The Prince George's enquirer and southern Maryland advertiser. (Upper Marlborough, Md.) 1882-1925, 1900-09-07
FALSE ALARM. SAYS SCHURZ.


a recent pessimistic interview given out
by the Secretary of the Treasury:
Dear Sir The newspapers of August
2G published an interview with you in
which you were quoted as saying that
there is no doubt Mr.. Bryan, if elected
President, could order his Secretary OF
the Treasury to make payment in silver
of all the public debt payable in coin, and
for all current disbursements of the
Government as well. which amount to
$1,500,O00 to 1850, 900 per day; and that
he would give such an order, too, is vely
certain, if he is in the same mind that he
was in 1896" You went on to say that
although Mr.. Bryan would have great
difficulty in doing that at once, owing tC
the small silver resources of the Govern.
ment, yet he might accomplish it in time
as the mere announcement of such pur.
pose would stop the inflow of gold, or at
least very largely diminish payments in
| gold and correspondingly increase pay
ments into the Treasury of silver and
silver certificates, that this would practi-
cally put the Government on silver
basis, ruin its credit and bring incalcul-
able disaster upon the business interests
of the country.
| Having for great many years taken
deep and somewhat active interest in
system in the United States, l may with
out improperly publicly address to you a
few remarks in reply to your public state
ment. emphatically deny, Mr.. Secretary,
that the danger set forth by you in your
interviews really exists, and that any
President will be able to do what you say
| might be done, un:ess the Republican
| party in control of the Government in
both its Legislative and executive branches
prove itself utterly dishonest in its pro-
fessed purpose to maintain the gold stan
dard
This denial is not based upon the rea-
soning of those of your critics who seek
to show by figures that President desir-
ing ever so much to put the country up
| on silver basis, would lack the means
for doing so. On the contrary, for argu-
ments sake, will accept all you say on
that point. But you omit to mention a
fact of decisive Importance.
eff the Executive, as you say, possesses
the discretion of paying silver in settle
ment of all interest On the public debt not
specifically payable in gold, and of max
ing its daily disbursements to its creditors
in silver it is owing to a flaw in the cur
| rency law passed at the last session of
Congress- law which, as the spokes-
man of the Republican party promised,
| was to put the gold standard upon an
| impregnable basis. 1t was suggested at
| the time by some of its critics that this
law was purposely SO manipulated by
Republican politicians in the Senate as
| to leave the possibility of the subverson
of the gold standard by Executive action
open in order to enable the Republicans
| in the present Presidential campaign to
say that the election of Republican
President was absolutely necessary to save
the gold standard and to prevent dread
| full economic disaster. Whether any such
| scheme entered into that legislation l do
not assume to determine. Certain it is,
however, that this feature of the law is
now so used, and that you, Mr. Secretary
| actually do SO use it for the evident
purpose of alarming the business com
munity and the possessing classes gen
| orally.
Il hardly need to say to you that the
| spreading of false alarms of this kind is
a very questionable and responsible thing
for anybody, and especially for a Secre-
tary of the Treasury. And call your
prediction of the possibilities specified by
you, and of the disaster sure to follow, a
false alarm for a very simple reason.
Whoever may be elected President on
| November 6, there will be another session
of Congress before he will take office on
March Att 1901. The Republicans will
have strong majorities in both houses of
| Congress. The Executive, too, will be in
| their hands.
They will, therefore, be able to make
such laws as they please. They will thus
have full power and ample opportunity
| before the Inauguration of the next Presi-
dent to pass any legislation required to
make it utterly impossible for any Presi-
| dent to break down the gold standard in
the way you, Mr.. Secretary, describe in
your interview. A simple enactment in
two or three lines substantially provid-
| ing that it shall be the duty of the Secre-
tary of the Treasury to pay in gold or
| silver, at the option of the creditor, all
| kinds of Indebtedness of the United
States now payable in coin, may be suffi-
| cient. And if there should be another
| flaw in the present law dangerous to the
| gold standard in any other way, you, Mr.
| Secretary, able tinancier as you are, will
| surely detect it, and find a legislative
| remedy and have it ready in the shape OF
| a well matured bill to be submitted to
Congress at the opening of the session
In short, the Republicans, controlling
| both the legislative and the executive
| branches of the Government. will, next
| winter, have ample power and opportunity
to do what they ought to have done at the
last session-to put the currency law in
| such a shape that the gold standard can
not possibly be shaken by executive action
no matter who may occupy tie Presiden-
tial chair-and thus remove, to that ex-
| tent at least the basis of monetary system
| from the changeful game of party poll
| tics.
| 'Do You see any reason for doubling
| that Congress at its next session will do
| this: 1t is quite evident that, if there is
| any substance at all in your predictions
| of disaster, the Republicans in Congress
| cannot refuse to do it without proving
that the professed solicitude OF the Re-
Dubliran marty for the m a int cnarcp of the