The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1895-05-13
ApsUnDITY or FREE COINAGE.
a Prominent Cotton Merchant Writes
of the silver FnIIncy.


committee of the Cbamber Of Commerce
of New York, has received the following
letter from Henry Hentze the cotton mer-
chant. whose name is known an over the
south as, perhaps. the largest dealer in
the country en- the great southern staple:
The most important question before the
country al the present time is that OF sound
money. in which every one Is interested
the laboring man and the farmer as well
as the capitalist. IL is nothing new TO
nave absurd theories Of finance. which live
Tor "a time. but. Ike all untruths. flourish
only n little while. The grcenhack craze
rs "a sample OF financial fallacies. Since
II has died very few Of its adhereuts are
willing to acknowledge that they enter
tanned such uusound views The advocates
OF free coinage OF silver at the ratio OF
l6 10 I are anxious TO have this govern
ment coin all the silver that may be
mined In this country, and even brought
from Europe and receive silver dollars Tor
the same. which are now worth one dollar
In gold. All that we have already coined
viii continue 10 be OF that value, provided
the government does not undertake the
free coinage of silver
Congress was wise enough to repeal
the sherman silver purchase act and stop
piling up silver In the United states
treasury. Had that not been done gold
payments would have been suspended
long ere this. which would have been fol-
lowed by "a panic. all the bank and sayings
bank deposits and life insurance policies
would have been paid i'm depl eclatcd
money, the wage earning class, and the
widows and orphans that are living on
small income would lind the buying power
of their money greatly reduced, hence
the cost of living would be greatly in
creased.
"If congress should pass a free coinage
of silver bill. IL would be impossible TO
keep on a gold basis. This country could
not keep silver'on parity with gold, ana
II is very doubtful if it can be done Tor
"A very long period by the leading nations.
We certainly ought not TO try To 10 II
without an international agreement,
Should this country be forced 10 silver
basis gold would cease to circulate as
money. II would become merchandise
like II did during the war, and the neavy
contraction in the volume of ctrculat-
ing medium would cause great
panic and depreciation in values.
IL would be impossible TO have
upwards of $500. 1900 of gold Withdrawn
from circulation without serious conse-
quences, as il would take the mnts OF
this country many years to replace with
withdrawal Of gold n the silver bought
by our government, under the acts OF
1873 and 1890, was sold at the present price
OF silver. the loss would be over S50,O0OOOO.
France and other nations that compose
the Latin union saw that when Germany
stopped coming silver they had 10 do like
wise " they wished to keep on gold
basis. The continued agitation for Tree
silver coinage since the repeal OF the Sher-
man act has caused Europe to withdraw
capital invested IN America and thereby
feared receiving paymen! In silver.
Gold payments would have been sus-
pended during the past spring had not
President Cleveland courageously sold
ment he made with the syndicate to take
$62, 600. 900 Of the bonds ana to do all In its
power to prevent the shipment OF gold,
and also import gold, was great service
to the country. IL has caused confidence
to be re-established and trade to revive.
In fact, many persons think that 1t was
4. ~ fa lrHtV4
about the changed condition. therefore
the moderate profit which was made by
the syndicate upon the bonds ought not TO
be begrudged II. IL Us necessary to stop
this free silver craze and show the world
that we want only sound money. This
Will further increase confidence and pros
perity.
The low prices for the staple articles Of
trade were due to the over supply and re-
stricted demand. America has now Ar
gentina, Australia, New Zealand and In
dia to compete with In the European wheat
markets. About six years ago the United
States exported -four to Argentina. As
to cotton, the decline was due to the enor-
nous crop Of S9A-95-abOut l0,000,W0 of
bales. versus 100000 the previous year.
Prices have advanced nearly % per cent.
from the bottom on the expectation that
the next crop may be a short one, and that
the worlds trade will further improve.
The American cotton planter has very lit
tie TO fear from other countries lndia's
shipments to Europe from Sept. J. 1884. to
May z, 1895, show a decrease OF nearly 30)-
600 bales compared with the same period
last year. our cotton planters should de-
sire only the best money for their crop
that which has the greatest purchasing
power. which is gold or It's equivalent The
European markets, to a great extent, con-
troll the price. Surely the south cannot
have forgotten the evil effects OF the de-
preciated confederate money. For some
time before the war ended IL required
s25 In confederate government notes 20
buy one dollar in gold. II is great mis-
take to attribute the decline in the prices
Of merchandise to the appreciation OF
gold. The Bessemer steel process has had
a deal to do with H. 1t has certainly en-
abled the products Of the Dakotas TO be
sent to the seaboard as low as could have
been done thirty years ago from Buffalo
to New York, in consequence Of the low
price of steel rails, which are now sell
ing much cheaper than iron rails did
then. Cheap transportation also applies
to other parts of the world. A very in
teresting article was recently published
in the Iron Age. IL said it was an In
suit to every inventor, every engineer ana
every captain Of Industry who had aided
In modern progress, TO attribute the de-
cline in prices to the alleged apprecia-
tion OF gold. II showed that the cost of
producing copper in the great Quincy
copper mines in 1864 was 26.7l cents per
pound, but owing to the use OF high
explosives, machine drilling. modern
stamps for crushing, better methods OF
handling, more economical engines for
hosting and pumping, reduced cost OF
transportation and cheapening of sup
last year to 5.68 cents per pound. In 1870
the wages of miners were S46.09 in currency
per month Gold in that year sold at 1890
1l0. The wages are now s50.70 per month
in gold or its equivalent.
''If II is found later on that more cur
rency is needed, congress should request
the President to appoint a committee TO
report on a plan for the issue Of currency
that can be kept on a parity with gold
Every one that desires the prosperity OF
this country should not favor the free
coinage Of silver. unless II can be done
by an interna tional agreement which /
think is very doubtful now The worlds
production of silver has Increased enor-
mously since 1851. The average production
per annum from 1851 to 1865 was Il. 800 900
ounces. The production last year Is esti-
mated by the Financial Chronicle at 149
100000 ounces. From 1851 to 1850 the average
annual production of gold was $685. 600
ounces, and for last year II is estimated
by the Chronicle at 8,S20,000 ounces This
shows that the increase In the production
of silver has largely outstripped that OF
gold, consequently the price of silver Ike
the prices of iron, copper, etc, was bound
to decline.
II think it would be credit to the intel
ligence OF the south to have the sound
money convention to be held in Memphis
nar sptrf fa nH