The Maryville times. (Maryville, Tenn.) 1884-1944, 1896-10-15
WHY SILVER DOLLARS ARE AS GOOD


ne, can be maintained at a parity with the
gold doarf
How il it that cal buy as much now with
q silver dollar asI can with gold dollar?
Why won't SILVER dollars be Just good I'M
der free coinage as they are nowf
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 it
advisable to answer them by means Of
an open letter, which contains clear,
frank and convincing explanation Of
this matter.
Summed up in single word, it may
be said that FAITH is at the basis Of the
governments ability to maintain each
of the silver dollars on par with gold.
The people have faith that each silver
dollar issued by the government will
purchase exactly as 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 the
gold dollar, with the inevitable result
that the silver dollar will sink to its
commercial value of about SO cents,
while, on the principle that a poor dollar
drives cat 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
tion 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
ment's ability to keep its pledge, there
is at once sudden withdrawal Of gold
from circulation either by foreign cred
itors or by domestic hoartlers. 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-
ment for silver bars under the Sherman
law. Congress was obliged, therefore,
to stop the issue of this money. But al
ready nearly 5000, 900. 900 in silver dol.
lars and silyernotes had been created, and
the government naturally found consid.
cradle trouble in keeping this mass Of
silver, together with $346, 600, 900 in
greenbacks, on parity with gold. As
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 in keeping its silver and
gold dollars exchangeable, with 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 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 tho 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 asilver basis, with
the result that silver dollar would be
worth its commercial value and nothing
more
This commercial value now amounts
! to about 58 cents, and, reckoning OIL tina,
basis, the enactment Of law for the
free and unlimited coinage Of silver al
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 confession that the people
had lost faith in the ability and integ
rity Of the government to redeem itl
promises. 1t would be "a violation Of
the implied and expressed pledges OF
the faith Of which the people have &C
cepted hundreds of millions of these sill
yer dollars in payment for goods ant
services at their full gold value. i
would be q wholesale reputation on the
part Of the government against its OWL
citizens, and the dollars, being full lega
tender, would compel all debtors to re
pudiate half their obligations, cut dowr
pensions, wages, salaries, savings banl
deposits and insurance policies one-hali
and whelni the whole country in tiisas
! ter"
These are, in brief, some of the rea
sons why the silver dollar today passe
: equal and current with it's gold com
' panion, and why the silver dollar will