Democratic Sentinel, Volume 22, Number 40, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 15 October 1898 — FINANCIAL SYSTEM. [ARTICLE]

FINANCIAL SYSTEM.

Power of the United States to Make Its Own. On May 96, 1898, Hon. John F. Shafroth of Colorado delivered a speech in the house of representatives in Washington which will more than pay the friends of free coinage to read. Mr. Shafroth gives a freshness to a subject which has been discussed from the beginning of the government, bat with supreme energy sinoe 1873, when by fraudulent legislation it was (jlscontinned. Since that date arguments, logic, statistics, statesmanship of the highest order have been continuously arrayed against the legislative fraud in the hope of reinstating silver in Its constitutional rights at the mints, and the battle is still on and ths friends of silver are as defiant and as aggressive as ever. The free coinage issue, at the ratio of 16 to 1, is perennial, undying and nnoeas* ing, and will continue to challenge the best thought of the nation. While, throngh the perpetration of a fraud, error is on the throne and truth on the scaffold, it will require time, patience, loyalty to the right and the indomitable courage of oonviotion to make trnth and error ehange plaoes; but as certain as the eternal years of God axe pledged to the triumph of trnth, so certainly will victory at last bud and bloom on the “thorny stem of time.” The aajjfih of Mr. Shafroth is well oalonlatK^ n i inspire the friends of free ooinagJ^j van ‘ i courage. The faots he groupjfgj. pJji resents may not be new, and tjj r)of J,aments by whioh he enforces therm an ‘be along old lines of thought, but/ . srtbeless, their presentation is i g as and the reasoning cogent, an/ a i /> a campaign dooument, the sjJjjq is worthy of recognition in ign literature. A Flood of Silver. gold standard advocates have Jti snt to frighten the American people / pitt sorts of bogies, scarecrows, . fori dins, etc.. tgeanvihee them that free npany I all the nations of d shoAtfch to unload their silver bullion, .<-roin, silver spoons, ladles, teapots, buttons and trinkets of every description upon the United States to have it ooined into dollars. The speaker quotes Mr. Secretary Gage as saying there is now in the country gold ooin to the amonnt of $096,000,000, and that free coinage of silver would banish it from circulation. This is ons of the gold standard goblins, but supposing it to be true, rather than a baseless fabrication, it would as Mr. Shafroth points out create a demand for $690,000,000 of silver coin, or $9.94 per capita. Now, suppose that each inhabitant of the United States had $9.94 in his or her possession constitutional money of the government, would it be a Source of danger? Would it be in the nature of a home wrecking faotor—would it shut up mines, close down factory and forge and prove an industrial calamity? Grouping the population into families of five, each family would have $49.70. Would that make the home gloomy? Would that amount of silver ooin create despondenoy and despair ? Mr. Shafroth effectually disposes of the silver flood bogy. He shows that there is not more than $25,000,000 silver bullion in the world outside of the United States, and that, since 1878, no one has sought to hoard silver bullion, because prices of the artiole have steadily declined since that date. He then proceeds to show that the country cannot be flooded with silver from the arts, that is, from manufactured silver, and in support of the proposition points out that the cost of workmanship, in molding, polishing, gilding and carving and pther Q?namenlations makes such silver now more valuable than coin or bullion, and that a man would be an idiot who would ooin into dollars something that was worth more in the shape of a work of art. The speaker is equally strong in showing that Europe would not dump its silver ooin upon the United States. “There is,” he says, “a great quantity of silver in the form of ooine existing in Europe. It is said that they are of the value in our money of $1,500,000,000, but the man who says that these coins will come to this oountry in the event that we open our mints to the free coinage of silver is either ignorant of or ignores one important fact—that is, that the coins of Europe are in circulation upon a gold valuation, just like our sib yer dollars in this oountry are now ln circulation upon a gold valuation. What would you think of the man who would take a United States silver dollar to our mint as soon as it was opea to free coinage and have it coined into another dollar?” Again, says Mr. Shafroth, in his a** gument relating to the flood of silver whioh causes the howlings of the gold Standard advocates. The ratio at which coins are in circulation in Europe is 15>£ to 1, whioh makes the coinage value of silver in Europe SI.BB an ounoe, whereas in this country the ratio is 10 to 1, whioh makes the coinage value of silver $1.29 an bunoe. The man holding European coins would lose not only the freight and insurance in bringing those coins to this oountry, but also would lose 4 cents on each ounce of silver coins that he brings. Those Europeans may not be so intelligent and bright as are the Amerioans, but they know enough not to lose 4 cents on each ounce of ooins they import to us. Thus it is clear that silver coins in circulation in Europe would not be brought to our mints. But the gold standard advocates see another goblin, or a dozen of them representing free silver countries, such ns phina, Mexico: Siam, straits settlements, Central and- South American states, Persia, Tripoli and Japan. Omitting Persia, Siam, the straits settlements, an Asiatic country, and Tripoli, We have Mexico with silver amounting to $55,000,000 or $4.54 per capita; Central American states with $12,000,000 of Silver, or $2.14 per capita; South American states with $80,000,000 of silver, or .83 per capita, and China with $700,r

•00,000 of silver, or $2.08 per capita, and Japan with $84,000,000 of silver, or $3.08 per capita of population. In the countries named it is estimated there is $981,000,000 of silver in circulation, on an average of $2.59 per capita, one of the political divisions named having but 83 oents per capita. This being the condition, does anyone not engaged in the soareorow business apprehend a flood of silver from any one of the countries named. An Abundance of Silver. The gold standard advocates, (and in using the term “gold standard advocates” reference is made to the leaders and managers of the Republican party), such, for instance, as Senator Fairbanks and the lesser lights of the party in Indiana, who wonld have the people believe that in an abnndanoe of silver dollars the oountry would suffer the direst calamities. But common sense comes to the rescue of all reflecting men and the goldbugs are asked to name a nation that became bankrupt with anabnndance of silver, bullion or ooin. They are asked to name an individual, or firm, or corporation whose affair ever went into the hands of a receiver because of an abundanoe of silver assets. When did a farmer forfeit his farm owing to the fact that he had a surplus of silver coin? “No nation,” says Mr. Shafroth, “was ever injured by its people having an abundance of the precious metals, and instead of being a detriment, it would produce the greatest era of prosperity in the history of this oountry.” Nevertheless, the enemies of free coinage have for years sought to frighten the people with the bugbear that no greater disaster ooold befall the country and the people than to have an abundance of Silver dollars. But the people have discovered that the flood of silver predicted by goldbugs has not arrived—and they are anxious to welcome it to their business houses, factories and shops and to their homes. They demand the free and unlimited coinage of ailypr at the ratio of 10 to 1, and are not to be stampeded by any of the bugaboos upon which the goldbugs have relied to obscure their schemes. How Millions of Silver Dollars Could Be Used. Mr. Shafroth points out how millions more of silver dollars could be used by the people in promoting their interests. He says: “There are in existeDoe $846,000,000 of credit money, called United States notes, the existence of every dollar of which.is due to the fact that we have not enough circulating medium without those notes. Every dollar of those notes could be retired by the substitution of the silver dollar or the silver certificate, and thus there would be a demand whioh the government could create for $846,000,000 more of silver. “But these are not all the powers of our government. There are in existence $231,441,686 of national bank notes. The only exouse for their existence is the faot that they are absolutely needed as a circulating medium. Every dollar of that credit money could be retired and silver or silver certificates substituted in plaoe.” Here we have it dearly demonstrated that should the government coin 777,441,680 additional dollars, and issue silver certificates to that amount, we should simply retire the greenback and national bank notes, and substitute silver certificates, based upon that number of coined dollars held for their redemption. But where suoh eminently wise and Statesmanlike propositions are made, the goldbugs display another hobgoblin and repeat their platitudes abont a flow pf silver, ete., and with special emphasis assert that the United States does not possess the power and resources required to establish bimetallism, preferring to the Power and Wealth of the United States, Mr. Shafroth epitomizes the facts by saying our population of 75,000,000 is equal to 700,000,000 of the average of the balance of the world—that our wealth in 1890 was $62,000,000,000, against $291,580,000,000, or 37 per cent of the wealth of all the nations of the earth. The United States operates about onehalf of the railroad mileage of the world and the freight transported by them Was in 1892 845,000,000 tons, against 1,348,000,000 tons carried by all the railroads of tjhe world, or more that 59 per oent. The steam power of the United States is 14,400,000 horse power, or more than one-third of the world’s steam power- T’h® carrying power es vessels used in lake and river traffic in the United States is 9,300,000 tons, or onefifth of the carrying power of the world on the high seae. Of the world’s total production of cotton, 18,330,000 bales of 400 pounds each, in 1896, the United States produced 10,236,000 bales, or ten thirteenths, and in 1897, three-fourths pf the world’s crop. The United States jirodnoes more than one-third of all the grain products of the world, the prodnot for 1896 being 8,633,180,000 bushels, Against 9,900,000,000 bushels of other countries. We produce more than onefourth of the pigiron of the world, onethird of the steel, more than one-half of the copper of the world, while iu ooal we produced in 1893 198,000,000 tons, against §00,000,000 tons of all other countries. Mr. Shafroth continues the comparison in which the United States steadily rises in overmastering wealth, power and resources, and stands confessedly in the van of the nations of the earth. Why Parade Such Pacts t But why make these astounding disclosures of wealth resources and power of the United States if they do not deepen and rivit the convictions, that we are capable of determining for our- | selves, all measures whatsoever relating to the welfare of the nation, and the free coinage ot silver is a measure of such vital importance that it is scarcely less than treason to consult any other nation upon the f&ce of the earth as to the polioy we should persue in financial affairs. In all other matters the United States is proud of its prestige, defiant and independent, but when it comes to shaping our financial poliev the goldbug managers of the Republican party are ready and willing to surrender their country and all of I its vast interests to the dictation of foreign powers and acquiesce in snch humiliations as they choose to impose. But the purpose of the goldbugs to reduce silver to redeemable money in gold coin, is preposterous beyond measure, and is not likely to succeed in the United States, and the battle for the right will proceed.