The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1896-09-10

merce Of the world is settled in gold or on
a gold basis.
''Such free coinage legislation, il ever
contaminated, would discriminate against
every producer OF wheat, cotton, corn or
rye-who should in justice be equally en-
titled with the silver owner, to sell his
products to the United States treasury,
at a profit fixed by the sovernment-and
against all producers Of iron, steel, zinc
or copper, who might properly claim to
have their metals made into current coin.
1t would, as well, be fraud upon all per-
sons forced to accept currency thus slim
ulated and at the same time degraded.
I'm every aspect the proposed policy is
partial and one-sided, because Il is only
when profit can be made by mine own
er or dealer, that he takes his silver to
the mint for coinage. The government is
always at the losing end. Stamp such tic-
titious value upon silver ore, and dis
honest and unjust discrimination will be
made against every other form OF indus
try. When silver bullion, worth a little
more than nifty cents, is made into legal
tender dollar, driving out one having a
purchasing and debt-paying power Of one
hundred cents, II will clearly be done at
the expense and injury OF every class of
the community.
Those who contend for the free and
unlimited coinage of silver may believe
in all honesty that while the present ratio
of silver to gold is1as thirty to one mot
sixteen to one), silver will rise above the
existing market value. If it does so rise
the effect will be to make the loss to all
the people so much less, but such an opin-
ion is but a hazardous conjecture at best
and is not justified by experience. Within
the last twenty years this government
has bought about 460,O00,0OO of ounces of
silver from which it has coined approx
t.aIx Of ciluar dollars "a fC-
sued 100, 200, 900 of dollars in silver certi-
ficates, and the price of the metal has
steadily declined from S1.15 per ounce to
6S cents per ounce. What will be the de-
cline when the supply is augmented by
the offerings of all the world? The loss
upon these silver purchases to the people
of this country has now been nearly
$3.50, 100000.
1.-THE dollar of our fathers, about which
so much is said was an honest dollar,
silver maintaining a full parity Of intrin-
sic value with gold. The fathers would
have spurned and ridiculed a proposition
to make silver dollar worth only fifty
three cents stand of equal value with
gold one worth a hundred cents. The eN-
perience of all nations proves that any de-
probation, however slight, of another
standard, from the parity with gold. has
driven the more valuable one out of circu-
lation, and such experience in matter of
this kind is worth much more than mere
interested speculative opinion. The fact
that few gold coins are seen in ordinary
circulation for domestic uses is no proof
at all that the metal is not performing a
most important function in business af-
fairs. The foundation of the house is
not always in sight, but the house would
not stand an hour IL there were no fouu-
dalton. The great enginery that moves
the ocean steamship is not always in
view of thu passenger, but it is, all the
same, the propelling force of the vessel.
without which it would soon become a
worthless derelict"