Article in Successful Americans of New York - 1900

A Prominent Dry Goods Merchant, and Interested in Reform Movements in New York.

IN reviewing that phase of the campaign which is comprehensively termed the "Money question," there are very few men in civil life who have labored more effectively in the cause of Sound Money than Louis Windmuller. By speeches, writings and every other form of propaganda, he has known how to spread the truth on this all-important question.  One of the oldest advocates of a stable currency, he put his ideas in practice nearly forty years.  As a merchant, when, the banks suspended specie payments in 1861, he caused the books of his concern to be kept on a gold basis until their resumption.  He always remained a resolute opponent of the free coinage of silver and of the issue of irredeemable paper currency. His famous speech against Free Silver, delivered in the Cooper Union, on February 1, 1891, was an able exposition of his views on this question and was widely quoted at the time in the leading New York newspapers, especially the Journal of Commerce.

He was the first Treasurer of the Sound Currency Committee of the Reform Club, formed in 1891, when many thousands of dollars were placed at his disposal for the establishment of a literary bureau. This committee, of which Mr. Windmuller is still a member, has probably done more to disseminate useful information on the subject than any other organization in the country.

Mr. Windmuller was one of the most active' members of a similar committee in the New York Chamber of Commerce. In concert with Messrs. Trenholm, Healy and Hentz, he protested, on behalf of the New York Merchants, against free coinage of silver before the House Coinage Committee in Washington, in February, 1891. He wrote many articles to demonstrate the folly of every attempt ever made to fix values by legislation. These were given wide circulation in the columns of prominent newspapers and magazines, a notable contribution to the North American Review bearing the title "Silver and Wages."

Mr. Windmuller is a member of numerous charitable organizations and, as one of its trustees, takes the greatest interest in the efficient management of the Legal Aid Society, which furnishes gratuitous help to countless needy persons.