The San Francisco call., 1896-08-11
WHAT SAN FRANCISCO WANTS.

The average monthly transactions of
the San Francisco bank clearing house
this year have been $50, ,000, 900, and it has
required about IA per cent of the exchanges
in cash to settle the balances. The busi-
ness of the clearing g-house represents shout
so per cent of the total business of the
City, but it does not represent San Fran
cisco's trade with foreign countries. 1t
would seem, therefore, that the total home
business of San Francisco amounts to
about $110, 100000 month ana that one
half of it is done by settling balances
which require only about 81, SOC, 900 in
actual money. 1t would be difficult to
analyze the half of the C1ty's business
which is not done through the clearing
house because of the credit which retailers
give their customers, but there is q greater
percentage of cash in hand in transactions
outside than inside the clearing house.
In these balance settlements and in the
liquidation of retailers bills all the forms
of money used in this country are on a
parity, each form possessing the same
redemption power, but the underlying
thing of value and redemption measure
ment is 25.S grains of standard gold as the
unit of value. All our foreign as well as
all our domestic business transactions
recpgnize the absolute stability of every
form of our National money because every
form is convertible into that which stands
for the unit of value, but that is because of
the ability of the unit of value article to
take the place in person of every form of
dollar, whether of silver or paper.
1t is said that there is some nervousness
in commercial circles and disposition to
hide away the unit of value dollar be-
cause of fear that should Bryan be elected
he would so increase the volume of the
several forms of money that the unit of
value money would be unable to hold
them at par, which would cause them to
depreciate in purchase power IN the mar
kets and finally to become the only circu-
lating money medium.
The possibility of such condition exerts
disturbing influence no doubt, but it is
conceded that were the volume of unit of
value money larger there would be little
to fear from Bryan or any one else of his
school of economics. That the volume OF
unit of value money could be amply in
creased by conferring upon silver equal
importance with gold no one questions,
but even our local retail trade is so inti-
mately related to the general domestic
and foreign commerce that it is easy to
see how disastrous it would be to every
enterprise, great or small, domestic or in
ternational, to introduce an inferior thing
into the monetary system to aid gold in
providing redemption money unless it
were done by and with the consent of all
concerned, so that all concerned would
work together to maintain the parity of
the metals employed for redemption.
No doubt the commerce of San Francisco
would expand great deal if silver were
made co-equal with gold as money of re-
demptlon, but it is conceded that unless
all commerce agreed to SO employ silver
and maintain its parity with gold, our
bank clearings, as well as all other trans
actions, domestic and foreign, would soon
settle down upon silver busis without
imparting to the silver dollar the quality
and function of unit of value money. San
Francisco wants the free coinage of silver
dollars that are as good as gold dollars,
but she wants no other kind of silver
O0in