| Show = 1 THEY SECT t t I Cleveland Scored by the r Silver Men J THEY DONT AGREE WITH HIll And Troceed to Give Their Reasons for Not Doing So Interesting Inter-esting Figures n WASHINGTON March 2Friends of I silver in the House while at first inclined 1 in-clined to make a formal reply to the letter of Presidentelect Cleveland since I it has been given to the public decided at a conference held this evening to reply re-ply openly to parts of the letter with which they do not agree They say h they did not invite a controversy but on the contrary were anxious to avoid I it They also say it was not nntil it had J J become known that a determined effort t was being made to induce the President elect to commit himself and his I administration in advance to r e the gold side of the currency question that they decided merely to ask him = 1 r not to commit himselt till his cabinet ij was formed and both sides of the question I in ques-tion could considered They proposed j ° at first to send a delegation to present their views to him but after communicating i communi-cating with him at his suggestion they I it I I sent a paper signed by one hundred members of the present Congress and I memberselect to the next Congress No reply was necessary they assert and t none was expected They further say t s that while regretting the step the Presidentelect has taken in advance of H his inauguration and of the formation ° I of his Cabinet they do not propose to l have a controversy unless it is believe forced upon them They i lieve however in the independence indepen-dence of the legislative branch of I government and assert that they will at all timesmaintain it They furnish t I the following as a statement of their 4 1 I views In our letter no distinction is i made between silver coinage and silver t f 4 1 s bullion And while it is true silver bullion bul-lion which is excluded from coinage I and consequently from monetary is ft 11 worth lessiu the rates of 16 to Ithan I So per rent of the gold dollar silver t t coins which are admitted to monetary I I the gold are equal in value i use same as 11 dollar dollar will exchange I ex change for as much as the gold dollars f I ill i It will even buy the gold with which the al I gold dollar may be made France with f i 1 Tern k I tory not as large as Texas has in circulation jl j o cir-culation 5000000000 silver with 11 I S50000000 gold while we have but 200000000 fullfhere occnrs i 1 1 a break in the report Eds HEUALD I 1 I silver and silver sertiflcates gold or ai gold certificates he pavs out only gold j his stock of gold would diminish If jon I I 1 j-on the other hand he should pay out i more silver and paper and less gold the i character of the reserve in the Treasury It would control the Secretary of the Treasury There Would be a no legal tender if one who g I receives money be perniitted to f choose the kind he will have that silver and silver certificates displace gold it is true but only as Treasury or I t i I bank notes displace it The withdrawal r f of a hundred millions in banknotes I bank-notes or the issuance of one hundred millions has the same h q effect on gold as so mncbr nBilver or silver certificates Why has it never 1 been proposed to withdraw national bank notes as a means of preventing Y the expulsion of gold To the proposition I t proposi-tion that there now exists or ever have I 1 existed under our Constitution obligations i obliga-tions specifically payable in gold silver I II men feel it their splemn duty to utter t their most emphatic dissent at the very r outset of the discussion of the question 30 such obligations exist or I eyer did exist Webster said It r i Gold and silver at rates fixed j by Congress constitute the legal standard of value inthis country and I j I neither Congress nor any State has Y I authority to establish any other standard I stand-ard or to displace this One act top to-p i strengthen the public credit approved March 18 1SC9 solemnly pledged they the-y S 1 United States to the payment of bonds 4 m coin the refunding act of July 14th 1870 provided for the payment of all refunding re-funding bonds in coin of their present standard value which is the same as the i present value the resumption act of I I January 14th 1875 provides that from and after the 1st of January 1H79 the t i 1 Secretary of the Treasury should redeem re-deem in coin outstanding legal tender i l notes bp the act of February 2Sth 1878 l i IJ i providing for the resumption of the j coinage of the standard dollar silver dollars were made legal tender for all i f I 0 debts aud dues public and private I v unless otherwise expressly stipulated f II I in the contract and there is not a public obligation outstanding i I I Deer was containing a stipulation of 1 l I payment in gold In January 1878 t j I Congress adopted the following concurrent t I concur-rent resolution offered by Stanley I f Matthews then a Senator now on the I I Supreme bench That all bonds of the t j United States issued or authorized to be I > issued under said acts of Congress hereinbefore J 9 here-inbefore recited are payable principal I 1 I II I and interest at the option of the government govern-ment of the United States in silver dollars j b I dol-lars of the coinage of the United States I l 1 J containing 412J grains each Of standard 1 i silver and that to restore to its coinage I j such silver coins as legal tender in payment I pay-ment of said bonds principal and interest f Ii j inter-est is not in violation of the public faith 1 nor hi derogation of the rights the public I I pub-lic creditor Opinions of Secretaries 11 I I i of the Treasury trom 1878 down are I referred to as authority The opinions of secretaries are valuable when supported I I I s sup-ported by facts and sound reasons hue ought not to control unless they are c It cannot be forgotten however that t I these same secretaries have steadily 1 I 1 predicted what has not taken place t t I Friends of silver concur in the opinion i that it is most dosirableio maintain and it 1 continue in use the the mass of our gold I > y I coin as well as the mass of silver already e al-ready coined They agree too that it is of momentous importance to prevent coin of the two metals from parting r company but the two metals t p E t have already parted company under the influence of silver demonetization l Ii in other countries and the hohtilty oft of-t s I the Treasury and banks to the silver in I this but that the continued coinage of u a silver at the rate of 25000000 will drive gold out of circulation in the near future or lorcc it to a premium does not to them Feein to be sustained by the facts or sound reasoning The total volume of currency in the laded t cUJfency States outside of gold is less than 11750000000 It is believed to be a principle prin-ciple of economic science perfectly well settled that if the volume of 75000000p is not sufficient in itself to maintain prices in this country at the level ot international prices then gold will come here and stay here in sufficient amount to make with the volume already in circulation what will constitute our distributive share of the worlds money as determined by our international interna-tional trade that 750000000 is not a sufficient volume to maintain price at the worlds level of prices is evinced bv the fact thatSOOOO000 gold a considerable consid-erable part which at leastis in circulation circu-lation either in the form of coin or certificates cer-tificates now stays here and it will go away only when prices become lower elsewhere than they are here It is believed therefore that such a crisis as has been forboded can never overtake us under existing conditions It is not believed to be in the power of all the banks in the country even if they were so disposed to take gold out of circulation cir-culation and hold it for any length of time at a premium They must first lock up the worlds money and arrest the worlds commerce com-merce nor can paper or silver or silver certificates now in circulation side by side with gold expel gold Gold can be expelled only by forcing into circulation in addition to the 750000000 either silver or paper equal to the entire volume of gold in circulation In that manner under Greshams law gold might be expelled and properly would be It is doubtless true too that if the population and wealth of this countr were at a stand then the continued coinage of silver in sufficient volume would in time expel gold from circulation circula-tion but as long as the population and wealth go on increasing then the conditions condi-tions of the problem arechanged In fact in order to preserve a stale rato between be-tween the money volume and the population popu-lation and wealth in annual increase not less than 40000000 currency of some kind is now required In other words the increase of population and wealth calls for the addition to our circulation of at least 40000000 a year If while these conditions continue silver is coined at the rate of only 23000000 a year there is left still a considerable void to be filled with gold This is the reason why gold has increased in-creased in the country steadily since the act of 1878 was passed and why gold has increased by nearly 14000000 during the last year and is now increasing at the rate of nearly 1000000 a month I Notwithstanding the depression in business in the country and asa as-a matter of fact there is today more I gold in the country than there was before be-fore in its whole history Another fact is that 80000000 gold in the Treasury was put there in exchange for silver certificates The immediate effect of stopping the coinage of silver must necessarily ne-cessarily beJo lower the price of silver bullion and gradually to appreciate the the value of gold the world over The difficulties in the way of establishing an international ratio so much desired or of the readjustment of the relative value to gold here would thereby be increased How it is possible for such things to take place as predicted in the last paragraph para-graph of the letter it is difficult to see Gold is to be withdrawn to its hoarding places followed by unprecedented contraction in the actual volume of our currency Such a contraction traction it has been shown must be followed by a great fall of prices What then Would not gold flow here as the tides flow Surely it would come as fast as ships could bring it What would those who have been hoarding gold do with it then labor the letter says already greatly depressed would suffer still further depression by the scaling down of purchasing power of every socalled dollar paid into the hands of toil Here in one sentence we have gold hoarders unprecedented contraction contrac-tion to prices and scaling down of the purchasing power of the dollar that is when these impending calamities come prices are to fall everything become cheaper and money become less valuable at the same time that is both sides of the balance will go down together Usually Usu-ally one side goes up as the other goes down usually as commodities become cheaper money becomes relatively dearer and vice versa usually a con traction trac-tion of money and not in a fall The contradictions involved in this paragraph para-graph of the letters are hardly calculated calcu-lated to carry conviction to those who have ever studied money questions at all or to awaken in them any sense of alarm at our approaching calamities from such causes In one thing all will agree and that is in the importance to the whole country and especiallv to the laboring classes now struggling with the want of the revival of business and a reaction of prosperity One condition essential thisisto stop the contraction of the currency No country ever did thrive nor neyer can while its moneyis undergoing contraction Business cannot can-not be secure when its foundation is constantly con-stantly giving way Stability in the volume of money is the one and essential es-sential requisite to safe and prosperous business What is the monetary condition con-dition of the world today Are we not brought face to face with the startling fact that the gold production of the world has fallen below its consumption in the arts and that there is no probability prob-ability of any new gold for the money supply for centuries to come With this I condition of things as to gold shut off silver as is now proposed and where is the money supply even for keeping up the stock of com in the hands of the world to come from As aggravating this state of affairs in this country the paper in the treasury is undergoing contraction con-traction by the surrender of bank notes If this state of things is to last upon what is there to build the hope of returning re-turning prosperity In the last three I years according to the London Economist Econ-omist prices have fallen more than 20 percent that is money has apnre ciated in that ratio In the quarter of the century following the gold discoveries I dis-coveries in California and Australia the stock of precious metals in use as I money was increased by nearly 40 percent per-cent the trade and commerce of Great I Britain and the United States during the same period increased more than fourfold and the wealth proportionately I Reverse these conditions shut off all money supply and what room for hope is there for mankind except for those whose incomes are sure With the appreciation of money all debts appreciate appre-ciate When it is remembered that such debts run into tens of billions I more than the entire present wealth of the United States the vast consequences of the appreciation of money are seen The control of the feudal lords over the earth in the middle ages was insignificant insignific-ant compared with the control of the modern creditor kings and lords who through legislation can secure or increase in-crease the value of money It can be shown that it will take more labor or mere of the produce of labor to pay what remains of our own national debt now than it I would have taken to par it at the close of the war Eighteen million bales df cotton were equivalent in value to the entire interestbearing debt in 1865 but it will take 35000000 bales at the price of cotton now to pay the remainder remain-der of the debt Twentyfive million tons of iron would have paid the whole debt in 1865 It will take 35000000 tons to pay what remains after all that has been paid as principal and interest In view of the vast interests involved friends of silver should not be separated separ-ated from its relation to the whole currency cur-rency question and acted upon by rencr itself The currency question is believed at the present time to overshadow all other questions and all the friends of silver have asked is that the Presidentelect should give it full consideration and heat both sides before committing his administration to any particular view respecting it Judge Reagan makes separate statements state-ments of the whole subject and matter at issue between silver men in Congress and Mr Cleveland in which he characterizes charac-terizes some of the latters declarations as most extraordinary and astonishing The Judge concludes his discussion of the question as follows The people of this country know whatever bankers and bondholders may think that this effort to subordinate the interests of the American people to the class known as bankers and bondholders and to compel the Democratic President and Democrats Demo-crats in Congress to adopt and carryout carry-out is the very policy for carrying out which the Republican party was beaten and turned out of power That party was the tool of corporations and mining kings and it was beaten for being so and Democrats do not propose pro-pose to take HD the old clothes of the Republican 1 party where they threw them down The country has not yet forgotten that in 1878 when Congress was trying to restore silver to circulation circu-lation and to prevent the retirement and cancellation of legal tender notes the banks in order to prevent this contracted con-tracted the volume of currency nearly 19000000 in about three weeks threatening a momentary panic for the purpose of intimidating Congress and the President and to prevent the i passage of the measure which the best I interests of the country required and they would have produced a panic if the Secretary of the Treasury had not thrown a considerable amount of money on the market to buy up public securities and furnish the necessary neces-sary circulation Its stated that they are now threatening a panic if they cannot can-not succeed in what they want It is to be hoped that Congress will answer them by repealing i the law authorizing the charter of banks and the control 01 the volume of money or at least take from them the privilege of issuing currency cur-rency and controlling its volume We can safely dispense with national banknotes bank-notes by substituting in their place an equal amount of treasury notes instead which would be receivable for all taxes and duties and redeemable in coin at the will of the holder and which though not legal tender would be firstclass commercial paper and would have exactly ex-actly the uualities that national banknotes bank-notes now have |
