The daily intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, Wash. Territory [i.e. Wash.]) 1876-1881, 1877-12-15
The Burning" Financial Ques-
ton.
From the New York GrsphieI

From the New York Graphiel
The silver war wakes hot. The news
papers of the seaboard ere pursuing q
course so reckless as to be surprising.
They not only ignore the facts in the
case. but they give currency to the
most erroneous views on this now
burning" question. They say deliber-
ately that the tender Of silver dollar
in payment Of United' States bond
would be reputation, and this in the
face Of the expressed terms printed
upon every bond issued within the last
ten years by the government. On the
FIVE per cent four and one-half per
cent and four per cent bonds The state
ment is made that "this loan was issued
in accordance with the act of the l4th
of June, 1870" and that the bonds are
payable in the acoin current at the
tune" of the passage Of that act. As
every tyro knows. the coin then current
was the silver dollar of 412a grains.
For the United States To permanently
change the unit of value 50 as to add
tc the burdens of the community would
be ms unwise as it would be wrongful
OF course, it is to the advantage of the
rich--say Of one person in every 100, 900
persops--to have unit Of value which
will universally reduce prices. The man
who is worth 81 600. 900 practically be-
comes worth one-third as much more if
the prices Of everything, as compared
with his money, are reduced one-third.
II it cost him $500. 600 to buy piece
Of property six years ago and only
5000. .OG0 to buy it to-day, he is so much
richer. This is what the conspiracy Of
the rich men effected when they
de,nonetized the silver dollar in
February. 1878. BY adopting the gold
unit they changed the standard and in
creased tho value Of gold, which fact is
shown by the cheapening of every arti-
Gle since that time Silver to-day will
buy - much of the products of human
industry as it would six years ago. and
it is absurd to say that we want to de-
base the currency, when silver bears
about the same relation to all other ar
ticles of commerce a. it did in 1870. 1t
is gold alone that has changed. That
has been srti1cially enhanced in value
for the benefit Of the bondholders and
the very rich. Since human govern
ments were instituted. there has been
no more outrageous attempt to add to
the burdens of the community, for the
benefit Of the very rich, than was the
decentralization of silver effected simul-
tsneously. and secretly in this country
and Germany in 1878. The debtor class
is always the dominant one in this
country, for we are debtor nation. 1t
is large because cnterprising business
men are compelled TO secure credit in
order to engage in industrial occups-
tions. The change to gold unit OF
value was distiuct Injustice to ninety
nine out of every hundred of persons
engaged in business in the United
States. 1t added to the burdens of our
debts aud the nation has been stagger-
ing under the load. and is yet to endure
more suffering if the gold unit is main
tanned The robbers and the spectators
are the maintainers of the gold unit of
value. The press of New York repre-
sents. not the community. not the inter-
est If the American people, but only
the greed of millionaires, Of bondhold-
crs, in insisting upon the payment Of
our national bonds and individual debts
in currency very much dearer than that
in which the obligations were con-
tracted