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About The Conservative (Nebraska City, Neb.) 1898-1902 | View Entire Issue (Aug. 4, 1898)
'Cbe Conservative. TIIK SII'VKK Tlio silver certi CimiCKXCY. ficates , being the ft ! expressed representatives , dollar for dollar , of silver dollars deposited , ought to continue to be exchangeable only for silver dollars. The face value of the subsidiary sil ver coins more largely exceeds their bullion value than is wise even in the case of token coins. They might bo called in and recoined ; but the expense and inconvenience of that operation are such as to render its postponement advisable. As the owners of a large stock of sil ver bullion , silver dollars , and subsi- diaiy silver , the people of the United States are directly interested in the con tinued use of silver as currency , pro vided that the silver can continue to be maintained at , a par with gold. The silver dollar is by reason of its size and weight an inconvenient coin to cany about the person , or to use in change. Most people , therefore , do not desire to use silver dollars as currency , if they can have , as representatives of the coin dollars , notes in denomina tions of $1 , § 2 and § 5. Even with the inducement of free transportation from the Treasury , it has never been possible to force into circulation at any one time an amount of silver dollars exceeding § 07,000,000 , and there are now outstand ing only § 60 , 19(5,778 ( , of wliich at least § 10,000,000 are held by the national and state banks. On the other hand , there are in circulation § 354,355,031 of notes of the denominations of $1 , § 2 and § 5 , of which $154,1)05,473 ) are silver certificates and § 199,389,558 are United States notes , Treasury notes of 1890 , and national bunk notes. Of the total amount of sil ver certificates outstanding , $154,064,473 are , as before stated , in denominations of § 1 , § 2 and § 5 , and § 229,205,031 , are in larger denominations. If , therefore , the United States notes , Treasury notes of 1890 , and national bank notes of the de nominations of § 1 , § 2 and $5 , be re tired , their places can be taken by a fur ther issue of silver certificates to the amount of § 199,389,558 in denomina tions of § 1 , § 2 and § 5 , and an equivalent amount of silver certificates of larger denomination be retired , leav ing of the § 229,205,031 now outstanding in larger denominations § 29,815,473 to be redeemed in silver dollars when pre sented for redemption. If , also , the sil ver dollars now in circulation and amounting to § 60,19.0,778 should bo de posited in the Treasury , the balance of § 29,815,473 of silver certificates in de nominations exceeding § 5 could bo re placed by an issue of silver certificates in denominations of § 1 , § 2 and § 5 , and there might , without any expansion of the present outstanding circulation , boa further issue of silver certificates in denominations of § 1 , § 2 and § 5 , amount ing to § 30,881,305 based upon the silver dollars so deposited. The place of the retired United States notes , Treasury notes of 1890 and national bank notes of small denominations would bo taken by an issue of notes of largo denom inations of the same kinds , so long as the United States notes and Treasury notes of 1800 are unredeemed. The effect of this plan will bo that the currency of the country of all de nominations below § 10 will be silver coin , and silver certificates based upon silver dollars held in the Treasury , sup- plemcnted by gold coins of the denom inations of § 2.50 and § 5. The government has received the full face value for all the silver dollars which have been put in circulation either in kind or by means of represent ative certificates. The silver coins differ from the note issues only in the fact that the material of wliich they are made has some market value as bullion. They are , nevertheless , as justly obliga tions of the government and as pro perly exchangeable at par for gold as the Um'ted States notes. A gold re serve must , therefore , bo provided for such exchange ; but as the retirement of the United States notes , Treasury notes of 1890 , and national bank notes of de nominations less than § 10 will leave the silver dollar , the silver certificates in de nominations of § 1 , § 2 and § 5 , the subsi diary silver , the minor coins , and the gold coins of the denominations of § 2.50 and § 5 as the only cuiToncy for small transactions , it is probable that the trade of the country will keep the silver and its representatives in circulation , and prevent 'the coming in of any con siderable quantity of that currency. It is also to be observed that when popu lar confidence shall have been restored as to the maintenance of the gold stand ard and the security of our currency system , there will bo no general desire to exchange silver dollars or silver cer tificates for gold , for the silver currency will then be , beyond question , as good as gold. The Treasury has an asset in its silver bullion not held against outstanding certificates , which may bo utilized by selling it from time to time , as the Ger man government has done with its sur plus silver. Of course , such sales should be carefully made in such quantities as not to xinduly depress the market for silver bullion. It is , therefore , sug gested that authority bo given to the Secretary of the Treasury to make such sales in his discretion. It may bo well to consider whether the sum of § 452,713,792 of silver dollar pieces , with seigniorage of over 50 per cent , which remain as the evidence of a serious danger to the existing standard , is not too largo to be permanently re tained in our currency ; and if this should prove to bo the case , whether a sufficient number of these silver dollars should not bo ultimately , although not immediately , withdrawn and sold as bullion. It is an essential part of a sound sys tem of finance , that the government should raise by taxation a revenue ade quate to its necessary expenditures. But as the revenues arc sometimes de ficient , it is advisable that power bo given to the Treasury to sell short-term bonds to supply such deficiency. Under existing legislation only long-term bonds can be sold ; and , if the govern ment comes into possession of a surplus , such bonds cannot be retired save by purchasing them at a premium. On the other hand , short-term bonds can , under a securely established currency system , be negotiated at low interest rates ; can be , if necessary , extended at maturity , and can bo retired by purchase in advance of maturity without a heavy loss in payment of premium. For sim ilar reasons it is suggested that long- term bonds should contain a reserved option to the government of retirement. It is to the interest of the government and of the people that all the people should have an equal opportunity of in vesting their savings in the obligations of the government when issued. As the mass of the people have not the nec essary facilities for the safe custody of bonds , it is suggested that a system bo adopted of inscription on the books of the Treasury , instead of bonds , similar to that which has long prevailed in the case of the English consols and the French rentes. Under this system it will be possible to place government loans by a really popular subscription. J. Laurence Laughlin. AVIIO DEMAND The widows and GOLD > orphans to whom pol icies of life insurance are duo iipon which a husband and father paid gold premiums for many yeai-s , demand gold. They are entitled to gold. Equity di rects that they bo paid in gold. The workers with hand and head , who have saved by frugality and solf-denial and deposited in banks hundreds of mil lions of dollars , demand gold. And they are justly entitled to it because only that metal , or its equivalent , can have the same purchasing power as the money they have entrusted to banks. "Who wants money with a constantly declining purchasing power ? Who then wants the unlimited free coinage of sil ver at 16 to 1 ? Is it wisdom to counsel farmers with short corn and wheat crops to attempt the mitigation of their mis fortunes by securing more half-bushel measures ? Ls it not equally wise to preach prosperity , for those who have nothing valuable to bo measured by money , through an expansion of the cur rency ? The farmer without grain to measure and the citizen without commod ities or services to sell have no need of an increase of measures either for cereals or other exchangeable valuables.
