The Sauk Centre herald. (Sauk Centre, Stearns County, Minn.) 1886-current, 1896-08-13

tlon, OF gold and gold certificates, a total
Of $4O6, 1888 ,343; OF silver. silver certificates.
subsidiary silver and notes issued upon tho
purchase Of silver under the Sherman law,
total Of $548, 467 500; or II the Sherman
notes be omitted total Of $450,3S7, LIB OF
silver currency, and all Of 1t on parity
with gold. 1t thus appears that, emitting
the Sherman notes, out of q total bimetal-
lie circulation of $949. 225.471, gold exceeded
silver By only $48, 451 ,225 IL we take Into
account our total stock of silver and gold
we find the figures to be as follows:
Total gold, $574. $50 722; total silver, $780,
2s3,067. or a total Of both of 81 ,OS0, so $50.
and gold, out of this sum, exceeds silver by
only Sos, 238, 755.
1t will thus be seen that silver Is not
stricken down, but that 1t IL In greater
favor than 1t ever was under free coinage.
In addition to our metallic currency we
had on the LIST day of June. 1895, paper
currency consisting of greenbacks, Sherman
notes and national bank notes, amounting
In all to sos, 1854, 2S1, which, added to our
stock Of metallic money. makes an aggre-
gate total of 81, 784, los, 07O and all of 1t on
parity with gold, and SO long as our
silver currency is kept within reasonable
bounds and Is not allowed to exceed in
volume our gold currency we may be able
to maintain the present parity, but the mo-
ment you open the doors of our minis to all
the mine owners and bullion dealers Of the
OF their silver to our minis and have 1t
coined into silver dollars. without charge.
at the ratio OF 10 to 1. when the intrinsic,
or commercial. ratio Is 80 to /, there will
be such silver deluge that 1t will be ut
terly out OF the question to maintain the
parity. Gold will disappear. be shipped
abroad, or melted into bullion; silver will
be our sole standard of value for itself
and for our paper currency, and 1t will cir
culate on its bullion value and will fiuctu-
ate from day to day. The United States,
the greatest and strongest nation on the
face Of the earth. and which ought to have
the best currency system. will then be de-
graded to the currency level of Mexico.
China and Japan. And our farmers. our
producers and our labor will then be paid.
not as now in dollars equal to the best and
current throughout the entire world, bat
will be paid In dollars equivalent I'm value
to the Mexican dollar and the Japanese yen.
Our currency may increase in volume. hut
1t will diminish In value and In purchas-
Ing power In proportion to the Increase In
volume, and In the meantime, while all
the rest Of us will suffer more or less. the
nine owners, the bullion dealers. the brok-
ers and the money changers will reap an
immense silver harvest, and speculation
will again run riot In Wall street. as it
did in the days Of the past under a de-
preciated paper currency, when the gold
room was open.
Can any American citizen. to whom his
country Is first In war, and first In peace,
and who fully understands this question
In all its consequences, have the heart to
throw our country into this seething and
heartless vortex of silver speculation-this
maelstrom of the silver mammOn?