Year: 1876

u,survGroy. July 13.-The House adopted to-
,.,, NV the decisive vote of 1913 in the affirmative
- N in the negative the report of the Conference
cor,rittee on the Silver bill. As there is little
Sob that the Senate will agree to the report,
~; hill for the relief of the present small-change
fni,a is likely 20 become a law within few days.
The hill provides for the issue of such subsidiary


silver coin as may at any time be in the Treasury III
be same manner as other currency is issued, instead
f reouirlng the Secretary of the Treasury to wait,
unIess fractional currency is presented to be re-
Soored II also authorizes the use of $2OC0o,0oO
- orv money in the Treasury for the purchase OF
1or bulIion which is TO be coined into fractional


orts of dollar, and issued at its nominal value,
.brs Giving the Government proht equal to the
difference between the segnoragc and the actual cost


90 co;nine. The total amount of subsidiary coin to
ho issued. including the Sl000O,o00 already an-
,ho;zcd by law limited to $50, 600 900 No change
s made in the law reSpectngfhe lega-tender quail
ties of the subsidiary com.


sbort hut very interesting discussion arose on
ths Conference Committees report Now that the
-aIuo Of the silver dollar has fallen below that of
tho National note all the Observation-Disclosures OF the
Uorse are anxious to restore that coin to the place
vbicb II nominaly occupied in the currency of tho
country prior TO the act of 1878. As long as the
volue Of n silver dollar was greater in the markets


90 The world than that of a greenback dollar, the
Uostorn inatonists were very violently opposed to
onv measure looking to a return TO specie payments,


M matter whether the resumption took place IN gold
or in silver Bnt the moment the value of the silver
dollar fell below that of the greenback, and by max
;po II an unlimited legal tender the dishonest debt
ors of the country could pay Oft their obligations at
n discount then this same school OF political ecOno-
roists suddtn became the champion of the money
of the Constitution, and now demand that all debt
ors. public and private, be allowed TO discharge
their obligations in the most deprecated currency.


The assertion made by Mr.. Landers that the bill
denonetizes silver and will therefore prove dsas-
irons TO the business of the country by withdrawing
so much of the currency, is of course not true In
the first place. the bill does not in any way change
the law respecting the legal-tender property OF
silver cOn and does not refer either directly or III
directly to the coinage of silver dollars which alone
in connection with gold. have never been an unlm-
tied tender in this country. In the second place. 1t
is simpossbe to withdraw from the circulation that
which has not recently formed part OF 1t; and
every one knows that after the ratio of silver To
gold was changed by Congress from one to hitecnto
one to sixteen very few silver dollars were coincd,
and those which were made did not remain in
circulation.


One of the most revolutionary of the propositions
made IN debate was that advanced by Judge Kelley.
who advocated paying the interest on the United
States bonds held in Germany in silver dollars In
stead Of ia gold and in this way, as he sad forcing
Germany which is attempting TO drive out ITS
silver currency, to remonetize and retain it.


Gen Garfield called attention to this proposition,
and predicted that if such policy should be
adopted it would result in probably crisis III this
country more severe thar any it has ever expert
cnced any proposition to pay the interest on our
foreign debt in a currency which now stands at 20
per discount would result in the return to this
country Of our bonds which are now held abroad IN
such great quantities to produce the most wide
spread financial ruin.


Two classes would be principally benefited by
the renunetizing of silver in this Countrywide OWL
ers of the bonanza silver mines the Pacific coast
and The foreign holders of large stocks of silver coin
and bullion like the Bank of France The first class
OF these was represented on the floor of the House
today by Senator Jones' If the decline in the price
of silver continues, the mining of that metal which
has been profitable chiefly account of the large
proportion of gold which is obtained i'll connection
with IT, will soon become a losing business but II
the silver dollar should again be made legal tender
for payment of all debts, public and private,
in this country, it would not only drive
ont Of the country all Of the gold coin and bullion
now held here but being worth less than United
States notes, would gradually replace them in our
domestic circulation This of course would create a
great and sudden demand for silver and would
probably cause it to appreciate rapidly in value.
This is what the owners Of the bonanza mines de-
sire and this is the secret of their present advocacy
of the double standard.


Dr. Lnderman Director of the Mint, in speaking
of tie recent rapid decline in value of silver, says
that il has now reached the point where France and
her monetary allies-yiz., Belgium, Switzerland, and
Italy, all of whom have the double standard-must
either shoulder the German surplus of silver or pre-
pare TO abandon the double standard and adopt a
purely gold currency. The reason of this is that
silver is more valuable in those countries where ii is
used as currency than in those where it has been
demonetized; and it will certainly and ir-
resistibly flow to those countries where
il will command the highest price.
Should the United States at this time return to a
double standard it would be placed in the same en-
barrassing position which France now holds. DIR.
Linderman continued by saying that if the nations
which still maintain double standard continue TO
adhere to IT, the gold which they have now in clr-
culatiOn viii disappear, and be thrown i'll large
quantities upon the English and other markets, in
Guiding the United States. This would tend strongly
to restore the equilibrium between the two metals
throughout Europe. From these facts it will be
seen that If the Unit ID States adheres to its present
policy the great decline in the value Of silver may,
by causing an accumulation Of gold in England and
in this country, make il easier than IL otherwise
would have been for the United States to resume
specie payments on the 1st of January 1879, or at
some subsequent date not very far III the future.