Little Falls transcript. [volume] (Little Falls, Morrison County, Minn.) 1876-1894, 1879-07-31
The s'Greatest of Frauds"

The "greatest of frauds" the Warner silver
bill, proposed to allow the speculaters who
own immense mines to bring IS cents worth
of silver to the United States mint, have it
coined, and then compel the rest of the reople
to take this IS cents worth of silver in full
payment for dollars worth of anything they
had for sale. We believe in remonetizing
silver as it has been done,--the government
buying the bullion, and the government (that
is the whole people, not the few owners of
silver mines, as per the Warner billy to have
the advantage of the diference-for the whole
people will have to stand whatever loss there
may be in future re-coinage to conform to the
hi-metalic standard, which is likely soon to be
arranged by convention of all commercial
nations.-Frons the Sher6urne County STAR,
July25.
The St. Cloud Journal Press, of June
IL, denounced the Warner silver bill
for the stated reason that it provid es
that bullion may be sold to the govern
ment at the price for which it was sold
on the market the week prviously !" and
now the Star is indignant for the alleged
reason that according to the Warner bill
the few owners of silver mines, and not
the whole people, would shave the ad~
vantage of the difference" between the
value of the bullion and the value of the
coined metal. Now the trouble with the
editors Of the above named papers is the
same as that with which good many
other Republican editors are afflicted
lack Of information. We,do not believe
that either one Of them has ever read the
Warner bill. At any rate they know
nothing of its provisions; and for their
especial benefit and instruction we print
the part of the bill bearing upon the
question under consideration as follows {:
Part of Section 8. Any owner of silver bull
lion may deposit the same at any mint to be
formed into bars or into standard dollars of
the weight of 4123 grains troy for his benefit,
and no deposit of silver for other coinage shall
be received.
Part of Section 4. The charges for con-
yerting gold and silver bullion into coin shall
be tho difference between the market value
of the bullion in New York city and the legal
tender value of the coin.
Part of Section 8. All certificates for gold
or silver bullion shall be issued at the average
market value of such bullion in standard coin
ST the Same metal at New York and San Fran
cisco for the week next preceding such de-
posit.
The above quotations from the bill
show that it does not provide for the sale
of bullion to the government, as the
Journal Press states and that it does not
give the difference in the value ofbullion
and Of coined metal to the owners of sill
yer mines, as stated by the Star. But in
justice to these papers we will concede
that their views on the Warner silver
bill and on the currency question in gen.
eral are as near correct as the views of
a large majority of the Republican pa
pers. But in relation to that bill, we re-
gard as unnecessary and unwise the
terms which recognize difference be>
tween the market price of silver bullion
and the value Of the coined metal. No
dlsinterested person, who has informed
himself on the silver question, will deny
that the present depressed price Of silver
bullion is due wholly to the enactment of
laws in the United States and other coun-
tries for the especial benefit of the bond
holders and money lenders of the world.
The enactment of these laws wac un.
questionably procured by fraud and
bribery. In 1878, when silver was de-
monetized in the United States, and the
coinage Of the standard silver dollar was
and the movement in Europe
to prohibit the coinage of silver had been
fully organized, the silver dollar of the
United States was worth MORE than
the gold dollar. And in Europe it was
openly argued that the abundance of
gold and silver money was such as to be
to the interests of the holders
of bones and mortgages, and that the
coinage of one of the metals must be
stopped. There was at that time no in
dication that the relative value of gold
and silver would change; because the
large production of the silver mines was
fully balanced by the annual production
of gold. Every step that has been made
toward depressing silver in its relation to
gold has been marked by corruption,
fraud and crime, and it is the duty of
each country to enact laws to restore s,l>
yer to its ancient and proper use as mon
ey. -. .s. 49,. ...:.,. -.