The pioneer express. [volume] (Pembina, Dakota [N.D.]) 1883-1928, 1896-08-28

M esS Il M ssts mi IN ,ii
seln .isssIs asi ts U ese y 4
bind % IA Fiat galns khsfsfoles should
M mate for ~ fcuil eng medium u, an,
open q stills Wider sats for gold to dow out.
q IL y were 60. venture on q dictusia i
On the silver question, should dee
Glare that until Europe femonetisGa
silver We cannot aMora to coin.5h
dollar ~ low ~ 41sk1.2 grains n
After Europe resnonetixes on tile I'D
standard We cannot afford toRcoin d dolls
above 400 grains. If we coin too Iowa
dollar before general Reconsideration orr
gold Will leave u.s.. If we coin low dol.
lar after general remonetisatiUn, our III.
veE win leave ": It is only an equntsd
value before and after general remone-
tixation that will preserve both gold and
silver to M. sa $4 q, as 81
s,sConsider further what injustice wouli
be done to every holder Of q legal tender
or national bank note. That large volume
| Of paper money-ini excess Of seven hundred
millions o. dOllars-is now worth between
p6 ana 90 cents on the dollar In gold coin.
The holders Of IT, who are indeed our en-
tire population. from the poorest to tho
richest, have been promised from the honr
OF Its issue that their paper money Will
one day be as good as gold. To pay silver
for the greenbacks Is a full compliance
with this promise and this obligation, pro-
vided the silver 10. made Us iit always has
been hitherto, as good as gold. To make
our silver coin even 8 per cent less valua-
| BILE than gold lnficts at once loss Of more
than $20,OOOCOO on the holders Of our pa
| per money.
1 To make silver dollar worth but ninety.
4 two cents precipitates on the. same class
1 n 1OS0 N ma al NJ mill o.nfH onn
For whatever value the Of the silver dollar
Is, the whole paper issue of the country
will sink to Its standard when It's coinage
Is authorized and Its circulation becomes
general in the channels of trade. Some
one In conversation with Commodore Van
derbilt during one of the many freight COM
/ petitions of the trunk lines said, cit cannot
4 be that the Canadian railroad has sufficient
carrying capacity to compete with your
great linesW That is true" replied the
force US down to It," Were congress to
pass law to-day declaring that every le-
gal tender note, and every national bank
note, shall hereafter pass for only ninety
six or ninety-seven cents on the dollar,
there Is not a constituency in the United
| States that would re-elect a man who sup
ported 1t, and In many districts the man
i would be lucky II he escaped merely with
| a defeat at the polls.
Yet 1t Is almost mathematicaliy demon
strable that the same effect will follow
i from the coinage Of an Inferior silver dollar.
Assurances from empires and
scicntists In finance that remOnetix-
alton of the former. dollar will ut
once and permanently advance its
value to par with gold, are worth
little In the face Of opposing and
controlling facts.
The first effect Of Issuing any silver dol.
lGr that will pay customs dues AMI inter.
est on the public debt, will undoubtedly be
to raise 1t to a practical equality with gold;
but that con6ition will last only until the
amount needful for customs shall all tho
channels Of its use; and the overflow going
into general circulation will rapidly settle
to Its normal and actual value. and then
the discount will come on the volume of the
pSrer currency, which will sink pari passu,
with the silver dollar in which It Is made
That RECOMMENDATION will have q
cOnsiderable effect in advancing the
value Of the silver dollar is very
probable, but not enough to over
come the difference now existing-a
difference resulting from causes
Independent of our control, I'm the
United States.
The responsibility Of re-establishing silver
In Its ancient and honorable place Us money
in Europe and America devolvcs really
upon the congress of the United States. II
we act here with wisdom and firlnness Wi
and bring 1t into general use us money III
our own country, but the influence of our
example will be potential among European
nations with the possible exception of Eng
land Indeed. our annual indebtedness to
Europe Is SO great that, II we necessarily
coerce those nations by the strongest Of ail
forces, self-interest, to aid us In uphOldins
the value OF silver as Money. But If we
attempt the reconciliation on basis which
is obviously below the fair standard of value
x{,<o a1l& ~.
quences of failure ut home, and the certainty
OF successful opposition abroad We are,
and shall be, the greatest producers of sill
yer In the world, and we have a larger stake
In Its complete recommendation than any
other country. The difference to the United
States between the general acceptance and
the general destruction Of silver as money In
the commercial world will possibly within
the next half century equal the entire bond.
ed debt of the nation But, to gain this nd.
vantage
We must make II actual money,
the accepted equal Of gold I'm the
markets of the world
Reconciliation here. followed by general
reconciliation in Europe. will secure to
the United States the most stable basis
for Its currency that we have ever enjoyed,
and will effectually aid In solving all the
problems by which our financial situation
is surrounded.
On the much vexed aud long-mooted ques-
tion of bimetallic or mon0metallic stand
ard. my own views are sufficiently indi-
Gated in the remarks have made. be-
lieve the struggle now going on In this
country, and In other countries, for single
gold standard, would, IL successful, produce
disaster in the lend throughout the COM
lnercial world. The destruction of silver as
money. and the establishment Of gold as
the sole unit of value, must have a ruinous
effect on all forms Of property except those
investments which yield fixed return In
money. These would be enormously en-
HANGED in value, and would gain dispro-
portionate and. therefore. unfair, advantage
over every other species of property. II.
us the most reliable statistics affirm, there
are nearly seven thousand millions Of coin
or bullion In the world, not very equally
divided between. gold and silver, 1t is Inn
possible to strike silver out of existence as
money without results which would prove
distressing to millions, and utterly disas-