The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1895-07-10


try cooperating to that end, I seriously
doubt If il Is ever brought about In The
hrst place there are great many ecOno-
mic writer's and thinkers in every part of
the commercial world who insist that IN
view Of the large production Of silver and
its decline in the market 1t would not be
possible for the commercial powers by uni
ted action to establish a coinage ratio
which would so dominate the market "a
ito as TO cause IL to conform at all times
sthe former. They insist that commerce
has elected gold as the better money, and
point to the fact that the people in all the
walks Of life show their preference for gold
whenever silver is offered In any consider
able amounts. They say that gold is the
more convenient money to handle and
transport and if a farmer would prefer TO
receive one hundred dollars in gold for his
produce rather than one hundred dollars
In silver that the merchant and banker
and manufacturer would be even more
earnest in their preference for gold when
it came to larger transactions. Again
when the standard of value is certain and
uniform dollar in the channels of trade
Will more certainly and frequently perform
its functions as money. The appliances
for speedy transportation, and the trans
mission of intelligence has brought the
commercial nations more closely together
and the facilities for carrying on both do
nestle and foreign commerce and making
exchanges are much greater than formerly
and that therefore, business is conducted
more largely by meaRE of credits and
without the actual use of metallic money.
And finally the rapidly increasing output
of gold is an obstacle in the way of the
establishment of the bimetallic standard.
The production of gold in the world for the
year ending July 1, 1895, amounts to the
unprecedented sum of 100000, 600. 1t ex-
ceeds by S55,OOO.OOO the greatest output for
any year during the flush times in Califor-
MIA. 1t exceeds the production of gold and
silver combined for any year during that
period. The worlds production of gold
for the last three years amounted to $780,
52l 600 and it exceeded the worlds output
for the first forty years of the present
century $23O,OO00OO. Owing to the recent
discoveries of gold fields and the increased
and more economic facilities for treating
the ores 1t is confidently predicted the
worlds annual output win exceed $780,
100000 at the beginning of the next century.
While the gold standard countries will as
heretofore continue the use of silver very
largely as money and they will doubtless
more intelgently and scientifically pro-
vide for IL a place in their circulation, yet
for the reasons have given l have seri-
ously doubted If the commercial houses
would ever be persuaded to abandon the
gold standard.
I am for gold in preference to the silver
standard, because the experience through
which the country passed during the re-
cent panic teaches that the establishment
of the latter would be an aggravation of
all the distress and hardship which the
American people then endured. 1t is not
necessary to discuss whether it was wise
or unwise to pass the act of 1873 suspend
ing the coinage of the standard silver dol
lar. If l had been there should have
voted against it on the ground that this
49,
Union, have prevented the decline of silver
and arrested the movement which resulted
in the destruction of the bimetallic stan
dard throughout the world. However, it
was done. and the Latin Union followed
this country, and suspended the free coin
age of silver In recent years the pro-
. duction Of silver has been greater than
ever before IN the worlds history. 1t is
now worth less than half what. IL was
worth in 1873, and all the commercial pow
ers suspended it's coinage. We cannot
retrace our steps. However much we may
disapprove the policy or the methods by
which existing conditions were brought
about, we cannot, independently, undo that
which all the commercial powers have ac-
complished. No note of the act of 1873
was taken until 1873, when silver declined
in price. Then it was that movement
was set on foot to repeal the act of 1873,
and restore the act of 1884 As a substitute
was passed in 1878. whereby the govern
ment was required to purchase and coin
not less than two, nor more than four
million dollars worth of silver each month.
Let us pause for a moment at this point
and look back for period of ninety years
to the formation of our government. Dur
ing all that period we coined just S,031, 900
silver dollars. Then look forward to the
period Of fifteen years following 1873 and
you Will find that we coined over 400, 600, 900
People talk about the dollar of their faith
ers, when the fact is we have coined more
than fifty times as many silver dollars in
fifteen years as our fathers coined in
ninety. Nay, more! 1 call the attention of
the farmers to the fact that from 1850 to
1861 when the war broke out, we did not
coin the so called dollar of the fathers, but
as declared by the statesmen of that day.
we were absolutely at the gold standard
and yet, that was the period of their great
est prosperity, whereas the last sixteen
years, when we coined over 00,000, 900 sill
yer dollars, was the period Of their greatest
distress. The truth about the matter Is
the affection for the so called dollar Of the
fathers sprung upon the breasts Of our free
silver friends of the Rocky mountains, and
our fiat money friends of the south, after
it became cheap and deprecated dollar
We have already shown that cheap dol
lars remain always with u.s. You may call
the roll and every silver. dollar which has
been coined since 1878 will answer present
unless it has been lost or mislaid The
coinage Of q, 900, 900 silver dollars annually.
under an act which was of indefinite du-
ration meant, necessarily, a vast accumu-
lation of silver money in this country
which would ultimately have displaced
gold and brought us to a silver basis. Mr..
Cleveland saw this, and time and again
during his first administration, warned his
countrymen of the danger but such was
the confidence in our currency and in the
ability of the government to maintain the
parity that no heed was taken of his adj
vice.
When Mr. Cleveland retired from the
presidency on the 4th of March. 1883. about
ninety per cent of all the revenues collec-
ted at the custom houses was paid in
gold. On the 14th of July, 1890 the sher,
man law was passed, whereby the govern
ment was required to purchase 4.5Oo.O0O
ounces of silver every month. This act
was of indefinite duration. 1t meant the
purchase of 54O00,0O0 every year
and 540,000O00 every ten years
In the meantime the government was
issuing and paying out its treasury notes
for this bullion. Is it any wonder that the
~