President Cleveland has vetoed the " Silver Seignorage Coinage Bill."
This was passed by Congress in order to swell the amount of silver-currency, or rather of paper-currency based on silver, the Treasury having accumulated vast masses of the metal paid in for seignorage. The President points oat to Congress that the effect of this policy is to increase the currency based on silver, which already exceeds Z136,000,000 sterling; while the gold notes, amounting to £59,000,000, are backed by a gold reserve of only £20,000,000. He wants, therefore, not to deplete that reserve, but to increase it. The argument is clear enough, the cheaper metal pushing out the dearer one ; but the Silver party intend to introduce at once a Free-Coinage Bill. They may pass it, for both Republicans and Democrats are afraid of the Silver men, and average Americans have got firmly hold of the notion that the more coinage there is in the country the richer the people will be. One-third of the farmers, moreover, are mortgaged up to the value of their farms, and they would rather pay interest in depreciated silver, than in anything else. We fear the Ame- rican people have still to suffer heavily before they leave currency to the experts, as they would astronomy, and only insist on as little flactuition as c in be secured.
