The semi-weekly miner. [volume] (Butte, Mont.) 1882-1886, 1882-01-18

escape the ~ OeS ~
y by IN anbiguously wososd poseae
confession Il IL wruaedoing, wh'ea
NAV mean little or much. according =
the eredulity Of the re&des, and BY scss
terine comments upon tie 11NsR's n
ticas AZ yesterday morning, which com.
| u,ents prove nothing, unless we excsP'
the ignorance the writer. The 4INss
raised the point that the later Aos''''
sain's articles upon the silver question
were liable to do . grave injury to the
interests Of the silver producers OF th,a
section BY being quoted BY those In the
ea.t Who are not - well acquainted
With the character and stauding Of that
Journal % this community h. We fur
thermore sta ed that its utterances were
more in harmony with those heard
around the London Exchange and Wal
street than in the Rocky Mountains
among people who through the silver
producing industry were enabled 10 1ur'
nish it with it's bread and butter. In
its endeavor. to parry oil the force OF
these charges it bubbles with WORDS
makes miastatcments Of facts and lug
in matter foreign to the subject which II
attempts to discurs. 1t devotes much Of
its space in an attempt to disprove our
assertion THAT silver, intrinsically, Is OF
more value than gold" While the
truth or falsity Of the statement has
nothing to do with the betrayal of the
interests of this community, the Inter
Mountain blindly attacked it and SIM
ply proved itdoes not know the deffni-
milton of the word ''intrinsic."
A few words will show this. Silver,
gold, metals Of all kinds, and in fact
everything We ct, drink and wear have
not only an intrinsic value, but also u
marketable, commercial and conven-
tional value. In many instances thu
intrinsic value of an article IL much
greater than its commercial value; In
others it IL much less. In speaking o.
gold and silver in . financial sense, w
refer to them Us bearing market, Of
commercial, or speculative value, bu'
never ~ bearing an intrinsic value. Thu
commercial value of silver 1T the presen,
time il 1l2l cents per ounce. Blu
divcst silver or gold Of its purchasing
power throughout the world, and it.
value would be less than that of iron
for iron 10 y more durable and hence
more valuable metal in the arts than
either of the former metals. Deprived.
Of their royalty the value Of gold ano
silver would he measured by the uses Il
which mankind could put them. The
extent to which they could add to thu
happiness and well-l,eing Of the people
would probably be fair measure o.
their intrinsic worth. Worcester, a
which the Inter Mountain.
surely will not question, defines Tin.
trinsic" ~ "derivcd from within; 1xe0
in the nature of things; inherent; in
ward; internal; Unborn; native; no,
.xtrinsic; real; genuine; true; es-
,cntial; not accidental" But no
where il it used III u symo
nym of marketable, CONNER
.ial, speculative or conventional. H.
Illustrate the application Of the word
'intri,,sic," we will employ homely
crll.s. For instance, the water cOmpa-
~ in this city charges private families !
wo and half dollars per month fo,
water fom it's hydrants. This 10 the COM
nerial or market value of water ut this !
'la..e, but its real, or inherent. or intrin- |
ic value is beyond computation, for
without it mankind would perish. w.
nay say the same Of the food We con-
un.e. Its market or commercial value,
ike silver, varies with its locality, but
Is real or intrinsic value is beyond
rice. We might continue comparisons
hut any student of political
n domestic economy knows what is |
meant Ivy the ''intrinsic valuc' of any
Irticle, and VIC care not to PURSUE
he matter further merely to cnlightcn
N ignorant contemporary. Had our ego
istical neighlWr said that the CONNER
ial value Of silver dollars was only
ighty-five cents, We should have merely
DIRECTED his nIisstatenent and proved
u him that our dollars arc worth :6
+l00 cents with silver ut H.! per
unce. Its incorrect calculations prove
he Inter- .lOuMfnin'x ignorance Of tho
',dincnts Of mathematics is et:uallcti
My hy that it displays in the use Of the
.ngiisI, language, and in either lit
lnOws far more than 1t does about the
liver question. The Letter.. fountain
,akeS one charge which We feel CONF
ellcd to notice. In its reckless den ial Of
ur assertion, that silver was lcn,one-
zeel by Il trick. it saws:
''lrhc MINER editor was probably
4 some remote region when this agita-
0n disturbed the public mind. and was
AUS ignorant of ito existence"
To this charge We fear we must plead