The state republican. (Jefferson City, Mo.) 1871-1896, 1895-05-30
CARLISLE ON SILVER.

FhANAshSLk Wv jill LIN
THE SECRETARY OF THE TREAS
uRv GIVES his VIEWS ON
FRRH COINAGE.
secretory Carlisle addressed q
large crowd at Covington, KY, May
20. Among other things he said the
following:
''There was never In our whole his
tory one.third - much legal tender
silver In use in the United States at
one time a. there is now. Silver Is
not demonetized in this country, but
its coinage has been SO limited and
regulated by law and the financial af-
fairs Of the Governmsnt have bessi
- ccndu6tsd that up TO the present
tans ~ p1FshStixr power hss been
preserved and its circulation to =
large amount has been maintained
concurrently with other forms Of
money, Notwithstanding It has been
coined at o ratio which docs not con-
form to the real value Of the netal
contained in It. The question pre-
sented to us by the agitation now
going on is whether the mints of the
United States shall be thrown open
to all the silver in the world that an
individual or corporation may de-
sire to have coined, free Of charge,
into legsl-tender dollars-that, is
legal tender in the United States
only-at the ratio Of 18 to 1.
81 have never been, and am not
now, unfriendly to silver In the
sense Of desiring to see 1t excluded
from the monetary system Of the
United States, or Of any other coun-
try, but l know that 1t cannot be
kept in circulation along with gold by
means Of any ratio the law Of any one
country may attempt to establish be-
tween the two metals, and that the
only way to secure the use Of both at
the same time is to make one Of
them the standard of value and SO
limit the coinage Of tho other that
tho Government which issues them
and receives them for public dues
may be able at all times to maintain
their oxchangeability, either directly
or indirectly through the operation
Of its fiscal system. am therefore
In favor Of tho preservation of the
existing standard Of value, with such
use of full legal-tender silver coins,
and paper convertible into coin on
demand, ss can be maintained with
out impairing or endangering tho
credit Of the Government or dimln-
ishing the purchasing or debt paying
power Of tho money in the hands Of
the people. This is what mean by
the term sound money, and, in my
opinion, 1t is what is meant by an
overwhelming majority Of the oppo-
nents Of free coinage at the ratio of 10
to /.
"This Is neither gold monometal-
lism nor silver monometallism, but
means that one standard or measure
OF value should be maintained, and
that all forms of standard coins in
use shall be kept equal to that stan
dard In tho purchase of commodities
and in tho payment Of debts. Any
policy which would discontinue the
use Of silver as money, by diract
legal enactment or by undertaking 1t
relatively to gold in the coinage
laws, would certainly result In prac-
tical gold monometallism and, on
the othcr hand, 1t is equally clear
that any policy which would discon-
tinue the use of gold as money, by
legal enactment or by undertaking
that metal relatively to silver In the
coinage laws, would result in practical
silver monometallism. Free and un-
limited coinage at the ratio Of 10 to l
would at once establish monometal-
lism, pure and simple. The banking
and other great financial institutions,
which own and hold in their reserves
much the greater part of this gold,
would ct once sell at large pre-
MUM for silver-about % for 81
or they would exchange IL for silver
bullion In the market at the ratio OF
about thirty two pounds Of silver for
each one pound Of gold, have the
thirty-two pounds Of silver coined
into dollars at tho expense Of the
people, and with this cheap money
pay the demands Of their depositors
and other creditors. The masses OF
the people cannot do this, for they
nave no gold, nor nave they any
silver bullion to be coined at the
expense Of the government.
''But II II said that although the
masses of tho people have no bullion,
many Of them are In debt, and that
the free coinage OF silver would
increase prices and give them more
money, thus enabling them to dis.
charge their obligations more easily
But II the immediate effect Of the
adoption Of q free coinage policy .,
the ratio Of 10 to / would be to con-
tract the currency TO the extent o.
about so2b, 600, 900, by tho with
drswd Of that amount Of gold from
circulation and from use a. the hssil
Of notes and other forms Of credit