The Seattle post-intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, Wash. Terr. [Wash.]) 1888-1914, 1895-05-08
SECRETARY MORTON on SILVER
Another Gold Argument by the Presi-
dents Spokesman.

SECRETARY MORTON On SILVER
Another Gold Argument by the Presi-
dents Spokesman.
washington City, May Secretary
Morton fsas written a letter 70 Janss n
Cherry. OF Denyer. Ia answer 70 a letter
from that gentleman criticislng some
ssatsuents IL al interview with the SEX
Rotary OF agriculture printed two weeks
ago. Il Is az follows:
From your letter OF April .. lS5. s. ap-
pears that you and / perfectly agree Ia
the fundamental point. namely. that de-
rnand and supply Elox0rably regulate all
values whatsoever. At All times and In all
places At what points do we begin TO
separate from saoh other. and then 30
on 70 conclusions ~ utterly diverse?
These points are only two--the FIRST his
tor1eas and the second logical
Ftfsf. yce assume certain propcsf Ions
20 De tTle of SILVER which are not histori
cally true a. al. bat quite rho reverse OF
tfiIe. You say. foF instance. until 1913 the
chief use OF silver was Tor coinage. II had
other uses. but tho demand for It's coin
age purposes vas steady and constant
On this point you have been monsgrously
misiHformea. The arst Federal coins 81
silver were ninted IN IDA. and Of gold Ia
lbs. Their ratio was recommended b.
Alexander Hamilton and fixed by act OF
congress. II was n 10 !. II vas hoped
thus 10 keep the two metals In eausllh-
rum In the coinage. But they would not
even come into equilibrium or that ratio.
end stilI less would they stay there. Only
SCI silver dollar pieces were coined az the
American mint IN the entire year Of 1876.
because the silver vas worth ulore out Of
eeinnge than In ~. ana worth more for
export than for domestic money. What
was the matter with those silver dollars
Nothing. only that they were too valuable.
On Mas 1. fsns, there came an order from
President Jefferson 70 the director 81 the
mint at Philadelphia. that all silver
coined at the mint shall be OF small de-
nominations, so that the value OF the
largest pieces shall not exceed half dol
lar The reason given by the president for
this order was that considerable pur-
chassa have been made OF dellars coined
at the mint for the purpose OF exporting
them and that Il IL probable further
purchases and expectation viii be made.
Tho coinage OF free silver dollars, - IS
authoritativcly suspended at the Ameri-
can mint, was not resumed there for thir
~ years. In these few facts. which are
Official and unquestionable. behold the
beauties and advantages OF double
standard: OF the unlimited coinage OF both
nsosals IN an enacted and constant ratio
with each other; OF two yardsticks Of DIFF
ferent lengths TO measure cloth by In the
same market
by the law OF 1884 the ratio was sub
stantiaily put at I 20 10. But this was
gcing too far into the opposite direcAon.
Gold was not worth Is in silver In the
markets az Europe. Consequently the In
ternational current OF the metals was now
for a time reversed silver passing IN
preference abroad TO iiquidate me bal
aHces OF trade, and gold coming Ia small
quantities 10 the United States. where
IL was more than 8 per cent. dearer in
silver than in Europe. by 1853 the I'M
mense disadvantages OF a double stand
arl had become so plain TO all thinking
people thai congress wisely determined
20 abandon the utterly futile attempt 20
secure the parity OF the two metals. and
80 make gold the legal tender for debts
except for sums OF s. and under.
lin the second place. Mr.. Cherry. rs an
instance OF a historical assumption con-
trary TO the facts and natural Inference.
allow me respectfully TO call your aitcn-
ton to the use. ia common with many BIZ
metallAsts. so-caled. or the date OF 1879
as the time OF the decentralization OF sill
YER. Unless / Rm mistaken. the silver
dollar Is not mentl med at all IN the act
OF iS5S. All the decentralization OF silver.
as I understand Il. that ever came about
IN this country happened IN the law OF
tSiS. after fun discussion and practically
with unanimlty when congress introduced
the subsidiary silver coinage. OF which a
nominal dollars worth weighed sol per
cent. less than the silver dollar. and also
took away the legal tender quality Of all
silver IN payment OF debts ot over s. In
amount.
second. Won employ over and over
again in your letter the two most common
logical fallacies that enter into che
speech or arzumentative men everywhere.
namely. putting cause into tho pisce 90
effect. and assuming that bo-ause one
thing happened after another in point ~
time therefore II was the result ~ that
other, Let rs look cantiGly together az
the two or three Instances or this taken
az random. You ask. What created d..
mand~ ara answer. USE ask, in my
tugn. What creates use~ and answer.
Demand why Is &c tbera IS - uttle use
81 silver dollars IN this country TO-DAY.
while there arr millions upon millions %;
them lying i'lc. 7 answer. confidently.
hst'ausc thcfe Is no adequate demand for
ther' Have yoa NOT iuoorentv bu
Pa ttT rniNe8 un 'rNUee' AMI ffTe-f
60 tf;lS casy1 py,saaa 80. iu che com -saer-fR
Sense. IS uoEafug hut desire Tor @agner2l -..
ca fhe r0rf cf ONE man. counted with OH
ws4isEocSs 20 pay something Tor d satis
factory % TIE other who NNns g. 'trsc
- thfi thing. I'D Fusfter shat O. g. Ccn
follows t8e 'deulaua' fs~ g. You Naxl
W0Ht - thc sense o. olA seorfn- atni g.
'ugsl.mta.l coinage when the tr,aslir,
canEot So rs3 ny hook o. crnok - thos.
already co3ue3 ans lvtnE ln useless hoaps
Toey ate ~el inflated. 81 tus3 wesgh,
utns-teuths ere. are legal tc1,iev s0r a.
debts, aD3 Hs&r tfsa fceega3 ia Gad ~.
trust bat ais tecn9 Snswcg
ana - u3ust you. en- rsf3ec A.sl
there IS 80 demand Tor fH.~r, au.
therefore 10 use OF thcus. What NOR,
saa the law 81 for thouP NJ E~kefs
the rrveeat comptroller % the currency
Aas made &c probable. by careful iucrtrj
Instituted through Ais department. ina
about se reg csct. ~ tAr retaU Aosses g.
this eoeatvy arv deiffE business rs rYseau
~ checks drawn on ho-aI tanks al.
cleared Nv hanks Nsth very }tt4e use 81.
gcias THE relative empteY ra,Aat 81 the@l
Instruments o. credit Is constantly in
oreaslng yagavkh thv multiplication O.
banks anA otherwise az coarse so
the qua etlty ~ cola money Required g,
~ the business 90 fha Wer,3 ar - ny
advanced country 81 tfae word Is Stssti.1
de-re4sfcg relatively 20 sha hasincs
3one."