Mineral Point tribune. (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1869-1938, 1878-01-09
Dep1ocfsted Silver and . Single
COINAGE.

tizst ton claims to be in favor Of . bi
metallic system Of coinage. TheJour
nal wants such system in reality,
and not IN name only. We have OF.
ten urged that the coinage and le-
galization Of deprecated silver dol
lar would have the effect to reduce
the country to single standard
that of silver-whiIe the standard Of
the other great commercial nations is
either gold or equalized gold and sill
YER. An American gentleman, now
in London, writes as follows:
If the Silver bill nov before Congress be-
comes law it will be most disastrous to the
credit of the United States. If the Legislators
Of the United States could only realize the in
jury they do TO the credit OF their country BY
threatening the reputation OF it's debts in one
form or another, IL would be better for all con.
cerned. II would seem their desire, after their
credit of their country by years OF patient labor
and self-denal mas been raised TO the highest
point possible under existing circumstances to
do their best to destroy it. They have succeed
ed just ut present in rendering United States
Government bonds entirely unstable in this
market N.ondon) IN any large amounts. Ifthc
Silver bill passes, with free coinage, and the
price Of silver bars does not largely advance
(Which Is improbable), very soon not gold
dollar will be seen in the United States.
Now, here Is o real danger 1t is
the folly Of dodo to be blind to it,
The advocates of q silver-dollar coin
age, worth less than its face in paper
money, il they have their own way,
will bring about just the opposite
result from the one they seek to ac-
complish. They must remember
that certain fundamental laws of f.
nance or commerce prevail which
override or ignore entirely acts Of
Congress. Not to be intimidated by
threats is one thing, but to be oblivious
OF the inevitable is quite another
thing. Legislation tending to still
harder times wolld not have the op-
posite effect because designed to
work relief.
The New York Tribune of a late
date contains severed interviews with
Congressman who voted for the Bland
bill, but who protest they did so un-
der mental protest. Conspicuous
among them is Senator McDonald,of
Indiana. He disapproves OF the
measure, but says he would not know
how to meet his constituents if he
opposed it. Any member of Congress
who goes contrary to his honest con.
victions in this matter is peculiarly
i,npolitic. If Mr.. Mcdonald has
Judgment enough to see the disas-
trous effect Of driving out gold, and
he probably has, then surely he ought
to have common sense enough to see
that the best thing he could do, so
far as concerns his own popularity,
would be to resist the measure. His
constituents will condemn or approve
his course according to its practical
results. If the bill should become a
law and work disastrously, woe to
the Congressman who voted for it.
The people will not excuse them on
the score that they merely did so in
response to populor clamor. They
will forthwith forget that there was
any such clamor, or hold that states
men should know better than to lead
the country into difficulty; that the
national legislators ought to be above
the demagogy of being swayed by
tho "yipper yapper" of the more in
considerable class in the community
Not few OF those now red-hot for
the Bland bill will yet protest that
they never did approve the measure,
and that no man fit for Congress
could hav voted for it. In other
words, it is not important, even from
the standpoint of mere popularity
seekers, that ones position should
he indorsed in advance. Everything
depends upon his having taken the
position which events prove to have
been taken for the public interest,"
Chicago JoWndi