The weekly democratic statesman. [volume] (Austin, Tex.) 1871-1883, 1882-08-10
Defending silver.

The venerable Thurlow Weed
sends the following scathing letter
to the editor of the New York
Tribune:
New YORK, July 6.-To the Ed
itor-Sir: ask leave to submit to
the readers of the Tribune brief
reply to your severe denunciation of
silver in this mornings paper. II
the secretary OF the treasury would
obey a law of congress the SUBJ
treasury vaults would soon be re-
lieved from an increasing and oner-
GUS amount of legal tender silver
dollars. In the prosecution of
war for the protection of the gov
ernment of the Union nearly $2,000,-
100000 were borrowed. The foreign
creditor sold his gold for greenbacks
at premium ranging from so to 100
per cent and then exchanged his
greenbacks for per cent govern
ment bonds at par. Those bonds,
principal and interest, were payable
sin COIN" When our bonds COM
manded premium varying from IL
to 20 per cent, silver coin was
stealthily demonetized-so stealthi-
ly that not a leading journal was
aware that the country had been de-
prived of one-half of its legal-tender
money; and even now, though |
have repeatedly asked by whom and
tor what purpose that most impor-
tant sentence was smuggled into a
bill whose title did not reveal the
secret, no information has been
elected. L assume, therefore, that
1T was done, as was admitted in Ger
many, "to increase the purchasing
power of gold" 1t was conspiracy
of capital against lobor, originating
in Europe and responed to in Amer
lea.
Some facts connected with this
modern crusade against silver can
not too often be reiterated. Silver
had been "money current with the
merchants" from the time that men
began to buy and sell unto the Shy
locks of the present generation de-
manded their ''pound of flesh"
Abraham paid for a family
burying place in sheckels of silver.
In the seven years of famine Jacob
for corn, but put silver in their sacks
with which the staff oflife was to be
purchased. On their return Benja-
min received 800 pieces of silver
from his brother Joseph. Judas
Iscariot, who is presumed to have
been a good judge of money, sold
our Saviour for thirty pieces of sill
yer. Even now silver is money cur
rent with the merchants" in half of
the geographical and numerical
world. England, while repudiating
silver at home, recognizes il In In
dia; and here the enemies of silver
stultify themselves by consenting TO
accept it as legal-tender for small
sums. While railing at the silver
dollar, no lisp is heard against the
millions of subsidiary silver i'm cir
culation. Indeed, the silver half
dollar, quarter-dollar and dime are
business and financial necessity.
These coins circulate every
where at par, and though intrinsi-
cally as valuable, the silver dollar is
arbitrarily quoted at twelve per
cent below par. The absurdity of
this pretense is shown by the fact
that no silver dollars are either
bought or sold twelve per cent be-
low par, and by the other fact that
hundreds of thousands of silver dol
lars are in circulation at par. The
shopkeeper, grocer, butcher, baker,
farmer, mechanic and laborer, are
constantly receiving and paying in
their daily transactions silver dollars
at par. The government, however,
instead OF paying its debts i'll coin
according to law, allows silver dol
lars to remain in its vaults. The
bankers and banks also repudiate
them. In effect, therefore, in disre-
gard of the constitution and in vio-
lation of law, we have gold for the
rich and silver tor the poor. In the
words of one of General Jackson's
veto messages, the warfare against
silver "makes the rich richer aud
the poor poorer" Il. w.