The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1899-08-07
No Need of Kew Gold Legislation.

The JOurn1l0f C,mmrcc, on Tuesday last,
echoing the Mugwump cry for additional
legislation declaring gold tobe the standard
OF value in this country, said:
But with the law as it stands. an Administration
favorable to cheap money. or timd about employing
the means OF maintaining the status quo. could easily
substitute the lang obsolete sIpSr standard and throw
all commerce into chaos by upsetting every value
and changing the obligation of every contract There
is pressing need for legislation this point and
party interest we'll political principle lays upon
the Administration party the obligation 10 eliminate the
siir,r standard from he lac books"
To this THE Sun replied, pointing out,
that with tho law as It stands" the worst
n silverlte Administration could do, would
be to pay out the silver dollars held by the
Treasury and that when these were ex-
hausted, it would either have to pay gold or
stop payment altogether Substituting the
silver standard would be impossible. II
II so pointed out that the effect of the act
OF 1873 was "toclimnate the silver stand
ard from the law books, and that new leg
i7lation is not needed for the purpose.
Convicted ofits blunder in these respects,
the journal Of Commerce now changes it's
ground and contends that THE Sun is ig-
$1,000 900 in standard silver which the
Treasury now holds in excess OF the out
standing silver certificates, it can use the
silver bullion held for the redemption Of
the Treasury notes Of 1890 which it esti-
mates will produce $40, 600, 600 THE Sun
Is not and was not ignorant Of this fact,
but did not take it to be of Importance, be-
caus" tn" Treasury bullion is already being
coined into dollars Mt the rate OF SIS, OOO,-
600 year by the present Admnistra-
tiOr, md in five years will all be 80
coined and be put into circulation, no
matter what Administration may be in
power. The journal Of Commerce goes on
to say that ono person who knows any
thing Of suspensions Of specie payments,
or the runs on the gold reserve in recent
years, will be so childish as to suppose
that gold will remain in monetary use
after the Government begins redeeming
its legal tender notes in silver" We
are childish enough to suppose just that
thing. Gold will remain in monetary use
Just MS much after the Government be-
gins rednemlng It's legal tender notes in
silver as it is now. The silver dollars are
now Mt par with gold, and though the re-
fusal of the Government to pay out gold
until its silver was exhausted, might put n
small premium on gold, as the refusal Of
tho Bank Of France to pay gold, every year
or so, puts small premium on ii in France,
1t would not drive gold out of use, and still
less would 1t make silver the standard.
We repeat, that the cry for fresh legisla-
ton by Congress declaring gold to be the
standard is silly and uniustiiled and it is
to be regretted that the Iowa Republicans
have caught it up and repeated it. The
Republican party should, indeed, on every
suitable occasion, rrafllrm It's intention to
maintain the gold standard but its mem
bcrS of Congress are under no obligation
to do more than resist silvcritc efforts to
chang" the law rs II stands. For them to
initial" new measures on their own ac-
count, would be to provoke n tedious and
useless debate. which, considering their
small majority, might end in failure moro
injurious To gold than its success would be
beneficial.
II il not So much Free Silver as FREQ
BRYAN that TX-Guyrrnor ALTGEID dosres to
put In the background in 1900.