The weekly intelligencer. [volume] (Lexington, Mo.) 1891-1901, 1896-07-25
Free Coinage of Silver in the United
States.

States.
ut NAV be well to notice an IrOr into
which many persons Ignorant of the
currency question have fallen. They
accuse the committee of desiring to rob
the present public creditors in order TO
make up for the injury done to the pub
lie debtors in 1919. To such parties the
recommended an inquiry as to
how far the present relations and obi
cations of society are i'll accordance
with the present gold coinage; and they
will find that what the comritt desire
is 10 prevent further appreciation, or
further robbery of the debtors, and not
to rob the public creditor. The average
of prices and wages is still about - per
cent above the present gold standard,
1t is the attempt at Il further reduction
Will or can
the agricultural and commercial classes
submit to this reduction? And, if so,
would it be possible to collect the
of revenue required by the
gOvernment?'-Fro the Memorial of
the Birmingham Chamber of Commerce,
10 Sir Robert Pell, December
=, 1872.
Sir:-Your interesting leader of the
2lSt upon the currency situation in the
United States may be shortly summed
up in the following theses: l. That no
legislation by the United States, single
handed, can establish parity between
gold and silver. 2. That the free cOin-
age of silver iu the United States
involves silver mOnOmetalliSm. 3. That
gold mOnometallism is to he preferred
to silver munometallism. Now, in the
opinion of the silver party in the
United States, C) is sound, then (2) an
hnnnSt Oilunr nI CIlnlt 90 f,atnl1nV
had in 1873, and India until 1893, is
indefinitely preferable to (3) an aupre-
ciating gold cm rency. even if-whIch is
more than dOubtful-that gold currency
can be maintained at all. AS a general
statement of the financial position of
the United States, it may be said that
she owes annually these interest pay
ments: $l50, ,000, 900 on loans. $65, 900, 200
Temittances to travellers and absentees,
$75, 900 900 to foreign ship-owners; so
that either her exports have to exceed
her imports by eG0,000, 900 or she loses
gold, or, failing this, she has to borrow
to pay the interest, thus piling higher
the interest charges.
l venture to think that the debts of
this nation of 20, 900 900 people are even
larger than l have stated them. The
general condition of financial strain,
and consequent political unrest, in the
United States seems to be not less than
is now the case in Austria, where the
annual interest paid abroad by 1000, 900
people is known to be some els, ,0O0. 900
sterling. If we take, for example, the
state of California, this state is IN pop
ulatiOn, in resources and climate about
the peer of New South Wales. The
annual Indebtedness of New South
Wales is officially stated at $4,000, ,0C0
sterling. May not the debt of California
TO New York and to Europe be about
the same? and, if so, how can California
any more than New South Wales per-
manently sustain the burden of a so per
cent fall of prices, which fall must have
exactly doubled the burden of her
external debt? Thus the one issue in
the United States-which includes the
other issues, such as the mere color of
her money and the fiscal methods by
which her revenue shall be collected
the one paramount issue is this: How
can the United States secure a sufficient
balance of exports over imports to con-
tinue solvent2 Now, l contend that if,
as you admit to be the case the world
over, depreciating currency stimulates
exports and contracts imports, then that
portion of public opinion in Amer lea
which favors silver rather than gold is
intelligent. For scheme and readjust
and tinker with the tariffs as you will.
you cannot make a silk purse out of
such sow's ear; you cannot restore the
balance of trade to the United States
unless her currency legislation is such
that it drags up the exchanges between
between Europe and Asia; whereas
every further movement in America or
elsewhere toward gold mOnOmetallism
drags those exchanges down. In short,
gold monometallism in the United
States involves an increased cOmpeti-
tiOn for the industries of white men
at the hands of the yellow
races of the Orient; and there is not a
consular report which comes to us from
the far East but emphasizes this state
ment. What, then, is the argument for
free coinage in the United
Statesp 1t is this. Either free coinage
will establish bimetallism for the whole
world, or, failing this, there will be such
a gold premium in New York as today
assists exporters in Russia, in all Asia
and i'll nine-tenths of South America.
This gold premium, unlike a pro-
Iective tariff. will stimulate the exports
Of the United States, while acting, just
as a protective tariff does, to reduce i'm
ports; therefore, either free coinage will
give bimetalliism to the whole world,
Or, failing this, it will tend to secure
hat excess of American exports over
to further gold loans, lead
ing up 10 ultimate insolvency. These,
hen, are the arguments which favor
or even a depreciating
in the United States. On the
other hand, i do not see, qua its
aspects, what possible
advantage can accrue from a gold
and a gold currency. A gold
currency in America cannot raiSe-it
cannot, indeed, fail to further depress-
The European exchanges with SOO,OtO,-
300 of Asiatic exporters 1t cannot,
fail to still further throw the
balance of trade against the United
States, unless, indeed, by fl her con-
Iracting the American currency, it forces
down prices there to snch point as to
violently Americas import
trades. And a pretty lookout for Eng
land that In short, the clamor of our
press that America shall become gold
seems to involve either
the insolvency of our greatest debtor or
the decline of our export trades to
America, or both.
There is this further point which you
if America copies our
gold standard confidence will be restOr-
ed, ;" and we will lend her more money;
thus aggrevating in the future the very
disease from which she suffers. On the
other hand, if she goes to free coinage
we shall, in panic, return her securities
and thus sell her back her railways and
Industrials at half price, just at that
very moment when, her legislation hav-
ing sent the rupee, the tael and the yen
to nearly, or quite, par, the export trades
Of the Orient will be cut into, and the
exports of the American farm, mine and
factory will take their place. In other
words, because of the inane injunctiOns
of a portion of the London press, our
investors there will he so misled as to
sell American stocks To Americans at
that very moment when in America
prosperity is about to set in. You
remark that describe America as 1.-The
greatest debtor nation OH earth, and
you add, that one fact is conclusive
against taking any course tending to
lower its national credit" But would
free silver lower its credit, even
should it involve gold premium? 1t
lM;ZE - NO REST
Nit75!L NO SLEEP
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