Western Kansas world. [volume] (WaKeeney, Kan.) 1885-current, 1895-08-03
SILVER AND GOLD.
Messrs. Horr and Harvey Tackle the Co.'s
One


the Horn Harvey silver debate yestcr-
day it was announced that but two more
sessions will be held, and that for this
reason the daily bout viii be some
what heightened in order to admit of
the delivery of the number of words
originally agreed upon. The debate
yesterday was marked by Slore than
usually sharp encounter between the
two contestants Mr. Horr called his
opponents attention to a statement
which he had made in his criti-
cisms upon Senator Morgan, wherein
he said that the silver dollars
of 4121& grains were largely coined
previous to the decentralization of sill
yer in 1878 and after the passage of the
law of 1851, making subsidiary coinage
of less value than its face There
fore he inferred that Senator
Morgan was mistaken in stating
that none of the 4l211 dollars
had been coined from silver mined in
this country. Mr.. Harvey says that
the old dollars of .41s1I grains were
coined for the people of Nevada and
California, Notwithstanding that at that
time the bullion was worth more
uncoined than coined. Mr.. Horn de-
MED that these dollars were coined
from silver mined in this country and
sent to the mint for that purpose.
Congress had provided that foreign
coin should be received by the govern
ment at certain fixed value,
and further that such coins
should not be again put in
circulation but should be recoined at
the mint. The report of the director
of the mint showed that over SIS, OOO 900
in silver had thus accumulated, having
been found in gold during the process
of assaying it.
At this point Harvey challenged
Horr's statement, saying that he had
not brought his authorities with him,
and therefore his arguments were en-
titled to no standing in the debate. He
then handed Mr.. Horn a statement of the
director of the mint, which he said re-
ported that during the year 1870, 419, 46a
silver dollars had been coined at Car
son City. Mr.. Harvey again called his
opponent to task for not combining his
remarks to the order of debate origin
ally agreed upon, and said that he
would not be diverted from this order.
He then entered upon discussion of
primary and credit money, say
caused drain upon the primary money
for redemption purposes. An example
of this had just been Witnessed in this
country in the issue of bonds by the
present administration, for the purpose
of maintaining the gold reserve.
The amount of gold in the United
States was estimated at from $780, oOO,-
900 to $780, 600, 900, and of our credit
/ Oh This
too much credit money, he said, and
accounted for the country's financial
arrangement The remedy was to in
crease the primary money by remone-
thing silver. Every moments delay
would endanger the safety of the re-
public
Mr.. Horn replying, called attention
! to a misstatement of the coinage at hhe
Carson City mint. Instead of $412,4C2
the actual amount was $12, 492. Mr..
Harvey said that he had mistaken the
dollar mark for figure and admitted
his error.
Mr.. Horr continued by saying that
up to the present Mr.. Harvey had not
said single word in proof of the ac-
tual subject of dispute. He had argued
at length that the act of 1878 was con-
ceived in sin and brought forth in cor
ruption, but had not brought forth
any proof and could not; it did not ex-
list. History showed that a variation
| of per cent. between the commercial
and legal ratio between gold and sill
yer always drove the dearer metal out
of the market. Now, with differ
ence of SO per cent, what evidence was
there that a concensus of the civilized
nations = England excepted - could
bring them to parity? Much less, how
could the United States alone do it?
Mr.. Horn declared that Mr.. Harvey's
| object was not SO much to build up
silver as to put down gold, as was
| shown by his provision for reducing
the size of the gold dollar.
| Mr.. Harvey, referring back to the
silver coinage between 1853 and 1873,
said that the silver coined at Phila-
delphia was coined into subsidiary
money, not dollars He added that
the premium on silver was a premium
at London, that transportation
charges would more than eat that up,
so the bullion owners in this country
would take it to the minis for coinage.
Taking ito consideration bank cred
it's and checks and the amount of
money in circulation the normal
amount of money necessary for the
transaction of business throughout the
country was $780, 600, 900. OF this
one-third only was in money and the
rest was borrowed. The inference was
plain. The normal amount of money
which we should have was $4, 800, OO0,-
O0O
Taking up the statement in Mr..
Harvey's book that it cost 81 per ounce
| to produce the silver in the United
States, Mr.. Horn characterized it as
| nonsense.
Mr.. Harvey, in turn, said that what
| Mr.. Horn had said about the cost of
producing silver, he could have said
with much more force with regard to
gold Silver was only produced from
/ quartz; most of the gold was produced