Wheeling register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1878-1935, 1896-07-27

I IL aSSureQly follows tndt IL VIC 5A'N
coinage to this dollar Of inferior VaIue
and put il in circulation, we 40 SO at
the expense of our better coinage IN
gold. and unless we expect the lnNarIa-
Bile experience of other nations TO be IN
some mysterious way suspended LOT our
peculiar benefit, We inevitably lose our
gold coin. Il will flow out from us with
The certainty and force of the tides. Gold
has indeed remained with US IN con-
siderable amount during the circulation
of the inferior currency of the legal ten
der. but that was because there were
TWO great uses reserved by law for gold
the COLLECTION of customs and the pay
ment of interest on the public debt.
Blit if the inferior silver coin is also TO
be used for these two reserved purposes,
then gold has no tie 10 bind 1t 10 us
What gain. therefore, should we make
FOR the circulation medium, II on open
ing the gate of silver TO flow in, we open
a still wider gate for gold to flow out?
If were to venture upon dictum on
the silver question. | should declare that
until Europe remOnetizes silver we can
not afford TO coin dollar as low as 4l294
grains After Europe remonejlzes on
the old standard, we cannot afford TO
coin a dollar above 400 grains. II we
coin too low a dollar before general re-
mOnetization our gold will leave us. II
we coin too high a dollar after general
reconciliation our silver will leave us.
Ii is only an eQuated value before and
after general reconciliation that will
preserve both gold and silver for us.
The responsibility Of re-establishing
silver in its ancient and honorable place
as money in Europe and America &c,
wolves really upon the Congress of the
United States. If we act here with
wisdom and firmness. we shall not only
successfully remonetize silver, and bring
it into general use as money in our own
country. but the influence Of our ex-
ample will be potential among European
nations. with the possible exception OF
England. Indeed. our annual indebt-
ment to Europe is 50 great that If we
have the right TO pay it in silver, we
necessarily coerce those nations, by the
strongest Of all forces. self-interest, .
aid us in UNFOLDING the value Of silver
as money. But if we attempted the re-
moneIzauion on a basis which is obvi-
ously below the fair standard of value
as it now exists. We incur all me evil
consequences Of failure at home, and the
Certainty Of successful opposition abroad.
We are. and shall be, the greatest pro-
ducers of silver in the world, and we
. nave a larger stake in its complete mon
citation than any othsr country The
difference to the United States, between
. the general acceptance and the general
des,ruc,iono Of silver smoney in she COM
mercial world, will possibly within the
next half-century equal the entire bond
ed debt of the nation. But, to gain the
advantage. we must make it actualmon-
ey. the accepted equal OF gold in the
markets Of the world. RECOMMENDATION
here, followed by a general remOneJiza-
ton in Europe, will secure TO the United
/ States the most stable basis for its cur
r5ncy that we have ever enjoyed, and
VII effecyuaIly aid in solving all tina
problems by which our financial sirua-
ton is surrounded.
"On the much vexed question of BIZ
metallic standard, my own views are
sufficiently indicated in the remarks
have made. l believe the struggle now
going on in this country, and in other
countries. for a single gold standard,
would, il successful, produce disaster in
the end throughout the commercial
world. The destruction of silver as
money, and the establishment of gold
as the sole unit of value, must have a
ru.nOUs effect upon all forms of proper
~ except those investments which yield
a fixed return in money. These would
be enormously enhanced in value, and
would gain a disproportionate, and
therefore unfair, advantage over every
other species Of property. If, as the
most reliable statistics affirm, there are
nearly seven thousand millions of coin
or bullion in the world, not very I'M
equally divided between gold and silver,
il is impossible to strike silver out Of
existence as money without results which
will prove distressing to millions, and
utterly disastrous to tens of thousands
Alexander Hamilton. in his able and in
valuable report in 1871 on the estab-
liShment Of a mint, declared that TO an
null the use OF either gold or silver as
money is TO abridge the quantity of cir
culating medium. and is liable to all the
objections which arise from a compar
isOn of the benefits of a full circulation
with the evils Of a scanty circulation. ,
l take no risk in saying that the ben
efts of a full circulation, and the evils
of a Scanty circulation, are both i'm
measurably greater to-day than they
were when Mr.. Hamilton uttered these
weighty words. always provided that
the circulation is one of actual money,
and not of deprecated promises to pay
In the report from which l have al
ready quoted, Mr.. Hamilton argues at
length in FAVOR of a double standard.
and all the subsequent experience Of
ninety years has brought out no clearer
statement of the case. or developed a
more complete comprehension of this
subtle and difficult subject. ON the
whole says Mr.. Hamilton. it seems
most advisable not to attach the unit
exclusively to either of the metals, be-
cause this cannot be done effectually
without destroying the office and char
/ acJer OF one of them as money, and re-
/ duclng II to the situation of mere mer-
| chandlSe Mr.. Hamilton wisely con-
/ Guides that this reduction of either of
/ the metals to mere merchandise II again