The Atlanta constitution. [volume] (Atlanta, Ga.) 1885-19??, 1895-05-13


we friends of silver are silver monometal-
lists. then all the great men of the republ~
from Washington To Lincoln were SILVER
monometaliists and this country was silver
monometallic from its birth down to that
great day in 1873 when John Sherman az
one end of the capitol and Samuel Hooper
at the other end struck the silver dollar
from our coinage by n section in law
Whlch not ten men in or out OF congress
knew anything about
The Issue Stated.
The issue is between those who favor the
law as it was from 1892 TO 1873, and those
who approve the law as it has been from
1873 to 1873; between those who demand the
unrestricted coinage OF both gold and silver
into standard money of full debt-payinS
power at the ratio of 10 to l, was the
law of 1873. and those who give the right to
gold and deny it to silver as is the law
of 1882 In short between the advocates
OF gold and silver, with equal debt paying
power-the bimetallists-and the defenders
OF only gold standard money-the gold
mCnCmetlllists
This is the square ISSUE and while
Editor Smith may have been wrong when
he was ON one side of it. he did not dodge
1t worth a cent as Secretary Smith is trying
TO do. now he is on the other side of it,
The secretary says that both Jefferson
and Hamilton recognized the fact that the
ratio of coinage must be fixed upon the
commercial value of the metals in the mar
ket. This statement will bear analysis.
In l1S5 the congress of the confederation
adopted the Spanish mtlled dollar as the
unit of account The legal ratio between
silver and gold was in 1873 fixed by the
Spanish law at 15ia to l, and that was the
legal ratio generally in Europe, though not
very well defined. When Hamilton was
preparing his mint act of 1872 he had the
Spanish milled dollars asSayed and found
them To contain 3IlA grains each OF pure
silver. or tl6 grains of standard silver, so
he made this dollar the unit as follows:
dollars or unitS-each to be of the value
Of II Spanish milled dollar, the same is
row current, and to contain 3u grains and
4-l6 Parts of a grain OF pure. or 1l6 grains OF
standard silver. Here was the starting
pont-thc Spanish millcd dollar made over
as our silver unit of value; so much was
fixed The ratio, then. had to be dctermln-
ed by the weight of the gold eagle; the gold
coinage must be measured by the unchanSe-
able silver GOllar-not the silver by the gold
So fixed was The idea in the minds of our
lawmakers that in 1854. when the ratio was
changed. and in 1874, when the iineneSS OF
both coinages was altered. no change was
made in the pure SILVER in the silver dol
lar. though the pure gold in the gold CONS
was changed twice ana the alloy IN DOM
coinageS once. To this day 31lli grains OF
pure SILVER has been, when carried with al
10y. the silver dollar. 1t would seem that
Hamilton. in making the Spanish mlIi,d
dollar our monetary unit would naturally
have concerned the ratio here to the span
iSh ratio of l5i2 TO |, but he made the ratio
j. TO l arbitrarily. Benton says il was done
IN me interest OF pdIk paper anu uuoleS lllt
following from Hamilton's report on the
mint: cit is sometimes observed that silver
ought to be encouraged rather than gold,
as being more conducive to the extension
of bank circulation. from the greater dlfil-
Guilty and Inconvenience which its greater
bulk. compared with its value, occasions III
the transportation of it,
A. 10 Commercial Value.
What Secretary Smith calls the CONNER
cial value of the metals in the market
Il ,aI l,t,f irin of
most influential countries, which ratio the
United States departed from slightly in
1892 There could be no lower commercial
value for either metal with open mnts,
aEd / am quite confident that the late Ed
tor Smith would agree with me if he We're
now occupying his former dignitied and en-
viablc position
The secretary says that since 1879 "the
demonetization of silver by other countries
has allowed its value to drop to the price
which il will bring for manufacturing pur-
Poses" This 81, crnpba'tca.if true IS tra'
as one of Editor Smiths free silver cdito-
rials In 1872 bar silver i'm London sold for
6lis; before the close of 1876 it had fallen
as low as 4Gfi pence--a greater decline in
four years than had ever before happened
To the metal in all the worlds history.
The secretary SAYS that 1.-THE value of one
article must b. controlled by the demand
for lis use. and the supply to be consumed
which nobody can deny-and that the
demand has practically ceased. while the
supply has almost tr"blcd' which is correct
except that the supply is about two and
half times larger. This is true" adds the
secretary. I'm spite on the fact that since
1873 the United States has coined more sill
yer than in the eighty years prior TO that
time"
Having collected all these forces for
final charge the Secretary asks: can any
one study these facts without concluding
that if this enormous issue by the United
States was insufficient to steady the fail OF
silver during the past twenty years, unlm-
tied coinage by the United States alone
would not be sufficient to restore its bullion
value now
This is a clear case of having Mr.. Sher-
man with YOU To answer Mr.. Sherman. The
secretary answers his own cOnundrum
which is "A puzzle to nobody outside the
presidents cabinet. the New York Reform
club the Hon. Josiah Patterson and posi-
bly, Judge William NJ. Springer. The de-
none tia tion OF silver by law destroyed the
demand for il. while the supply increased.
What the secretary calls this enormous is
sue by the United states only reached
SOS zoe 900 one year. while it lasted. and ran
as low rs SD 00O.000 annually, averaging not
AS much as the gold coinage and did not
begin to take up the SILVER slack. There
was a larger surplus silver bulllun product
i'm 1SqO-the year Of our largest c0iEage-thau
i'm 1871 before coinage was resumed. our
limited silver coinage affected only the hui
lion plrchas ed and helped steady the market
onl, To that extent. In the sam" time the
product of gold bullion Increased - per cent.
mlntS a1SOlbtQ II al At coming
prices without any difficulty
where He Hits Rock.
Unlimited coinage by the United States
will raise the price of every ounce of sill
Yer bullion I'm the world to the coming
rrice in twenty-four hours An open mint
I'm this country is an unlimited demand for
silver bullion at $l.29 an ounce--iust as it is
for gold bullion at $20.G7 an ounce, without
any regard to where il comes from, who
owns il or what ii costs 20 produce it, The
first month of the sherman act when il
was supposed to be only the forerunner of
free coinage by this country alone, carried
silver bullion in New York to $l2l an ounce
and to a corresponding price IN London. II
is too bad that Secretary Smith should
founder on this rock Editor Smith used to
surmount with agility far greater obstacles
than this.
ut is not offensive criticism" TO again use
Secretary Smiths words. 70 say that he
seems perfectly satisfied with the present
sitaution. and feels that there is nothing TO
complain of and no existing condition that
calls for remedial legislation lie does not
anDear 10 have observed any diSSatiSfac-
ton among the people or cause for any
criticism offensive or otherwise. on the part
OF any cIuzen. ON the contrary il is evil
dent from what he does, not say that in his
Judgment everything is going along as well
as can reasonably be expected or would. if
THE agitation OF the question did not check
the return of prosperity to slightly para
phrase the sCcretary's expression.
Az the secretary does not realize that