i.am 8r > . , , ; - * -S * mf m' ; * l Afes Conservative * tiou for the army made of Indian corn. I will refer the matter to the Commis sary General who will look into the mat ter. Very Truly Yours , R. A. ALGER , Secretary of "War. Hon. .T. Sterling Morton , Nebraska City , Neb. itttroiiT OF TirK THE CONSERVA- MONJ5TAUY COMTIVE lllUS this CONYKNTION.ou Mouetaiy re form from the hands of Professor J. Laur ence Laughliu of the Chicago Univer sity , and the following extract , begin ning ou page 82 , is submitted as terse , sound and instructive : "There is a clear distinction between the functions of money as a standard of value and as a medium of exchange. While that money which is the standard of value will always serve also as a med ium of exchange , yet other forms of cur rency of inferior market value can in no sense be a satisfactory standard , and can bo a suitable medium of exchange only when the convertibility at par into the standard money is assured. Any pos sible currency is , therefore , of one of two lands. The first land is that which has been adopted as the standard of value. The second kind is that which is , with out reference to its market value as a commodity , receivable at par , because convertible at par into the standard money. Today gold is the only cur rency of the first land. United States notes , national bank notes , silver dollars , subsidiary silver , and minor coins , are currency of the second laud. The face value of the silver dollars , the subsidiary silver , and the minor coins more or less largely exceeds their bullion value , and they differ from the note-issues only in the fact that the material of which they are made has some market value as bul lion. Under modern conditions of busi ness , purchases , sales , loans , the dis charge of debts , and even payments of wages are effected in great part by drafts , checks , or transfers of credits. While the work which the money which is the standard , actually performs in the exchanges of the country is rela tively small , yet every one of those ex changes is based on that standard. If all the money of the country is conver tible at par into gold , there may then bo whatever , and as much , of the repre sentative forms of currency as the con venience of the people may require. "Ou the other hand , if the standard of value be lowered , there necessarily follows a loss of public confidence , a les sened use of credit and of credit forms of currency , and a consequent diminu tion of the effectiveness of the currency. "The gold standard , therefore , does not mean gold monometalism , and it necessarily results , not in contraction , but in the greatest possible expansion of the currency within the bounds ot safety. "As gold derives no value from any legal-tender law , nor any value from at the mint 'the coinage beyond ascer tainment that its weight and purity are what the law requires , ' and the certify ing by the government's stamp that it possesses those qualities , it is , and ought to continue to bo , admitted to free coin age. On the other hand , silver , nickel , and copper should bo coined oiily upon government account , into coins of lim ited legal tender quality ; should bo is sued from the mint only in exchange foi gold at par ; and should bo re-exchange able at the Treasury in convenient mul tiples for gold coin at par. Under this system there could bo no arbitrary con traction or expansion of the coin cur rency , nor any tampering with the standard of value , and the people would then carry to their credit in the ledger of the Treasury Department the profits upon the coinage of silver , nickel , and copper. "Many of our fellow citizens have hoped in all sincerity that the problem of the standard would be solved by in ternational bimetallism. An earnest effort has been made to realize that hope , but it must now bo abandoned. The only alternatives , therefore , are the continued maintenance of the existing gold standard , or the adoption of the silver standard. If the latter alterna tive be taken , the obligations of the United States , of the states , of all .mu nicipalities , of all private corporations , and of all individuals , the receipts of income from every source , the proceeds of policies of insurance , the deposits in banks and saving funds , and the wages of labor , will then bo payable in a de based and depreciated currency ; and individual and corporate bankruptcy , and , worst of all , national dishonor , will follow. If the former alternative be taken , and the necessary means be adopted to secure the stability of the gold standard , the credit of the country will be established ; the national debt can be refunded at lower interest rates ; the surplus capital of 'the world will come here to find profitable investment ; and our country will enjoy the prosper- pority that follows a currency system based upon a stable standard of value. "The means necessary to establish aud preserve popular confidence in the continued maintenance of the gold stan dard are : 1. "An explicit legislative definition of the gold standard , and a pledge that it will bo maintained. 2. "A requirement that all obliga tions , public and private , unless other wise stipulated in the contract , shall be payable in conformity with that stand ard. 8. "The adoption of a plan for the gradual retirement of the oxitstanding note-issues of the government. "As the gold deposited for certificates cannot be used by the government , and as the issue of gold certificates is of no advantage to the government or to the people , there does not seem to be any reason for their continued issue. " WHAT PKOTECTIONISTS DKSIKK FOR IIAIL,11OAI , > S IN THE UNITKU STATES. ( Extract from Now York Sun , July 10 , 1808. ) The American Railroads against the Canadian Pacific. The case to be heard by the Intei State Commerce Commission. Privi leges enjoyed by the Canadian company denied to American roads. A war that has degenerated into one of destruction. WASHINGTON , July 15. The Inter State Commerce Commissioners have set the case of the American Railroads against the Canadian Pa cific for a hearing at Chicago beginning August 1 at 10 oclock This action is taken in response to the representations made to the commission ers by the representatives of the West ern Passenger associations and others , to whom an informal hearing was grantee on Wednesday. The commissioners n-ofix their order notifying each of the railroads interested of the hearing with the following : WHEREAS , It has came to the atten- ion of the commission that there exists at the present time a contest in passenger rates between the Canadian Pacific Railway company , a corporation of the Dominion of Canada , upon the one tiand , and certain American lines ana ; heir connections , including the Grand Trunk Railway company of Canada , upon the other , and WHEREAS , It is charged by the Amer ican lines that the Canadian Pacific Railway company has been , and still is , in open violation of the act to regulate commerce , making unreasonably low rates between various points in the United States , not as a measure of legiti mate competition , but as a means of re taliation for the purpose of exacting certain unreasonable demands upon its part , and that such illegal conduct on the part of the Canadian Pacific Rail way mil result , if persisted in , in the utter demoralization of passenger rates over a largo portion of the United States and in incalculable damage to the interests of the American lines , all of which is either domed or justified by said Can adian Pacific Railway company ; and WHERE AS'It scorns advisable that the commission should be fully informed of the whole situation in respect to pas senger rates as induced or affected by the competition of the Canadian Pacific Railway , as above set forth , with a view to determining what , if any , relief caner or ought to be applied or suggested , or what action should bo taken in the premises. " An unofficial statement of the conten tion of the American roads is published , with the order of the commissioners. It is as follows : "The general policy of the United States government for the past genera tion has been that of protection to its industries , transportation as well as manufacturingniining and agricultural. To aid its shipping industries , it abso lutely prohibited any foreign vessel from participating in the transportation of traffic from one port of the United States to another port in the United States. It frequently occurs that a foreign ship comes into the port of New York with a cargo , discharges it , and then goes to New Orleans fora cargo of cotton for Liverpool. In that case it goes empty to New Orleans. In deed , it incurs expenses to take on bal last to enable it to get to New Orleans. Now , if it could participate in carrying our traffic , it would cheerfully take a cargo for Now Orleans at a nominal rate , but the merchant shipping to Now Or leans cannot avail liimself of the cheap rates which the foreign vessel could af ford , but pays the American shipowner instead whatever the service is worth. "An exception to this policy of pro tecting our own industries prevails in jpp2 , 'BA . .ft. ,