Wood River times. [volume] (Hailey, Idaho) 1882-1915, 1885-09-30
the PRESIDENTS POLICY on
TRIAL.


sio. Of President Cleveland, his policy
as developed by his Cabinet and i'm
subordnates is to be submit.
ted to the people for their indorse.
,nent; as ia the State of New York,
where there will he general election
IN about six weeks, the Republicans
have pronounced in favor of "honest
money!" while the Democrats have
made common cause with the admin
istrAtion and the gold bugs Of Wall
street oy pronouncing against the
coinage and circulation OF silver.
While the lines are not as sharply
drawn, as clcar-cut as we might wish
them to be. still, as New York is so
Tar East, we feel that, in their en-
phatic demand for continuance Of
the circulation OF "hones, r. oney," the
Republicans have done as much as
they possibly coull, for the present,
to reha bilitate silver aud silver mining
in the minds Of the people Of the Unit.
ed States.
The issue being defined, it will be
interesting to watch the progress of
the campaigns, to note the Importance
which the silver question will attain in
the canvass, and the bearing which it
will Nave upon the result. If the Re
publicans carry the State, the Admin
istration will receive check from
which it will hardly recover, and it
will fall in the estimation of the peo-
pie to such an extent that it will be
unable to tampet with silver to our
detriment. If, on the other hand, the
Democrats secure victory, the gold
bugs may be able to exert sufficient
pressure upon Congress to compel 1t
to pass their pet measure, suspend the
further coinage of silver, and thus ct
feet their real object, which is the
shutting.down Of every mine in the
West in order to force capital to the
Southern States.
But whatever may he the outcome
in Now York we feel confident that the
resulting advantage to the gold bugs
Of victory there will be short-lived
Silver being the money of the poor
and positively indispensable to nine
teon-twentieths Of the people on thu
face OF the earth, any attempt to de
monetizc it is certaia to cause wide
spread disaster and ruin, and to result
in tho immediate downfall OF any ad
ministration which shall be sufficient
ly short.sighted to enforce it.
What is to he feared, however,
that the gold bugs may preponderat
for time, force silver down below
lOD-only four "points" lower than n
present-and thus compel the shu,
ting down of all the silver and silver
lead mines Of the West This woul,
inaict upon us blow from which "
could not recover during the preser
generation. For, let our mines ono
be closed, and the capital invested
them thus be lost, and it would r.
quire at least halt century of eifo
to reestablish confidence in them an
induce new investments.
This may seem Improbable to som
but i, will not so appear to those Fl
miliar with mining matters in OF
nsighboring Republic OF Mexico al
elsewhere. In that country, aft
years Of an exceedingly liberal pole
under which hundreds OF millions
dollars were extracted from the bowe
of the earth, the Government suddel
ly assumed supervision which prove
80 onerous that nine after mine VI
closed down, until not one RENAME
in operation! Our experience in til
country will be similar. Let the a
ministrst,on once depart from the Ii
eral policy which has fostered and d
yeloped our mining resources to tn
extent that We were enab ed to {
that which no country has ever dol
before by paying off a stupendous II
tionsl debt. and our mines will
compelled to suspend operations al
relapse to that condition Of idlene
end u"productiveness !" which '
found those of Old Mexico, \ fe
years ago.