The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1896-10-15
Why SILVER DOLLARS ARE AS GOOD
AS GOLD ONES

uGf frCe coinage as lISy are IoH
These are samples of the inquiries
that men are asking all over the q bun
try, and these and similar queries have
poured in upon Secretary Carlisle in
such quantities that he has deemed it
advisable to answer them by means of
an open letter, which contains a clear,
frank ard convincing explanation of
this matter.
Summed 10 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 gold dol
lar will Remove that faith, destroy
that confidence, upset that belief, and
the government, strong and powerful as
it is, will find itself unable to maintain
the parity between the silver and tR
gold dollar, with TIE inevitable res ,
that the silver dollar will sink to ~
| commercial value of about SO sfaeniS?
while, on the principle that 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,
the 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
i'll the public mind as to the govern
ment'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 q
condition was created in 1888 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 i'll pay
ment for silver bars under the Sherman
law. Congress was Obliged, therefore,
to stop the issue of this money. But al
ready nearly 5000, coo, 900 in silver dol
lars and silyernOtes had been created, and
the government naturally found consid
erablo trouble i'll keeping this mass Of
silver, together with $346, coo, coo in
greenbacks, on a parity with gold. AS
q result it was obliged at times to pur-
chase gold to keep up the equality by the
issue of bonds.
Now, if the government has had so
much difficulty i'll keeping its silver and
gold dollars exchangeable, with COM
paratively limited issue of silver dollars
and notes, how can it possibly hopper.
maintain this party when our minis are
open to all the silver of all the world,
when the citizen Of any nation on the
globe can come to our minis and have
So cents worth of silver metal coined
into a silver dollar? The government
would no longer be able to redeem its
obligations 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 i'll the exchangeable value of the
coins would be destroyed, and the coun-
try woald descend to silver basis, with
the result that q silver dollar would be
worth its commercial value and nothing
more.
This commercial value now amounts
to about SO cents, and, reckoning on that
basis the enactment CT 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 esta blished policy
of the United States to maintain the
two metals Oh parity with each other.
It would be 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 &C.
copied hundreds CT millions Of these sill
yer dollars il payment for goods and
services at their full gold value. 1t
would be a wholesale reputation on the
part Of the government against its own
citizens, and the dollars, being full legal
tender, would compel all debtors to re-
pudiato half their obligations, cut down
pensions, wages, salaries, savings bank
deposits and insurance policies one-half,
and whelm the whole country in disas-
ter"
These are, in brief, some of the rea-
sons why the silver dollar today passes
equal and current with its gold COM
panion, and why the silver dollar will
sink to its own intrinsic value if our
minis are opened to the free and unlim-
tied coinage OF silver.
A tricky dollar never yet made any
nation prosperous nor added anything
to the real wealth of its people. can
honest man ia the nOblest work of God -