THE FARMER AND THE CURRENCY. obo 



was seriously impairing its credit and that of its peo[)le.* 

 The United States, wliile nominally on a bimetallic basiS; 

 because gold and silver of its own coinage are both legal 

 tender in unlimited amounts, is really upon a gold basis, 

 because the United States stands pledged to redeem the silver 

 in gold. We receive a silver dollar at the same value as a 

 gold dollar, not for the silver there is in it, nor wholly because 

 it is legal tender, but because of the promise of the United 

 States to see that we get gold for it. If we should lose faith in 

 that promise, silver dollars would depreciate. Should its legal 

 tender function also be withdrawn. United States dollars would 

 be worth no more than Mexican. So long as we have faiih in 

 the promise of the United States, the withdrawal of its legal 

 tender function would make no difference in its value in 

 ordinary transactions. National bank notes are not legal 

 tender, but we accept them without question, or caring any- 

 thing about the banks which issue them, because we know 

 that the United States will redeem them, if the banks fail. 



Upon the failure to sustain silver by monthly purchases, 

 and after international conferences had made it evident that 

 no international agreement for the remonetization of silver 

 could be reached, the advocates of silver in this country cut 

 their bridges and took the only position which it was possible 

 to take with any show of reason. They demand that we open 

 our mints to the free coinage of silver, by whomsoever 

 deposited, at the ratio of sixteen to one, and that the silver so 

 coined shall be legal tender in unlimited amounts, for all 



*The expression in the text means exactly what it says. The business, and espe- 

 cially the creditor, classes did not believe that the United States were rich enough 

 to make good the difterence between the market and our legal ratio of all the 

 silver in the. world, nor did they believe the people would long submit to be taxed 

 even to make good the difference on the amount then authorized to be purchased. 

 They did not know what would happen, but were sure things could not go on 

 as they were. Hence they began to press for gold while they could get it, and 

 refused to lend more money except on gold contracts, and then with much 

 caution, or to undertake any new enterprises. We could not get trusted to the 

 extent of the difference between the bullion value and the face value of all silver 

 which we might choose to coin. 



