The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1895-06-24
"NEEDS NO ARGUMENT"
so SAY THE sILVERITEs OF THE
CAUSE THEY BOOM.

Money of the People.
From the Valdosta (Ga.) Times.
One of the most blatant and dogmatic
free silver papers in the state OF Geor-
gia, replying TO the demand for some argu-
ment to support the free silver craze.
makes the following ridiculous confes-
/ sion:
The Savannah News and some of the
other gold bug organs keeps call
ing for arguments from the sill
yer men. The silver men have so
&c. Silver will win without further
argument. What would be the use of ar
/ gument."
The poor fellow who wrote the above
lines felt keenly the barrenness of his
cause. 1t would have been golden" to have
held his peace, but because it would have
| been golden" he therefore opened his
mouth. Here is an average Georgia free
! silver editor maintaining before an intelM-
! gent people that his dogmatic assertions
should be swallowed without argument.
without reason, rather than the arguments
! presented by the following noted states
men and patriots, from whom we quote
briefly. Compare them with the above.
Ben Hill. the great Georgian said. in
speech in the Senate in 1875:
THE people demand a silver dollar, but
they do not demand a silver dollar that
will drive out gold dollar When
they (the people, find out that you have
given them silver dollar of less value
than gold dollar they will want to know
why you have Disseminated against them.
Both by our own example and by the
example Of England, and the reason of
the thing, l think 1t would be wise to
limit the legal tender power of silver, Civ
| ing 1t a place in the currency which il may
| occupy without competition with gold Just
as minor coins occupy a distinct field.
! Then silver will be always at par, and have
| an equal purchasing power with gold. .
| But do not attach your support to this bill
"a free coinage bid which l think is mon
| strous IN its character; bill that 1 think
| will benefit nobody but few bullion hold
ers (silver mine owners and will enrich
them; bill that will multiply the bank
ruptcies of this country"
| Thomas jefferson, the great founder OF
| the Democratic party, said:
Just principles will lead us to disregard
| legal proportions altogether, to enquire in
to the market price of gold in the several
countries with which we shall be connect
ed in commerce, and to take the average
| from them"
He was discussing the ratio between gold
and silver. rssyes
Justice Field, the greatest Democrat who
ever sat upon the supreme bench, in an
opinion delivered, said:
by debasing the coin, when once the
standard is fixed. meant giving to the
coin certificate of their having a rela-
ton to that standard different from that
which in truth, they possess. In other
words, giving to the coins false certifi-
cate of their value. Arbitrary and profit
| gate governments have resorted to this
miserable scheme of robbery.
! Whatever power may be vested in the
government of the United States it has
none to perpetuate such monstrous
Samuel ]. Tilden, the great apostle of
| democracy, said:
1T would be very desirable to bring
both gold and silver into use as reserves
as basis of the currency and as a means
| of international exchanges, thereby doub-
ling the quantity of precious metals
| available for those purposes, but that &C
ton cannot be effected by the action of
the United States alone"
Daniel Manning, the great Secretary
| of the Treasury during Cleveland's first
administration, said in his report made
to congress in 1886:
mo party and no administration could
| survive or would deserve 10 survive the
| deliberate or forseen and unprevented
| change to a silver basis. But the proof
is simple that the free coinage of silver
now would at once entail a silver basis
1t would stop the simultaneous circulation
of gold and silver dollars. The gold dol
lar would be at premium and would be
4 exported"
Secretary Ingham, May 4, 1890, in re-
Spouse to a Senate resolution of inquiry
said:
THE history of coinage proves that lit
tie reliance can be placed on artificial
regulations of relative values of the
standard measure of property as a
means of maintaining a regular currency
of uniform value. The proposition
that there can be but one standard in
fact is self-evident. The history of
coinage abounds with mint regulations
to keep gold and silver together, and
statutes prohibiting under severe penal
ties the expectation of either; all of which
have disappointed every expectation of
their projectors"
The currency committee of congress in
its report of Feb. 2, 1921 said of the mint
ratio of 10 to /, which undervalued gold,
| that
1T is sufficient to know by unhappy ex-
|
of gold currency and leave us nothing
but silver"
Mr.. C. P. Whites select committee of
the House on coins said in a report, June
30, 1892:
The committee cannot ascer-
tain that both metals have ever circulated
simultaneously, concurrently and indis-
criminately in any country where there
are banks or money dealers"
Thomas H. Benton said in the Senate
| that everybody knew that gold was un-
dervalued and expelled from circula-
| ton" Finally congress, in 1884, raised the
mint price of gold from 10 ounces of silver
per ounce to 16 ounces of silver per ounce,
and gold came in and silver went out,
because silver was undervalued. And still
these free silver people deny what Benton
says, everybody knows!'
In 1853 congress reduced the weight of
the halves, quarters and dimes, making
them worth more as money than as bull
lion, and Representative c. L. Durham
advocating the change said, in a speech
| Feb. /. 1853:
There is, then, a constant stiniulant to
gather up every silver coin and send It to
| market as bullion to be exchanged for
| gold and the result is the country is al