Butler citizen. [volume] (Butler, Pa.) 1877-1922, 1896-07-09

fPnn1sutawneY Spirit

The gentleman, wnom We VIII COLI
Jones, becauEe that 8 not bis name, was
well posted OF the machinery OF the Treas
ury Department. He seemed 10 nave
clear comprehension Of the money qles
ton, and for our Owl information we Plieo
him with questions, which ne eheeriuN!
answered. -.
He first showed Us the Secret Service Di-
vision. where come tine samples OF eoun'
terfeit money ar. on exhibition, and the
photographs Of numerous cOunteTielters
are displayed on the walls. The thing that
astonishes you is that men and women pos
sessipg such ignorant and repulslye look
ing mugs should have 90 much skill IN lne
use Of the pen and brush as Is exhibited "
their work One group Of eonnterielters IL
labelled 1.-THE Twenty Beauties. ana ~
more hidsou- looking faces could Aot DC
found outside OF Plut1's realms.
We next visited the silver vaults wnere
are stored sl52, l72, 900 in silver CON- me
largest OF these vaults is SO feet long; 81
feet wide and u feet high, and Is packed
fulI Of silver. The weight of its contents
i 600 tons. And only a small part oi
the silver is in this vault. There Is over
twice as much more in he sub-treasurieS'
The total amount of our silver is now near
ly 5000 600 coo. About $50, ,0OO, GOO OF TINS
Is N circulation. Against the SILVER IN tne a5
Treasury and sub treasures s334, VVV'VVu
in silver certificates have been Issued
"How much gold is there in the couh-
tryf" We inquired as We approached tue
gold vault. ,..s
9fAbout 500, 900, ,000. he replied
"Tbere are g, 900, 900 in this vault, SONS
Of which belongs to the reserve inn9 HeIO
TO secure greenback and silver elreula tloH
and against some of which gold certlh
Gates are issued"
"AnJ how much paper circulation hsYe
wei"
ABOUT $500, 900, 900 This is destroyed
and re-issued st the rate Of 81 600, 900 Pc!
dav. New notes are exchanged tor oil
and worn out ones brought here tor re-
demption.'
.'And is not gold also given in exchange
for psperf'
Certainly. Ifit were not for that VIC
v ould soon accumulate vast amount o.
gold. But when gold lie asked for, We
must give it. Otherwise people woulc
soon lose faith in our paper and slIVei
currency. Legal tender notes would be
worth practically nothing, and silver on'y J
| It's market value as bullion. The GoVern-
ment 10 pledged to keep all currency at Q
par with gold, and The only way to do II
is TO be ready st all times to exchange
gold for silver or paper on deruaDd."
'0Why do people demand gold"
"Well, you see Gil the nations with
which we have any dealings (all but
China and Mexico) have the gold stand
ard. They do not recognize anything eIse
as money, and when our business men IN
this country have money payments 70
make abroad. they must have gold, ana
we must have it TO give them, or borrow
it, We have recently borrowed TO the
extent of over S262, 000, 600. Ii We ialled
to pay gold On demand we would violate
our pledge to maintain the various kinds
OF currency at 8 parity, and that would
amount 70 a suspension OF specie pay
ments. The result would be that differ
ent sorts Of currency would have different
values, causing great loss and inconVen-
ience to the people"
"Does not the law require the paper
obligations Issued by the Government to
DO paid in coin-either gold or silver
"Yes; but nobody demands silver. Cold
is demanded only because it is needed
for foreign transactions, and the moment
We refuse it we place gold at q premium,
for then those who needed gold would
have to 20 to people who had 1t and pay
them what they asked for it.
Why is it, Mr.. Jones, that while we have
more gold than silver coin in this country,
and there ia no premium on gold money,
that it does not circulate more freelyf"
"That is easy. Silver, you see, is not
worth commercially its face value. Throw
q Thousand silver dollars into the melting
pot and you have $500 worth of metal
Melt thousand gold dollars and you have
81. 900 worth of metal. When there are
two kindYof money in circulation one OF
which .s safer than thu other, the cheaper
one is always used TO discharge debt. From
1884 to 1873 there was comparatively no
silver in circulation in this country, be
cause it's bullion value was more than It's
value as coin. Gold therefore flowed to
the mint, and silver went where it was
better appreciated. Up to 1853 less than
four million standard silver dollars had
been coined in the United States. That
was because its legal ratio was less than
it's com mnnoroiai ratfo. uold does not circu-
late now simply because il is underrated
by our coinage laws. Knowing itself to
be 80 instead of l6 times more desirable
than silver, 1t refuses to associate with the
white metal on those terms"
"What. in your opinion, would be the
effect of the free coinage Of silver at 10 to
/ withou. an agreement with other ma
tions that they would receive silver at that
ratio'"
"The effect clearly would be that dol
lar in gold would soon come to be worth
precisely two silver dollars, because that
Is the market ratio, and is not likely to
fall far below that. Silver production
would be stimulated. and the white metal
would flow to this country from all parts
Of the world to have it's value doubled by
the magic power or the American mint.
Silver would be coined in immense guam
titles. IL would become the sole stand
ard. Gold would become a mere article
Of commerce, and would play no part as
moneJ except to discharge foreign obi
CATION. We wonld therefore have gained
nothing, as the gold circulation would be
banished But we would lose great deal
The Government could not undertake so
great task as to keep unlimited Tree
coinage silver dollars at par with god.
because 1t would be an impossibility.
Our $34G, 69l 900 Of legal tender demand
notes would not be kept afloat unless by
redeeming them in deprecated silver,
causing loss TO the holders Of about 1855,
100000. The price Of all commodities
would bo doubled. Your dollar woDld be
only half "a valuable % at present, and to
would then have to carry 100 silver dol
lars weighinGl0 pounds. Silver certificates
then would be the only convenient form
Of money. Bu. the worst effect would be
the unscttling Of all values, and the pre-
cipitation OF panic such as this country
has never seen. Before the law went into
operation foreign investors would with
draw their capital. and every creditor
would insist 1pon his debtor paying up
before the deprecated currency came into |
use. This would drive millions of men TO |
tho wall. 1t would enable insurance com |
panies TO pay their obligations with halt
the money promised. IF you went to
Europe with 81, 900 in American money, it
would be worth only $500"
ais that all~
"No. might stand here all day emu
the evils and disasters that
would follow free coinage at l6 to l, and
then not be half through"
"Would the free coinage of silver at
that ratio effect the production Of goldf"
Undoubtedly because it would not be
fair to say to the gold producer, Bring a
dollars worth OF your product and receive
\ dollar for il, and to the silver producer
Bring 8 dollars worth of your product and
receive two dollars. The delusion about
money ia peculiar to the American people.
II is due TO the legal tender promises TO
pay issued during the war, and tho agita-
ticn which followed the declaration in the
Democratic platform of 1868 that Govern
ment bonds should be paid in greenbacks.
That would have been equivalent to repu
listion. The money question % not y
difficult one if you take honest business
principles for your basis. Cheap money is
one phase Of the mania to get something
Tor nothing"
"Then you don't believe in the free and
unlimited coinage of silveIp
Hardly