimately be
Cenrac;1feI M
mediately demand the return of his money
and this would compel the banks TO call at
orce for the payment of all the notes and
other securities they had discounted for
their customers and the contraction of the
currency would cause an increased demand
for currency at the very time when it could
not be obtained, and thus the difficulty of
the situation would be increased by both
causes. The banks would be compelled to
either suspend payments themselves or
drive their customers. who are generally
business men-the men who give employ
ment to labor In every community.into
bankruptcy at once. Who would profit by
this condition of affairs? Nobody except
the holders Of gold and the owners of sill
yer mines, the holders of silver bullion and
the brokers ard Spectators in the stocks
Of silver-mining companies. The people
who owe debts and are unable to pay them
would be the ones to suffer most, while the
people who owe no debts and have money
on hand would be the ones to profit most.
Every man in debt would be called upon to
pay it promptly when due; there would be
no more extensions OF old debts or any rev
credits given, because no man could fore
tell what the money would be worth at any
time in the future.
A Crash.
"In this crash the laborer would be
thrown out of employment by the failure
or suspension of his employer, the farmer
would receive less real money for his prod
ucts, property would be sold at low rates
under judicial proceedings all over the
country, credit would be destroyed. and all
Industrial and commercial enterprises
would stand still, awaiting the result of
the new experiment with the monetary
system
Mr.. Carlisle drew the conclusion that the
result of free cionage would be to injurs
domestic trade, and that while the prices
of commodities might double, yet the farm
er would have to pay the same increased
amount for everything he had to buy.
Personal Explanation.
The Secretary concluded with a personal
explanation to his friends, as he said his
personal record on the silver question,
rather than his arguments, had been criti-
cised He said in concluding his address: