The news & observer., 1898-05-26

formulated and sent to Congress a bill,
the leading purpose of which. the Honor
able Secretary of the Treasury avows IS,
to commit the country more thoroughly
tn the gold standard" The country
has already, for twenty-four years, been
SO thoroughly committed to this stand
ard. partly by law and partly by the
usurpations of the executive branch Oh
the government, that its effects are seen
and felt on every hand; wages are re-
duced; work is harder to get the weight
of debt is doubled; the value OF land
and other property is reduced one half
or more, until the lives of the people are
made bitter with hard bondage" 1t is
certainly not in the interest of humanity
to have this condition of things more
thoroughly established.
The continued rise in the value of
gold. which is the same thing, the CON
tinued fall in prices must inevitably
transfer the property of all those engag-
cd in active business, the actual creators
Of wealth, whether by hand brain or
capital. to those who, avoiding the risk
and efforts Of active business, only draw
interest
The increase of 143 per cent in the
value of money. caused by its increasing
scarcity. from 1909 to 1S49, as admitted
by leading advocates of the gold stand
ard found expression at that time III ex-
tremely low prices and conditions of un-
paralleled distress. The discovery of
gold and silver in extraordinary quantl-
ties. and the great increase in the vol
umc of metallic money resulting there
from. relieving this distress, and brought
in its stead wonderful prosperity. Prices
rose, business fOurished, producers pros
pered, all were happy. Substantially
this condition would have continued II
both the precious metals had been al
lowed TO remain in use as money, be-
cause they were being found in nearly
sufficient quantities to increase the vol
ume of money in proportion to the de-
velOpmcnt of business. A wicked con-
spiracy, however, deprived one of them
of the money function. This was done
with the deliberate purpose of raising
the value of the other by rendering the
supply of metallic money relatively
scarcer as compared with the demand
From the hour of the consummation of
this crime mankind has suffered CONNER
cial disaster and social distress in almost
constantly increasing measure. Just III
proportion to the growth of arts anu
civilization and the expansion of COM
merce, business and industry. the made
duacy of the volume of gold is felt, its
scarcity is emphasized, its value IN
creased.
The repression of life and happiness,
which is inseparable from a long course
of declining prices, has now checked
development and, if continued, VIII ultl-
mately stifle civilization. An eminent
American. President Andrews, of Brown
University, some years ago said: our
national debt on September /, 1860, was
two and three quarter billions; it could
then have been paid off with eighteen
million bales of cotton, or twenty-five
million tons of bar iron. When 1t had
been reduced to a billion and a quarter,
thirty million bales of cotton, or thirty
million tons of iron would have been
required to pay it. In other words
while u nominal shrinkage of about htty
Ave per cent had taken place IN the debt
il had. as measured in either Of these
two worlds staples, actually been en-
larged by some fifty per cent.
Although mofe than half the princi-
pic of this enormous debt and every cent
Of accumulated interest had been paid
by the labor Of the United States, the
holders of the bonds still hold claim
for more of the labor of the people than
they held before these enormous pay
ments had been even begun. This cruel
confiscation Of the lives and liberty OF
the laboring millions of this country IS
the most steupendous crime that has been
committed in the annals of civilization
Unless government 'of the people,
bv the people and for the people has
perished from the earth, surely the pres
ent boldly avowed scheme, not only to
continue but to increase these evils, will
not be permitted. In addition to this
purpose of more thoroughly establish
ing the gold standard. the plan of the
administration is TO retire the paper mon
ey of the government to issue gold
bonds. and to increase the power priv
ileges and profits Of national banks.
The retirement of the government
paper money must reduce the volume
of circulation and while the Secretary
admits that the contraction of the cur
rency would be more ruinous i'll two
years than interest on like amount
Of bonds for forty years would be, he
calmly informs MS that the national
banks will probably issue sufficient
amount OF money to prevent this enor-
nous suffering.
The national banks are not to be re-
| quired to redeem their notes in gold, but
! it is arranged that the United States
| government shall do so on demand; and
| after having done so the government
! must be content to have the national
| banks reimburse it in amy kind of legal
tender money, at the option of the
! banks" We are frankly told that law
full money viii be made relatively scar
Ger than it is now," and that it is in
| tended that under the operation of the
] bill it will be easier to get gold than
lawful money" Practically all of tht
money in the hands Of the people now,
as the Secretary distinctly admits, is
silver chiefly in the form of silver certili
Gates The avowed purpose of the bill
/ is to make it hereafter more difficult
to get these than gold.
''The Monetary Commission" select
ed by the executive committee of a
self-constituted indianapolis convention
which assembled for the express purpose
Of establishing the gold standard has
also made a report and promulgated a
bill. the provisions Of which are Sc
| .4n;I.;u,rlv liEa fbn ,.,,,,.;t;,,, - Al,