The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1895-05-20
lNMAN ON THE SILVER CRAZE.
CLEVELAND'S BOND ISSUES ALI.
THAT STAYED OFF RUIN.

Prices AdVnnced-But for This Res
tOrntiOn of Confidence Cotton
Would StiI BE Selling at Cents.
New York. May 19-The sound money
Subcommittee Of tine New York Chamber
Of Commerce has received the following
communication from John H. Inman,
During the past year we have had
many inquiries from the south asking why
the general depression lasted so long af-
ter the repeal of the sherman silver law.
when it was promised that we would have
better times after its repeal. The answer
is that there was constant fear even af-
ter the repeal, in leading financial centers
that. owing to the uncertainty OF CON
gress, this country would so onto "a silver
basis. and those who took this view were
pretty nearly right. as all who are familiar
with finance know that We We're on the
verge Of this very thing only three months
ago; that is TO say early I'm last Febru-
ary, when the situation was gloomiest.
with cotton and other products at their
lowest, we were on the verge of a silver
basis. With the immense crops maturing
all over the south last fall we would have
had recovery then. but for the dread in
the money centers of the east that we
would so on a silver currency What we
were afraid OF was that when Mr. cleve-
land sold the two lots of S50,0OOO0O bonds
he would say that he had
done his duty and would leave
the balance TO congress. But
when he got into the month Of February
and he sold the $62 100000 to the syndicate.
and assured the gentlemen who went to
Washington that he would sell
as many more bonds as was neces-
sary to keep the country on a sound basis.
we were assured that the finances OF the
nation were settled for at east two years,
or at least during his administration, and
believing that we could elect a hard money
candidate in 1896, felt that the country
was permanently on sound money basis.
Take cotton as an example. party
of men, who were quick to see future re-
suits, looked over the situation at once,
and feeling that the money question was
settled for a long time, made up their
minds to go heavily into cotton at 5is
to 59s cents in the New York harket. But
for that $62,0O0O 900 bond transaction, how
ever, the same set OF men would not have
touched cotton or any other commodity,
but simply kept their heads under cover.
In this / am speaking from personal
knowledge and may say, that in my opin-
ion, unless the bond sale had occurred. or
some such action been taken by the gov
ornment there would exist to-day through
out the country a worse condition Of
affairs than we have had at any time,
and that cotton, instead of selling as it
now is at about cents in the New York
market, with prospects Of a considerable
higher price before January, would still
be selling in the nighborhood of cents.
"As to the cause of the silver heresy, II
is one Of those things which come periodi-
cally with depressions. In 1S73-74-75. during
years of hard times, the greenback craze
came into play and even went
so far in 1876 as to run
a presidential candidate purely on
that issue. We drifted about until 1877 and
1878. when things began to look better, and
in 1879 the resumption Of gold payments
placed this country on widely prosperous
plane, which existed for several years,
and the greenback fever died out. 1t Is
in measure so with silver. The past few
years Of depression has led many people
to want a change Of some character, and
they seem to think silver the cure of all
evil II is my strong conviction that we
prosperity, and this silver craze will die
just as the greenback heresy did.
1T has been asked who are the chief
advocates of free coinage? There are
many people who have but little knoWl-
edge of what serious results would fol-
low It; as the man in Alabama who had
never accumulated much of this worlds
goods, but who said he had heard that the
free coinage of silver would in a short
time give this country $50 per capita, and
as he had a wife and four children, that
would give him $500.
Seriously, however, aside from the
mine-owners in the west, who wish to
profit by the increased price Of their
product it is a fight between the politi-
clans of the south and west and the solid
business men of those sections and the
east. In the south we find a large pro-
portion of the conservative business men
in favor Of sound currency, and my IN
formation is that there are a great num-
Der of intelligent farmers who take the
same stand. and many others who have
not made up their minds on this question,
and will not do so until they have suffi-
cient information to analyze II fully, and
when they do, / am Of the conviction that
they will vote on the side Of sound money,
it being clearly to their interest 10 do so.
"As to the final outcome, think there is
no question about it. Sound finance will
win the fight. The politician who hopes
Ito either retain or ride into Office on free
silver will eventually be showed under and
the sound-thnking American people win
win.
Let us see who would be the gamers !
by the free coinage of silver. There would |
be practically none. except the silver min /
ers in a half dozen Rocky Mountain states /
and the silver producers Of Mexico. These |
few Rocky Mountain states mined in 1892 /
and 1898 a yearly average OF silver bull /
ion worth S4Oo00.OOO in the markets Of the |
world. If they could get free coinage I
they would receive each year about $780, /
10000 for this same product; therefore, |
the miners OF these few states would be /
benefited something like S4O,0 900 per an 4
mum. Mexico in the same two I
years mined s24,OO0.O0O each |
year two-thirds Of which was
sent into the United States, and for which /
two-thirds they got about $4,000, 900 annu- /
ally, whereas, under free coinage, they 4
would get 100000 silver dollars per an I
mum for this same product, so that the 4
two sections would receive annually $685. /
100000 more for their silver than they do a I
present. do not believe the south and
central west will, when properly informed I
wish to contribute by a free silver law 1
s56. 600 900 10 these miners, and we shall /