An Open Letter To The Detroit Evening News

Mr. Editor - Sir: Your article in last Saturday's News, on the silver question, attributing the accumulation of the standard dollurs ni the goveniment vanlts to tbe whims of the executive in persistmg to pay bonds with gold instead of standard dollars, at the expense of hoarding the dollars in the vaultsto deprecíate their monetnry standard, and letting the bonds continue to draw interest, is indeed and excellent specimen of that line of argument which the organs of monopolista and capitalists are torced to present in discusRing questions of political economy, in order to protect their own interests with a seeming show of reason. In all your former argumenta on questions of political economy, yon have stood firmly on the solid rock of the great fundamental truths govermng with irresistftble sway man's industries in the manifold relation of supply and demand; and on many an occasion you have demonstrated with irresistable force of argument tbe fact that all artificial tampering with these laws of trade, although followed by a temporary apparent gain, is inevitably followed by loss when the natural rebound ocotvrs. I doubt not but that you are 8bundantly able to give a show of reason for your present position on the sil ver question, but, sir, your most ingenious argument must recall to the thinking mind the words of Albion's Solomon: "Whatdamned error.butsome sober brow will bless it and approve it with a text hiding the grossness with fair ornamest. The seeming truth which cunnmg times put on to entrap the wiseet." It would indeed be a useless task to attempt to instruct you on the great fundamental truths underlying the silver question, for you know them far better than the writer, as you have shown in many a classical argument, and henee I will brierly content myself with calling to your recollection a few facts which you seem to have forgotten : W hen our government issued its bonds it pledged the faith of the nation to redeem them, dollar for dollar, in dollars which are dollars all the world over, not in dollars which are dollars only in the domain of :he U. S. In those days silver had not depreciated and the quantity of silver in ;he silver dollar was then v;ry nearly equal to the actual valué of the gold dollar, and in the payment of international debts the silver dollar occupied more the relation of cents in the exohange than of actual valué, for the present aspect of the silver question was then an unknown and unthought-of factor in the markets of the world. In all buiness transactions the common law of civilized nations requires that both parties to the transaction ahall understand it in all its hearings; that one shall not commit a wilful frand without giving the other full legal redress . Now, sir, do you really think tnat the people of foreign lands would have bought our government's bonds if there had then been known the slightest suspicion that these bonds would some future day be called in to be paid with dollars which are actually 20 per cent. less than the face value of the bond in the markets of the world? Surely, sir, if this fact had tben been known this 20 per cent. would have been deducted from the actual price paid for the dollar of the bond. During the last two decades silver has fallen in value almost 20 per cent. and in order to manufacture an artificial market for the western mines, our government in its infinite wisdom, instructed and coached by the silver kings of America, has ordered the comage of the silver dollar which has 20 per cent. less of silver than its face value in comparison with the gold dollar, the standard of the world's unit of value. Your pen, sir, has exposed this wrong in all its hearings. Bightfully have you argued in days passed that if this coinage were stopped now these dollars would eventually pas into circulation without depreciating materially values in general, for they would be absorbed and pass for exchange more or less like cents, without affecting the credit of the country or of the individual. Of late, however, you have changed, and now you want this coinage of stamping 80 cents worth of silver with the dollar mark continued and the debt of the nation paid with this coin. You know that this must inevitably resul t in s crash to the nation itself, for it is an arficial inüation of 20 per cent. So far I have not seen your argument on its bearing on the obligations of the nation, but this much you must know, that these bondholders are the very men who have in the dark days of our history given their good standard money to help our government fight the rebellion, and that our government could not have fought this war without the money from these very bonds which you now want paid with a dollar of a value 20 per cent less than the dollar bargained for in the bond. That the nation owes a debt to the vallient men who offiered their Uves for the support and perpetuation of the re public, is amply recognized by the acts of every congress since the war, but let it not be forgotten that this nation also owes an honeet debt to those men who offiered their money, and that this debt should honestly be paid, dollar for dollar, with dollars which are dollars the world over. Respectfully, C. Geokqe. Ann Arbor, Feb. 8, 1886. In speaking of Gen. Weaver's bill providing for the election of United States senators by the people, the Ovid Union hits the nail on the head as follows: "The people can just as well be trusted with the work of selecting United States senators as with the work of selecting men who shall select the senators. If senators are pecuharly representatives of the si ate, as held, their selection should properly be determined by the action of the people of the state, without the ïnterference of any agency susceptible to inrluences that woiild not affect the peo pie at large." Mr. Cleveland has earned a reputation for stregth of will. He can never make abetter display of that quality thau by making a firm stand from the tirst against senatorial encroachments. By submithng to the claim ho will be on the defensive through his whole term, and will have little time for other duties after answering all the senatorial questions with reasons which the senate will cali excuses. The issue has come up again whether congress will be supreme or whether the balances established by the constitution are to be preserved. On this occasion the ïxecutive is strong and has the country nith lnm. Let him stiffen his back and stay to the last. - Kansas City Times.