Wheeling register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1878-1935, 1901-02-16
\ MEASURE OF INFINITE HARM.

A MEASURE OF INFINITE HARM
The views of the minority OF the
committee on coinage, welgnts anu
measures on the bill Ito maintain phe
parity" Of the legal tender silver ooiiar
with gold by making the silver dollar
directly redeemable in gold, are inter-
esting and no less Iorcible than I'M
portant.
This measure. solely in the interest
of plutocracy and intended to vastly
increase the power OF aggregated
wealth. is objected to, first, because 1t
will impose increased burdens upon the
gold reserve of the treasury TO say
that 1t will not" says the minority re-
MORT of the committee, lis to deny the
recognized principle Of supply and de-
mand To add the 500,0O0,00 of silver
dollars. which now act as redemption
money for the silver certificates and
are not a charge upon the gold reserve,
to the moneys which are redeemaDle
in gold must greatly increase the bur-
dens upon the treasury reserve" And
it is asked: Would the comptroller
of the currency permit national bank,
which has deposits sufficient to require
a reserve of 100000, to become liable
for double the deposits without doub-
ling that tund?'
IIt is also we'll argued that it would
create a new endless chain upon the
gold reserve by doubling the obliga-
tions redeemable in gold, which would
facilitate the expectation OF gold, now
such a constant bugbear to the Ameri-
can money market. The scramble OF
European nations at the present time
for gold" says the minority, should
demonstrate the necessity for legisla-
ton discouraging instead of encourag-
ing the expectation of that metal"
1t is further demonstrated that the
proposed measure would cause to be
melted up all our silver dollars and
the destruction of silver certificates as
money. When silver dollars are
made payable in gold" says the minor
ity, they become simply promises to
pay. What government would main
tain promises to pay stamped upon as
dear material as silver when they
could be printed upon paper at no ap-
preciable COST" No nation on earth,
it is pointed out, ''discredits it's silver
coins by making them simply promises
to pay. No government redeems it's
silver in gold. Why should this ma
ton, which produces one-third of all
the silver of the world, be the very
first to strike down one of it's own i'm
portant industries These facts will be
used to justify the Secretary of the
Treasury in melting the silver dollars
as this law provides, and thus destroy
ing s58O,o0o,000 of full legal-tender
money"
That this would depress the price
of all commodities and property is
equally plain, since it would increase to
that extent the demand for gold. In
creased demand" says the minority of
the committee truly, means increased
value of the thing demanded. In
creased value of gold means that it
buys more of commodities and prop
erty, and that means the seller must
yield up more commodities and prop
ety to obtain given quantity of gold
or money payable in that metal; that
n, he must sell at a less price Thus
failing prices result. 1t is automatic
that falling prices produce finan-
cfal failures and panics and paralyze
industry and affect every man, wo-
man and child in the world
AS 1t is impossible for silver dollars
as now limited by law to depreciate in
value, the minority forcibly asks:
why should we run the hazards of
making increased burdens upon the
gold reserve, of creating a new endless
chain upon the treasury, of faciiitat-
ing exports of gold, of annihilating
silver and silver certificates as money.
and OF producing an era of falling
prices?''