Year: 1878

The silver Busbe


The journals which had been
predicting for some time in ad-
vance of the passage of the silver
bill that its enactment into law
would increase the premium on
gold, depress the value of both
greenbacks and silver, and retard
our advance TO a resumption of
specie payments, must feel very
much chagrine1 at the re-
suits of the silver bill. We
early took the position that,
as the balance of trade with
Europe was largely in our favor
this balance last year reaching the
enormous sum of nearly one hun.
dred and sixty millions-the quar-
rel was really one amongst our
selves. These Quixotic disputants
took the position that the govern
ment of the United States could af-
fix to piece of paper-worthless
paper compounded of old rags-a
stamp which would make it worth
one hundred cents on the dollar;
and that, when it comes to affixing
identically the same stamp on sill
yer, which was admitted to be worth
intrinsically ninety cents on the
dollar, the same result would not
follow. No geometrician ever de-
vised such an exquisite reductio
dd dbsurdans as that. The mon
strous character of this assumption
is made more apparent by the fact
that the silver dollars of 4l21 grains
weight and nine hundred degrees
fineness have elements of value
which the greenback never
had. They are receivable for inter-
est on the national debt and Gus
toms duties, properties of which
the greenback was divested by the
explicit language of the law.


Financiers abroad never at.
tempted to maintain the absurdi-
ties INDUCED in on this subject by
Eastern journalists, bankers, mer-
chants and politicians. The first
authentic information that Con-
gress was likely to remonetize sill
yer sent the price of silver bullion
up in the London market, just as
its demonetiZation by Germany
and the United States had lowered
it there. The number of people in
the world who use q bi-metallic
currency with paper. or u silver
currency, is as six to one of those
who have adopted an exclusively
gold standard. In remonetizing
silver we have simply done an act
of justice to our people, stimulated
the production of that one of the
precious metals of which the
United States yields more freely
than any other country In the
world, and bade defiance TO the fis-
cal dictation of England and Ger
many.


The last quotation Of greenbacks
we noted showed that gold was
only at -eighths per cent.
premium over greenbacks. Discon-
certed by this practical answer to
their elaborate but sophistical ar
guments, the New York financiers
and Journalists now tell Us to wait
until the balance of trade with
Europe is again against us. If we
have ordinary wisdom that event
will never happen. There is every
reason to believe that the disparity
which now exists in our favor will
be increased rather than dimin-
ished. England and Europe are
daily more and more in need of our
products. With interest in Eng
land at one and a half and two per
cent. per annum, not only will our
bonds not be returned to US, but if
we showed q determination to avail
ourselves of our option of recalling
these bonds their present European
holders would be only too glad to
take four per cent. bond in ex-
change for them.


We are glad to be able to chron-
icle the fact that the insincerity or
stupidity, or both, of the New York
opponents of the Silver bill, is made
as plain as the midday sun.


1t only remains for Congress to
supplement the good work it has
already accomplished by calling in
the present Issue of silver half
dollars, recoining them on the
standard Of the silver dollar and
making them legal tender for a
reasonable amount. In that event
our subsidiary coinage will appre.
ciate as closely to par as such cur
reney usually attains. In large
amounts it would be subject to n
fractional discount. In all the or
binary concerns of life, it would be


rated at lis face value. We hone
this good work will be com pleted
without delay. Even as the case
stands now the subsidiary coins
are rapidly attaining as near par
nS II IL lesira nia fn Lnua 4l.an, l.