Butler citizen. [volume] (Butler, Pa.) 1877-1922, 1896-09-24
WHAT SUSTAINS SILVER
Why Those Dollars Buy as Much
as Gold Ones.

Secretary Carlisls's statement that
great many letters are addressed 10 hir'
daily from all parts Of the country inquir-
ing how 1t is that silver dollars contain
ing only fifty three cents worth OF bullion
are kept at parity with gold Is directly
in line with The Herald's experience.
Correspondents apparently well in
formed in other respects ask, If silver
dollar is worth only ffty-thlD cents, how
is it that I can buy as much with one Of
them as can with gold dollar?" Others
write: There is no provision for having
the silver dollars redeemed by the govern
msnt, yet they are good as gold. Why,
then, Wouldn't t they be just as good under
free coinage as they are rowi"
These questions 60 directly to the heart
of the whole silver question, and Mr. Car
Isle puts the matter very clearly in his
published letter addressed to Kentucky
correspondent. All Of the four hundred
and thirty odd millions of silver dollars
coined since 1878 have been manufactured
by the government on its own account
from bullion purchased for that purpose
at its market value. They have been paid
out by the government at parity with
gold for goods and services and accepted
In good faith by the people on that basis.
The government received from the poo
pie the full gold value for these coins and
is under moral obligation to keep them at
that level. This it has done. 1t agreed to
accept them for dues to itself, made them
full legal tender in payment Of debts to
| individuals and has never Disseminated
between silver dollars and gold ones
Aside from the moral obligations there
are others. In the Sherman law, passed
''the established policy of the United
States to maintain the two metals on g
parity with each other" and again, in the
act Of November l, 1895, this declaration
was iterated.
With these assurances the people have
accepted the silver dollars at their face
value, regardless of tho enormous shrink.
age in the value of the bullion they con.
| tain. There have been times, however
when a mistaken financial policy excited
creditors doubts as to the ability Of the
government to keep its pledge, and al
those times our foreign creditors drew
gold out of the country and the more
timid among our own citizens began tc
hoard the yellow metal, the result being
general restriction of credit and oom.
mercial disaster, as in 1893. What excited
those doubts? The fact that the govern.
ment was issuing too many silver dollars
under the Bland law, and subsequently,
under the Sherman law was issuing toe
many paper dollars in payment for silver
bars.
1t Is familiar and universally admitted
fact that an inferior currency drives a bet
ury kept on making silver dollars OF
printing notes all the gold would in tims
be displaced and leave the country and the
government would be unable to keep the
silver or notes exchangeable with gold. II
was this fear that caused the panic Of 1895
and led congress to stop the issue Of this
money. Nearly 800, 900, 900 of silver dollars
and Sherman notes, however, had already
been created, and the government has had
some difficulty in keeping this mass to-
gether with the $346, ,OOo, 900 of greenbacks
exchangeable with gold, being obliged al
times to purchase yellow metal for this
purpose by issuing bonds. Now, what
would be the effect Of an absolutely un-
limited additional issue of dollars-oi
throwing the mints open SO that any
American, or Turk, or Russian could
bring bullion or old spoons and get a sill
yer dollar for every 53 cents worth of the
metalP
Does any sane man think the govern
ment could maintain them all at parity
with gold dollarsp The silver dollars could
be worth no more than the bullion in ex-
change for which anybody in the world
could obtain them. To pass such Law
would be n direct violation Of the implied
and expressed pledges on the faith Of which
the people have accepted hundreds Of mill.
ions of these silver dollars in payment fol
goods and services ut their full gold value
1t would be a Wholesale repudiation on the
part of the government against it's OWE
citizens; and the dollars being full legal
tenders would compel all debtors to repu-
diate half their obligations, cut down pen
sions, wages, salaries, saving bank dspos-
its and insurance policies ons-haf and
overwhelm the whole country in disaster
The majority Of American voters are not
yet qualified to become inmatss of padded
cells.-New York Herald.