The anti-monopolist., 1877-05-17


equally valuable with gold, was it not
for the fact that gold has value at
tached to il by the laws of the world
! which the other metals have not. For
example:-you take two watch chains,
Of nearly equal weight, made after
the same pattern, equally beautiful
| externally with acid. proves to be gold,
| yet one is worth ten dollars and the
other is worth one hundred dollars.
| Whyl Because the inside of one is
/ filled with German silver. s'oreide' or
some other '.base" metal, while the
other is gold throughout. If you
weresto exhibit those chains in a coun-
try where gold had no intrinsic value
as money ,one of them would be worth
nOtt
The Pioneer-Press continues:
diamonds are not money. You
cannot eat them or drink them or
weave them into garments. They
have hardly any value whatever, ex-
cept as they crafty the rooted human
passion for costly ornament, the pre-
vailing vanity of all peoples and tribes,
savage and civilized. And yet dia-
mond IS worth many times its weight
IN gold III exchange value.
Simply becauseit is not in the power
Of human art to create an artificial
gem that will equal the diamond in
brillancy, or that will not be reeog-
niZed at once as ''paste.' But the
diamond is simply carbon. coal; now
it the secret Of nature could be dis
covered. whereby they were made ,alld
they could be turned out of the labor
atory Of the chemist by the nushel,
does the Pioneer-Press pretend that
the natural diamond would continue
to be s'worth many times it's weight
in gold. = No. But if the law then
stepped in and declared that every
natural diamond should be accepted
, as legal tender, in the payments Of
debts. at given rate, the natural
, diamond would be worth the sum Sc
: fixed, while the artificial diamond
would be ranked as base counter.
felt.
The Pioneer Press continues:
+ Mr.. Donnelly, with singular per
versity of reasoning, insists that gold
and silver are desired for ornamental
purposes only. because of their money
value. Why he should assume that
: the value Of the precious metals Ii
governed by q law different from that
which governs the value Of the prec
ious stones he does not tell u.s. As I
matter of fact and history we know
5 that gold and silver were highly
]. valued for ornamental purposes lons
!. fbefore they were used for money"
;. So were brass and copper and iron
\ The savage woman of to-day takes al
J much satisfaction out Of her coppel
q rings, the size Of a keg-hoop, as hel
civilized sister does from her goll
and silver adornments. In fact silve,
<fis little used for purposes of ornamen
now-a-days,it its pale, white, dead hue il
far inferior in attractiveness to man,
compounds Of other metals. Henc'
when three or four nations deInone
!, tized silver it fell rapidly in value
c if all mankind had demonetiZed it tht
e Comstock Lode would not have beer
t worth as much az Galena lead mine
This is the proof of the pudding am
| the summing up Of the argument.
The Pioneer Press continues:
!, Now though the universal demon
: etization OF gold and silver woult
, throw a vast amount of coin into tn,
: bullion markets and greatly depre
ciate these metals for the time being
:. they would still be very much mort
: desirable for their intrinsic beauty
! and utility than any other kind Of or
. namental metals, and the presumption
that their greater cheapness would
destroy the demand for them for or
Il namental purposes. is infinitely ab
e surd This might be 50 If. like dia
}. monds, they were purely ornamental
but metals like gold and silver, whose
ornamental qualities are blended Will
/ so many intrinsicallv useful ones
: would be sought for and desired IL
r exact proportion to their cheapness
! for there is no possible substitute TO
them. IL silver tea pots and golt
u spoons were within reach of the mil
Il lion, instead of the thousand. the mil
j. lion would have them, the only differ
= ence being that the wealthy wouIt
have more and the poor less. As Mr.
: Jones says "These metals are endowel
with such singularly useful properties
d that if we could get them in sufficien
IT abundance they would supplant al
the other metals in the manufacture
of household utensils, ornaments
g fittings Of all kinds and an infinitt
l. multitude of small articles which ar