Kansas City daily journal. [volume] (Kansas City, Mo.) 1892-1897, 1896-11-12
NEW COINAGE SCHEME
GENERAL ROY STONE SUGGESTS AN
INTERNATIONAL MINT.
GLOBE DOLLARS TO BE COINED.
SEIGNORAGE TO BE HELD TO MAIN
TAIN PARITY WITH GOLD.
Such an International Currency Held
to He Preferable to "Interna-
tionnl Bimetallism"-Farm-
ers' National COnEress
Declares Itself.

ti0nnl Bimetallism"-Farm
ers' National Congress
Declares Itself.
indianapolis, Ind, Nov. 11-At to-day's
session of the Farmers national congress,
in session here, General Roy Stone, of the
department of agriculture, Washington,
read a paper entitled THE Battle Is Over;
Shall the War Go On?" He said in part:
Though the presidential election of 1886
turned almost wholly upon silver, 1t
touched only a side issue of the great sill
yer question: it dealt only with the merits
and the perls of American free coinage.
Even upon that side issue, this election,
of itself, may settle nothing. 1t is not in
human nature that a party which has
made such headway in its first fight shoulA
be willing to accept one defeat as final.
Unless, therefore, the situation is wholly
changed by some wise action of the vic
tors, this campaign may only serve to line
up the opposing forces and embitter the
existing antagonisms for a hotter conflict
detail will still continue to obscure and dis
question that will have to be met and met
with deliberation when the strife has ended
in ruin or exhaustion
Various plans for currency reform, Gen
eral Stone said, had met with more or less
favor, but none had commanded any gen.
eral assent. The essentials of plan were:
l. 1t should provide new, natural and
growing use for silver.
2. 1t should be capable of being able to
put in operation gradually, tentatively and
without shock.
3. 1t should be terminable at any time
without serious loss and without danger
to the present system.
4. 1t should not be liable to defeat itself
In practice by stimulating the production
of silver, and, therefore, it must not assure
any definite increase in demand or price
to cause a rush of capital and labor into
silver mining.
1T is not likely that such additional use
can be found In the local currency in any
country, for, with the temptation of 100
per cent profit in coinage. probably the
governments are already coming silver
very near the limit of safety"
General Stone submitted the following
project for international silver money:
First-An international mint be opened
under the auspices and management of the
tries of the world.
Second-Silver international coins, which
may be known as globe dollars and frac-
tions thereof bearing their denominations
In shillings, francs, etc, on the one side
and an international symbol with the
names of the union states on the other,
to be coined and freely issued in exchange
for gold coin or its equivalent, or for sill
yer bullion at the market price.
Third-Heavy bars or blocks of silver, to
be numbered and stamped with their full
international coinage value for use in bank
reserves or for export or domestic trans
fer.
Fourth-Certificates to be issued on de-
posit of silver bullion, at the market value,
or of these proposed coins. bars or blocks.
Fifth-The international coins, bars,
public dues and to be exchangeable for gold
at the central mint, and at its agencies in
all countries of the union.
Sixth-All profit Of the coinage, stamp
age and issue of certificates for bullion to
be placed in a reserve fund invested in
stable government securities, to secure the
parity of this currency with gold: the in
terest arising from such securities to be
added to the fund.
Seventh-rhe coinage, stampage or issue
of certificates to be curtailed whenever the
demand for exchange into gold indicates a
redundancy of either.
Eshth-The mint and fund to be man
aged by a commission consisting of repre-
sentatives nominated by the governments
I1sr, H., A.
but all matters of general policy to be
determined by majority in interest as
we'll as by a majority in numbers; the "in-
terest' of each nation being determined at
first by the value of its external commerce
and later by the amount of International
currency actually taken by its citizens.
If" he said, in conclusion, "a secured
international silver currency can be sue
cessfully established, it may serve all the
public purposes of bimetallism better than
bimetallism itself, and without any of its
risks. 1t makes no sudden and extreme de-
mand upon the confidence Of capital. 1t
will not unduly stimulate the production of
silver 1t will broaden the metallic base of
the worlds currency, and, while 1t will not
at once restore a par of exchange between
gold and silver countries, it will give sta
bility to business by steady approach
thereto. 1t will take the whole subject out
of the realms Of doubt and controversy
ana give a season OF nnaNClal peace 10 tne
commercial world. 1t may even give polit-
ical peace to the American Union"
During the day the congress passed reso-
lutions declaring against trusts, for woman
suffrage, for graded land tax and for the
initiative and referendum.
]. Adam Bede, of St. Paul, said he was a
Democrat, but he knew that silver could
only be mined by the wealthy. by great
corporations, and they alone could get any
profit out of 1t.
A reolution with decided silver ring, in
troduced by Mr.. Offut, of Indiana, was
substituted by the following resolution by
the committee on resolutions and adopted,
against the warm protest of Mr.. Offut:
Whereas, The general consensus of opin-
ion of the people of the United States is
that gold and silver coin on just parity
of value would be equally money of ulti-
mate redemption without limit, in which
this Farmers National congress concurs,
but differences of opinion exist as to the
methods by which this policy can be Sc
cured: and
Whereas. The recent election resulted in
favor of bimetallism by International COM
mercial nations; therefore.
Resolved. That the Farmers National
congress urgently requests the incoming
administration of the national government
to speedily adopt ali practicable methods
to obtain the concurrence of a sufficient
number Of nations to secure international
bimetallism. with the unlimited coinage of
gold and silver as equally money of ulti-
mate redemption, and thereby to restore