Shenandoah herald. [volume] (Woodstock, Va.) 1865-1974, 1896-10-02
MAY SILVER DOLLARS ARE AS GOOD
AC coin ONES

NHY SILVER DOLLARS ARE AS GOOD
AS GOLD ONES.
How sit that silver dollar, which possesses
only about 81 cents worth Of commercial val
ue, can be maintained at parity with the
gold doliarG
How Is it that cnn buy as much now with
a silver dollar as / can with gold dollarf
Why won't silver dollars be just as good I'M
der free coinage as they are nowS
These are samples Of the inquiries
that men are asking all over the coun-
try, and these and similar queries have
poured in upon Secretary Carlisle in
such quantities that he has deemed 1t
advisable to answer them by means Of
IN open letter, which contains clear,
frank and convincing explanation Of
this matter.
Summed up in a single word, it may
be said that FAITH is at the basis of the
governments ability to maintain each
Of the silver dollars on a par with gold.
The people have faith that each silver
dollar issued by the government will
purchase exactly az much as a gold dol
lar will. Remove that faith, destroy
that confidence, upset that belief, and
the government, strong and powerful as
it is, will find itselfunable to maintain i
the parity between the silver and the
gold dollar, with the inevitable result
tlat the silver dollar will sink TO its
commercial value Of about 53 cents,
while, on the principle that a poor dollar
drives out a good one, the gold dollar
will disappear entirely from circulation.
The people Of this country have freely |
received silver dollars because the faith, !
tine honor and the integrity Of the ma
ton are pledged to keep the silver dollar
on an equality with the gold dollar.
For this reason the silver dollar, in
spite Of its commercial shrinkage, has !
been readily accepted at its face value |
by the people. But if any doubt arises
in the public mind as to the govern
mcnt's ability to keep its pledge, there
is at once a sudden withdrawal Of gold |
from circulation either by foreign cred |
itors or by domestic hoarders. Such a
condition was created in 1898 and was |
responsible for the panic Of that year, !
which was further due to the additional |
fact that the government was issuing |
too many silver dollars under the Bland |
law, and too many paper dollars in pay
mont for silver bars under the Sherman ]
law. Congress was obliged, therefore,
to stop the issue Of this money. But al
ready nearly 5000, 600, 600 in silver dol
larsand silvornotes had been created and |
the government naturally found consid-
arable trouble in keeping this mass Of
silver. together with S34G, 600. 900 in
grecnbacks, on a parity with gold. As
a result it was obliged at times to pur-
chase gold TO keep mp the equality by the
issue Of bonds.
Now, if the government has had so
much difficulty in keeping its silver ard
gold dollars cxchangeable, with a COM
paratively limited issue Of silver dollars
and notes, how can it possibly hope to
maintain this parity when our minis are
open to all the silver Of all the world,
when the citizen Of any nation Oh the
globe can come 70 our minis and have
53 cents worth Of silver metal coined
into a silver dollar: The government
would no longer be able TO redeem its
in gold, because a point
would soon be reached where it would
be impossible TO exchange gold for silver
dollars and their paper representatives.,
the parity between the gold and silver
dollars would soon be removed, the
equality in the exchangeable value of the
coins would be destroyed, and the coun-
try would descend to a silver basis, with
the result that a silver dollar would be
worth its commercial value and nothing
more.
This commercial value now amounts
to about 53 cents, and, reckoning on that
basis, the enactment Of a law for the
free and unlimited coinage Of silver at
the ratio Of IS to would be violation
Of the explicit obligations Of the nation,
which by an act Of congress has de-
clared it to be "the established policy
Of the United States to maintain the
two metals on parity with each other. "
It would be a confession that the people ,
had lost faith in the ability and integ-
rity Of the government to redeem its
promises. 1t would be "a violation Of
the implied and expressed pledges on
the faith of which the people have ac-
,epted hundreds Of millions of these sill r
yer dollars in payment for goods and |
services at their full gold value 1t c
would be wholesale reputation on the
part Of the government against its own
citizens, and the dollars, being full legal
ender, would compel all debtors TO re-
ludiate half their obligations, cut down
pensions, wages, salaries, savings bank !
deposits and insurance policies one-half, ?
md whelm the whole country in disas- $
err.
These are, in brief, some Of the rea-
ons why the silver dollar today passes
quail and current with its gold COM
,anion, and why the silver dollar will
ink to its own intrinsic value if our
hints are opened to the free and unlim-
ted coinage Of silver.
A tricky dollar never yet made any