Perrysburg journal. (Perrysburg, Wood Co., O. [Ohio]) 186?-1965, 1895-10-19
sNAes FOR THE slLvERlrEs.
A Good Lesson for Them in the Nicaragua
Loan AFFAIR.

A Good Lesson for Them in the Nicaragua
Loan Affair.
A very interesting story from Nica-
ragua appeared recently in the press
dispatches. All the Central American
states have the silver standard, and
their dollar is worth 1876 cents in our
currency. This dollar contains 347,22
grains of pure silver, or about "a grains
less than the dollar of the United
States.
Something over two years ago the
government of Nicaragua, country
whose silver has never been stricken
down." wished to borrow 100000 silver
dollars. The loan was negotiated OH
the stipulation that the money fur
nished should be silver, but that it
should be repaid in gold. The interest
was to be "a per cent. per nnnum.
There has, of course, been revolu-
ton in Nicaragua since the loan was
made, and the present government has
refused to carry out it's terms. 1t has
decided that as the bonds were sold for
silver they must be repaid in silver
The interest is also scaled to 10 per cent.
The creditors have agreed to these
terms, as well indeed they may, as they
are still getting IA rate of interest that
ought to be highly remunerative.
The rule laid down in this settlement
has q certain bearing upon questions
that have arisen in this country. Last
winter Secretary Carlisle had made
contract to sell number of bonds for
gold, but under the law he could on!J
make them payable in coin. The pres
ident informed congress in special
message that if authority were granted
to make the bonds payable specifically
in gold u saving of sixteen millions of
dollars in interest could be made. 1t
was represented that as the bonds were
sold for gold and nothing else they
could not equitably be paid in anything
but the same metal if the creditor dc
manded such payment. This consid-
Grafton had no effect upon congress,
which proceeded to throw away the six
teen millions of dollars. The men re-
sponsible for this action have beer
abusing Secretary Carlisle ever since
for paying too high rate of interest
for the bonds.
The action of the free silver country
of Nicaragua. though in its own inter
est, has laid down the same rule that
was enunciated here last winter. The
bonds, having been sold for silver, must
be paid in silver, thereby plainly imply
ing that if they had been sold for gold
they would have been paid i'll gold. The
bonds were not only sold for silver, but
for silver value, the silver dollar not
being kept at par with gold in Nicar.
aqua, as it is here, by the policy of the
government. There would have been
no advantage, therefore, i'll paying our
| bonds in silver unless, in the meantime,
| gold had gone to Il premium. But the
free silver men sacrificed sixteen mil
lion dollars for the chance of paying
| the bonds in Il currency inferior to that
for which they were Soda species OF
! commercial morality that is repudiated
even in Nicaragua.
The people who think free coinage of
silver makes money plenty and interest
low are invited to note the placing OF Il
loan in Nicaragua at twenty-four per
cent. If they say that our credit is
vastly better than that of Nicaragua,
we agree with them. But how long
would it be so if their system of paying
gold obligations in silver were 10 pre-
vail? And that is just the point. 1t
pays to preserve the public credit, be-
cause the better the credit the lower the
nterest.--Louisville Courier-J ournal.