The herald., 1896-07-19
THE SHORTER cATEcHIsM OF FINANCE
BY JOHN SHIRLEY WARD oP LOS ANGELES

.
as the past Republican and present
| democratic secretary says, "to keep up
the parity between gold and silver"
f, III silver certificates payable in coin
! can draw gold out of the treasury, how
long will 1t take for the owners of the
certificates to draw it all out?
ms is simply question of
tificates against the silver and
bullion In the treasury amounting
70 $o62,94S,5 ,59S and we have only $5S8, ,743,
So6 IN gold subject to draft. Were these
certiicates now payable in coin paid out
or this gold. as the secretary is doing, 1t
would leave of gold in the treasury only
$2b, ,7OS. But in addition to this drain
on our gold there are outstanding in
greenbacks, payable originally in coin,
a sum of $346.6S1 ,016, which by the act
OF 1914 were made payable in either gold
or silver. If these greenbacks were pre-
sented for redemption they would of
course be paid in gold by Mr.. Carlisle,
ana thus leave the treasury without a
| uoiiar or gold In its vaults and debt to
the amount of $310,SS 1908. The figures
USED Eere are made up to April 1, 1896
| was any country in the world ever be-
fore led by such blind and reckless
craftsmanship?
II Mr.. Carlisle had not construed the
Word coin to mean gold, these silver cer-
tlncates would never have been pre-
sented for redemption, except when sill
yer coin was desirable.
On the pretense of keeping up the
parity Of silver with our gold, Mr. Cleve-
! land mas sold bonds to the amount of
wv, ,OOO, 900 which will be more than $500,
ooo,OOO at the time of maturity.
-, Question-But was he not forced to do
tnis to meet a deficiency in the revenue
Iof government expenses?
| AnSWer-Dam0cratc Re wall Do
publicans need information on this sub
ject.
| nave not the exact figures, but
assume that the deficiency on the 1st Of
july was about 5000, 900. This def
clency began under the Mckinley bill,
put increased under the present tariff,
because experience with it's operations
nau not been long enough to adjust it's
income TO the necessities oft he govern
ment, but Mr.. Cleveland says emphatic
any IN his message of December, 1896:
| AT no time when bonds have been is
sued has there been any consideration
Oh the question Of paying the expenses
OF the government with those proceeds .
In February the government issued
and sold s1OO.0OO,0OO Of bonds, vet there
was cash balance on the 1st of Decem-
Der of $177. .406. .3S6.62 being sos, ,O72, APO. 81
IN excess of the actual gold reserve.
senator Teller was certainly good
Republican on April 80, when he used the
ioilowing. words in his speech of that
day: There is nobody in this chamber,
there Is nobody in this country who
Knows better than the senator from
| Ohlo (Sherman) that the sale of not a
| dollar of bonds was necessitated by a
lack OF revenue. We have not sold bonds
when anybody could pretend that we
| were IN danger of not being able to meet
our obligations. We have sold bonds
| w.th a fun treasury We have sold
bonds with more than any other nat
tion IN the world can show to its credit
I know that bn the 28th of
April (the day before) we had $273, ,522,-
3S8 In the treasury. Irepeat, there Is not
nation on the face Of the earth that
holds $273,000000 in it's treasury for or
| dinary purposes" After asserting that
the bonds were sold to get gold to pay
| debts made payable in. coin, he uses
these words: There is nothing which
this nation can do, in my Judgment, that
| SO quickly or so surely as to open our
| mints TO the free coinage of silver; there
Is nothing that this great nation can do
| Wnlch VIII bring upon 1t such great dis
| asters as to adhere to the gold standard. -
Had Harrison succeeded himself, he
| wouia nave sold bonds, and. as evidence
| OF tnis, those burglarizng tools known
as plates for the printing of bonds were
found amid the wrecks of the last adj
ministration
Q.-You do not seem to believe that it
is necessary, In order to maintain our
natlonal honor, to pay all our bonds or
other obligations in gold?
Ans.-I do not Our national honor
is maintained when we pay our debts
according to our written contracts Our
nrst bonds, issued after the war. were
payable in lawful money" and at that
time greenbacks were regarded as law
ful money, but owing to disasters to
the FEDERAL 20 oh Po1I -
LOOK 40 to buy dollar in gold, and this
frightened the holders of the bonds and
they succeeded in having an act passed
10 strengthen the United States cred
II, and the bonds were by this act
made payable in coin, and there is not a
bond out against the United States to-
DAY payable by the condition of the bond
In gold. The United States has only one
obligation now existing payable in gold.
and that is $43, 2S9,249 of gold certificates
issued on deposid in the treasury of
that amount in gold coin. All this bond
selling is but an insane craze to paw our
debts in gold when we have the right to
pay them In coin, which may be silver
or gold. This determination to paw our
debts according to our written contracts
is no new idea. On January 25, 1873, the
senate passed the concurrent resolution
of Senator Matthews and it was
promptly passed by the house of repre-
sentatives, which reads as follows:
That all the bonds of the United States
issued or authorized to be issued under
the said act of congress, are payable.
principal and interest, at the option of
the government, in silver dollars of the
coinage of the United States contain
Ing 4121a grains each of standard silver.
and that to resore to it's coinage such
silver coins as legal tenderi in payment
of said bonds, principal and interest, is
not in violation of the public faith nor
in derogation of the rights of the public
creditors"
Senator Matthews, Notwithstanding
this assault on the gold standard, was
afterwards made justice of the United
States supreme court
This prating about national honor
this over-sensitiveness about paying our
obligations in gold, when they are made
payable in coin, recalls the fact as to
what many of these bonds cost the
holders During the war. when victory
after victory was perched on the confed-
crate banners, and the country was call
ing for both men and money to turn the
tide. these patriotic Shylocks slipped out
of their denS on Wall street and sold
some of their gold to the government
for greenbacks at 81 in gold for $2 10 in
greenbacks. While the very life of the
nation was in peril, and blood was ooz.
ing from every pore, these vampires lit
orally licked it as though it were the
nectar of the gods. 1t was to pay for
this gold at one hundred cents on the
dollar that those bonds were issued,
Many goldites ask seriously If our
mints are open to the whole world TO
ntro x,rn ,Af hA