The Eureka sentinel. [volume] (Eureka, Nev.) 1902-current, 1902-02-22
BARTINE ON SILVER ISSUE.
Destruction Of Standard Dollars
Intent of Hill Measure.
WASHINGTON, Feb. l2.


eral reference to the Inconsistency Of
those who broke away from the Repub-
lican party upon the silver question in
returning to that party upon the theory
that the issuei is dead one. It may not
be untimely for me to advert to the
matter little more specifically, for the
reporting of the Hill bill to the House,
shows that while some of our former
silver champions may be willing to
consider the question as settled, the ex-
treme gold men are not, and never will
be, until the last legal tender silver
dollar is eliminated from our monetary
system. The Hill bill provides that the
silver bullion now in the Treasury and
standard dollars already coined, 80 far
as they may be necessary, shall be
coined into subsidiary coins-that is to
say, into half dollars and smaller pieces,
the legal tender of which is limited to
five dollars. The bill also makes the
standard silver dollars redeemable in
gold.
TO DESTROY THE STANDARD DOLLARS.
The avowed object of the measure, as
stated by Mr.. Hill himself, is ultimately
to get entirely rid of the silver dollars
now existing, and to prevent any more
from ever being coined. The gold men
are looking anxiously forward to the
time when the flood tide of prosperity
may become an ebb tide, and the money
question again become pressing and
urgent. They know that under such
conditions the presence of 600,000,0 900
silver dollars in our monetary system
would naturally suggest the propriety
Of coming more of them; but, if we
have no silver coinage except our small
change, they feel that the position of
the silver men would be greatly weak
ened, and that the argument could be
plausibly made that there would be no
more propriety in coming full tender
money out of silver than to make it Of
some other substance.
Furthermore, as Mr.. Shafroth init
mates in his admirable report against
the bill, the fact that the silver dollars
were redeemable in gold, would itself
be used as an argument against their
retention. 1t requires no more gold to
redeem a paper dollar than it does
silver one, and the silver dollars sold
as bullion, even at greatly reduced
price, would buy paper enough for cur
rency purposes Ito last the country for
ages. But it is useless to discuss this
point. The purpose of the bill is to give
the finishing stroke to silver as money
metal, and such purpose is frankly ad-
mitted by Mr.. Hill, so it is by the
Eastern gold standard Press, the only
objection urged to it in that quarter be-
ing that the bill will not wipe out these
dollars quickly enough.
OF GRAVE IMPORT.
This is q matter of grave import to
the people of Nevada, who still have
silver interests which need protection.
Even if none of the silver dollars were
actually sold as bullion (which many
of them doubtless would bel the enact
mean that the United States would not
buy another ounce of silver for subsi-
diary coinage during the next half CEN
tury. The market for the silver miners
product would be limited just to that
extent, and that the price of the metal
would be depressed, even below the
present miners figures, is so evident.that
it goes without saying.
Nor need we stop here. If even one
fourth of the silver dollars should be
melted down and sold as bullion, it
would practically destroy the silver
market, for considerable time, at
least But leaving that contingency out
of view, there can be no question that
the example of the United States would
be contagious, leading to similar action
in other countries, and the drop in sill
yer might easily be such as to close
every American silver mine, except
those in which the metal is only by
product.
AN INsENsATE POLICY.
The demonetization of silver was the
most insensate and cruel legislative act
that ever took place in the United States.
1t was body blow at our national pros
perity. Every line of productive indus
try felt it, and for years we were liter
ally wallowing in the slough of despond.
That we have finally struggled out of it
and measurably adjusted ourselves to
the gold standard, is owing partly to
our vast resources, but mainly to the
0raat GOLD disoova~;aa IN, Couth A frica