Bozeman avant courier. [volume] (Bozeman, Mont.) 1872-1882, 1878-02-14
THE SILVER FRENZY.
1.-THE Nation, January 24th, 1873. I

ar led then as soon as the war was over to
nd throw their traditional hard-money doc
n trines overheard and take up the once
5. hated greenbacks as the best possible cur
~ rency. 1t has been strengthened by t ne
e. gradual apostasy Of large bodies of Re
of publicans, partly under the influence of I'M
ps principled Leadership and partly under The
as pressure Of hard times. 1t is thus break
oy ing up both parties. Neither can come out
in of it as it went in. 1t is gradually leading
IN to the combination OF more rational and
in patriotic men Of both in defence of honest
aud civilized government, and with this
Il combination the best interests Of Southern
n politicians lie. OF course there are plenty
e Of materials for dark view Of the future
v of the United States. as of every modern
d state. but the conditions Of good and sue
0 cessfill government are well known; and if
experience be of any value in human af-
faixs, the influence of such men as are now
dragging the country towards reputation
and fraud must pass, and their schemes be |
discredited and exploded. They have no
future: they are not persons to be counted
on or supported. The best allies Of the
Eoutlf are those men Of both parties at the
North Who think and reason and foresee,
and are Fl. miliar with the causes of national
prosperity as revealed by history, and do
not, like Sitting Bull, imagine that what
ever they 90 NOT remember or have never
heard of never happened.
?. The silver mo, 'ement is true frenzy.
such as often seiz IS or large bodies of men
in times of danger or S; 'ffering, and is sup
ported by decisions pre- csely similar to :
those which in more ignorant and eXc;ta- .
bic communities have led tv frigtfil ex-
cessos. 1t must, therefor 2. whether it sue :
ceeGs in proc ring legislat, III " not. soon .
come to an end. In another ,ear It is most !
probable politicians will be L'eny 'rg they 9
ever ''took stock in it, or even knew :
much about it. 1, is one of Il. 2 kind OF
frenzies, too. to which the West, wing to =,
its isolation and selfcontidence and impa- y
ticnce and contempt for ':abroad,'' us s'tan- :,
ley Matthews says, seems to be grow g :,
increasingly liable. The Granger move =
ment was the last, and it is impossible to .
say what the next will be. In proof and
of this let us remark that it is
based on a story for the like of which in c.
one has to go back in Anglo
Saxon history to the witch-trials, and in ha
French history to the first Revolution
viz, that band OF European capitalists Ra
.ame or sent agents to America in 1870 and lin
'eg;n secretly to procure the passage of an PR
ct for the demonstration of silver, which on
hey kept for three yeats before two Con- on
'resses and two committees, and had print Wi
d thirteen times, and finally got passed. ~ ~
IL the while concealing its real nature from moi
ne 1927 legislators and from he President her
nd from the reporters Of the newspapers hay
nd all this in order to raise the price of spr
,eir own bonds. There is no more ridcu- LA I',,'
MS story than this in political history, ali
III the 1act that 1t has secured wide Gre line
snce in a country like this. with suclr a up
'ess as ours, is in itself proof of diseas sue
state of the public mind Al =
The movement receives no support from
" scientific man, or any man at home II
abroad who has made study of cur
ncy or is accepted as an authority on it
re or in Europe. All the leading bi-met-
lists denOunce or ridcue it. and point III
t its obvious consequences: and the fact annt
1T what they say makes no impression I'h
latever on the s;lyer-men. any more than felt d
would on insane persons. is another note erai
'rthy characteristic Of the agitation. De'
nally, no silver-man, as tar as our Obser- ~ n'
+loI has gone. defends his plan with ra- were
nallty or conference. The same person Io'
i maintain in the same article or speech IL
It '.the money kings procure,l the do the c
MEDITATION of silver because tbev t,nov. made
vas going to fall in snito of them md :, brain
Ter to make il fall. that If fell hoo.usa healt
threw great quantities Of it not
of use: that little or none Of II w,s in Mari;
"a tact). but that demonstration has Italy,
'chievously prevented its coming into prles
that the debtor is entitled to the bene- nal In
IF the fall, the contract having beon on til
lie in either metal: that if remonetizad Greg
'ould rise, and the fall would disappear: acts
there never has been any fall at all, the dognl
earance OF fall having been caused by 1904 !;
rise in gold; that ''cheap'' money-that the D'
money of small purchasing power-is a Gu II
"a thing for the laboring man, so that doctrl
less he gets for his dollar the better off
$; and, finally, that the capitalists and
kers of the civilized world are opposed.
interest, to the rival of industry and the
sperity of other classes of the commun- CHI
and prefer making profits by ':plots'' Wash
''corspracies' to making it by the missile
liar business of production and ex- his bill
lge. Indian
ow, we only need to state these tbinos. walton
nope. to SOutherners of ordinary intel tie eX
ice and education to convince them the en-
the silver movement draws all ;ts difiere
lgth either from decisions bordering
cal insanity-t},at kind of epidemic in
~ of which there are so many instances New
story-or the downright dishonesty of special
ly-burdened spectators, who think part o
even brief rise of prices would en- Comm
them to get rid of their commodities larger
ieir debts. 1t is not in alliance with ments
II lunatics or knaves, however. that now b.
south can hope for regeneration. A many
sand roads to prosperity have been lions '
by various people in various ages impoy
the dawn OF civilization, but one only
ever been found safe and easy for any
lie which have sought to be both free WAS
secure. and that lies through respect ported
'lighted faith, for just weights and on Pax
surcs, for upright Judges, and for the the tin
rded experience of mankind ANY ern p:
which, in civilized country, makes constr
OF these things may reign for while year, a
obs reign. but it cannot reign long. for land III
the social instincts of the race fight Oregon
nst it. on the
The ac
Ine colorado fraud Exposed. in the
cured
Re Tribune reviewing its Elkland Pa. acre.
oSDODdencp saws. rho tr,,o hss&,,,x . g r.oto,..