The Wallace miner. [volume] (Wallace, Idaho) 1907-current, 1918-05-16
PIHMAN SILVER LAW
MEET WAR EMERGENCY
ITS REAL PURPOSE DISCLOSED
IN COURSE OF DISCUSSION
IN THE HOUSE.
Congressional Record)

Congressional Record)
Mr.. Glass: Mr.. Speaker when this
measure was originally drawn some
months ago, it was designed to meet
and overcome the difficulty that had
risen In our foreign trade relations,
involving rather serious discrimin-
alton against this country in the mat
ter Of foreign exchange. Importers of
many necessary articles were subject
to great loss by reason of the dep,e-
citation of the American dollar in neu :
trail countries in Europe and Asia,
particularly in Spain and the Scandi-
navian nations, as to Europe, and in
the orient, India and China In that
view 1t was not an emergency meas
ure. But within the last 10 days cir
cumstances, of which l am not at lib
erty to speak in detail have arisen
which make action by congress i'm
perative. For that reason the bill, by
unanimous action of the committee
on banking and currency of the other
body, was presented to the senate,
and, without division, passed. 1t was
taken up for consideration on Friday
and Saturday of last week by the
house committee on banking and cur
rency, and at an exceptionally large
ly attended meeting, unanimously or
dered to be reported to the house. In
our trade relations with the orient.
no NJ owl,
put to the necessity of paying gu.
balances in metal, and, on account of
the large importations of jute, burlap
and other materials used in the hand
ling and distribution of our crops we
are obliged to meet large exchange
balance to our very great disadvan-
tage. 1t shall be necessary for this
country to ship to India, for the next
ensuing l6 months, at least, about
$10O,00O,O00 of gold to meet our i'm
portations, or otherwise to do what
this bill proposes to do, borrow from
the treasury the only available stock
of silver in the world at this time, and
ship 1t to India to meet trade balances
~ 10 lol ucCcSSdIy W say W Tie HOUSE
that, gold being our primary money,
every dollar of it that we shall export
crcumscribes our ability to meet the
extraordinary commercial require
time. In short. If we do not pass this
bill Immediately, we may be put to
the necessity of shipping gold rather
than silver to India. / transgress no
propriety and reveal nothing that
should not be disclosed to the house
when I say that the governor of the
federal reserve board stated to the
committee that the board had already
felt obliged to give the large imports
Of jute, burlap and other materials
which we are obliged to have the as
surance that If something of this sort
should not be done Immediately by
congress the federal reserve banks
would assure them the gold necessary
to meet trade balances. The bill pro-
vides that there shall be a retirement,
gradual or immediate, as circum-
stances may require, of $350,000,O00 of
outstanding silver certificates and as
those silver certificates are retired
like amount of silver coin in the treas
ury, held as cover for the silver cer-
tificates, will be broken up and melted
into silver bullion and sold by the
secretar yof the treasury to meet for
eign exchange exigencies and to avert
pnpto to, I.1t
gress knows that India uses not ex-
clusively, but almost exclusively, sill
yer as its metallic currency. Any
deficiency in the circulating medium
that may be occasioned by the gradual
or speedy retirement of $350,000,00O of
silver certificates is to be met by the
issuance under authority of the sec
rotary of the treasury Of the federal
reserve bank notes, based on short
time gold certificates and notes of the
United States. When the emergency
shall have passed or the war sni ID,
the secretary of the treasury is auth
orized to purchase an equivalent
amount Of silver to that which may
ne utlllZeu III lllS tIdHSttCtiOh " iS-
place the silver thus loaned to the
British government, and used for for
eign exchange purposes, by the re-
coinage of like amount Of silver dol
lars, upon which may be issued like
amount Of silver certificates.
Mr.. La Toilette: The gentleman
stated that there would be a trade
balance of s1O0,OOO,OO0 in the next 16
months between this country and In
dia. That accounts for $1O0,00O,OOO.
Why the other $25O,OOO.0O0?
Mr.. Glass: The other 250,00O,000 Is
to meet foreign exchange accounts
with other countries and especially Is
to be used to counter an exigency that
vitality affects our allies In the con-
duct Of the war. Just in the degree
that it vitality affects them it vitality
affects us. I will read to the house a
telegram that was sent to me from
Deming, ~ M. while ! was absent
from the city attending the funeral OF
my late colleague, Mr.. Jones, by Sec
rotary McAdoo in which he says:
"A war emergency of the utmost