The Greenville times. [volume] (Greenville, Miss.) 1868-1917, 1895-04-20

ana compel Us 10 buy OF them what
we consume in gold or the gold equiv
alent in silver. In selling exchange
for the money which England would
hold as q commodity, iuciuaiing al
most daily, the seller would exact a
rate which would be q heavy tax on
the cotton producer. Such a tribute
India and other silver countries rem
der to dealers In every piece of ex-
change bought, the cost, OF course, be-
ing fixed high enough to cover any
possible less by q fall In SILVER.
The supporters Of free coinage Of
silver most earnestly urge their plan
as especially advantageous to the debt
or classes. l recognize the deplorsbls
condition OF debtors and sympathize
with them deeply as aay aud would
spare no effort In their behalf But l
cannot consent to this proposition even
as an ultimate result, and II seems indis-
putable that In the event this agitation
assumed such proportions as to indi-
cate the passage Of free silver law,
II would nrove especially calsmitous
TO the debtors of the country. The
appreciation Of gold and Its probable
disappearance from circulation, In the
view Of the creditor class, will be the
certain result Of the success of the free
silver move. and their views, and not
political theories, will shape the policy
Of creditors. A large portion Of our
Indebtedness Is to foreign loan CON-
panies, made payable, | believe, almost
entirely In gold coin. With gold ap-
preciated the burthen Of these debtors
Is increased proportlonately, and the
loss Of property, by very many would
be certainty. But this would not
be the hmit Of the disaster. Should
the supporters Of free silver coinage
develop such strength as to demon
strate that they will probably elect a
majority of the next Congress and the
President, notice would be thereby
served on the creditor class that with
In the next two years after the election
all debts not specifically payable In
gold, would be liquidated In deprecia-
ted currency. Can there be any doubt
about the effect Of such notice? Cred-
itors In the anticipation Of the enact
ment of free silver law, which In
their judgment would lower the value
of the obligations due them, would
relentlessly hasten, by every means
known to legal machinery, to enforce
collections, just as surely as II q law
were passed providing that within
two years all debts would be barred,
There would be no extensions of debts
and no new credits given until the
great change, which they spprehend
would be wholly disastrous, had been
worked out. All enterprises In which
capital enters would cease, general
suspension Of business would onsue
aud universal bankruptcy prevail.
can imagine no activity in trade ex.
cept such as would bo carried on BY
sherifis and debt collectors.
The effects Of the closure of our
mints to the free coinage Of silver
have been greatly exaggerated. To
that blunder aud wrong is being
charged about all of the hard times
aud decline In prices Of farm product,
of the past twenty years. The plain
facts, on the contrary, prove that the
silver policy Of the nations haa been
at most, but contributing cause Ia
depressed trade and low prices.
It has been repeatedly asserted that
the fall In the price of cotton result,
almost entirely from the lack Of the
free coinage Of silver. l will submit
few simple facts that ought to bs
considered In this connection. In the
cotton season Of l859-60 the average
price of New Orleans mlddling cotton
was 1921 cents per pound. At that
time the whole world enjoyed what
ever benefits can be produced by the
free coinage of silver. In the season
of 1S89-90, thirty years thereafter, and
sixteen years after the much complain
ed of act Of 1878, the average price o.
middling cotton was 1910 cents pei
pound. Thus Il will be seen that uT
to that time the suspension of free ell
yer coinage by the civilized nations hat
not produced the slightest effect upoI
the price of cotton. Again, recurring
to the claim that free coinage wout
boom cotton, | refer TO the passag,
of the Sherman silver purchasing law
In July, 1890, which added $4,000,
600 annually to our circulation; almos
the total of the American production
OF silver. And yet the great fall II
prices set In the year succeeding tina
act. In 1590-9l the average price o
middling cotton was 8.88 cents pc
pound for the season Of 1891-92 |
was 7.24 cents per pound, and in 1892
| 93 It was 8.71 cents per pound. l
will thus be seen that this great In
crease in the volume Of money, so fa
from raising the price Of cotton, dit
not prevent fall almost unprecedent
ed. If the lack Of FREQ coinage OF sll
yer is the sole or chief cause Of th,
present low price of cotton, why Is |
that the intelligence and common
sense of people about their own affair
intuitively arise In complaint owe
what they suppose to be interested
exaggerated crop estimates, and VIII.
have conventions been held to secur,
a reduction Of the cotton acreage2
The effects and facts OF natural law
ought not to be lost In the maze o
theories. II so, the lessons Of thrift
and economy now being acquired Il
the South, may be abandoned for th
fallacy that their place may be sup
piled by o mere act of law.