National Republican. (Washington City (D.C.)) 1872-1888, 1886-01-30
"An Honest silver DoIiar,o

EDITOR NATIONAL REPUBLICAN,: az Me-
cbanic," Of Middleburg, Va, in the Post of
last Sunday, under the above caption, like
many Of his class, either from personal In
terest or want of information, is disposed
to decry the "dollar of our fathers now
In circulation, of dl2l grains, Troy
Says he, "What the people want is an
honest dollar Of 100 cents compared with
the gold dollar"
Let me ask who are the "peoplcr of
whom this astute "Mechancn is speakingY
lie certainly does not find them among the
wage laborer tho farmer, and the retail
merchant. | will answer the inquiry. He
finds them alone among the bondholders.
bankers, and the owners Of gold, and few Of
their dupes and pimps.
Now, Mr.. Editor, let us test the sincerity
OF this "MechaniC.n | get him to do a
piece Of work for me in his line, for which
the charges are 50. In payment OF this in
debtedness / tender him six "buzzardn
dollars Of 4l2l grains each; but say to
him, "These are dishonest dollars according
to your valuation Of them, and | do not
wish you to take them unless It is your
pleasure to do so, for they are the euuiya.
lent Of gold to me.n l then hand him
$50 gold piece and ask him to give me the
change in gold or in silver at the depreci-
ated price which he has put upon It of 81
cents on the dollar, which Is its price MS
bullion in the London market today.
There would be Sl4 in change coming To
me, If paid in silver at his deprecated
value-for he may not be able to give me
my change in gold-and, being honest, he
would be under the necessity Of giving me
1904, leaving him but $500 as the price of
his work.
Asitisa poor rule that will not work
both ways, which would "Mechanlcn be
most likely to take, the So in silver "buz-
zards," or give me the change for the
twenty-dollar gold piece, the premium
added, II paid in silver?
The same will hold good in regard TO
years. subscription to the daily Post. viii
the proprietor Of that paper take:my six
standard dollars, or give me the change for
twenty dollar gold piece with the premium
added, provided he cannot give me the
change in goldp
Now, Mr.. Editor, take either horn of this
dilemma and see where It will lead us The
rich man alone owns the gold and the la
boring man the silver. The rich man is
decrying the poor mans money In order TO
enhance the purchasable value of his own.
Now, gold and silver are alike the con-
stitutional money OF this country, and the
standard value Of either metal when con-
verted into coin is the creature of law, and
not Of the commercial value which these
metals have as bullion in the markets of the
world.
To change the standard weight Of the sill
yer dollar In order to bring IL up to the'pres-
ent market value oftwenty-three grains of
pure gold, which is the amount in the gold
dollar, would entail n loss to the people Of
this country Of many millions Of dollars
This loss, too, would fall mainly on the
poor. But to equalize the two metals In
their bimetallic quality as the money Of the
United States, suppose we recon the gold
coins Of the United States, and instead Of
twenty-three grains of pure gold to the dol
lar, we reduce II TO twenty-one grains to
the dollarS This would benefit the rich man
by the increase OF the volume Of his gold
currency to the extent Of 81 per cent, or
| $3.50 on every 800 recoined, provided he
retained to himself the two surplus grains,
| paying the mint the cost Of coinage. This
| would increase the volume Of gold cur
reney to the extent Of 100000 on every
| Sl,OOO,OOO so received, and this without
diminishing the purchasable power or value
OF the coin; besides 1t would equalize the
| present bullion value Of the two standard
coins. But their lines of fuctuation In
their commercial values will continue from
time to time to cross each other as the de-
mand and the supply Of the one or the
other metal becomes greater or less In the
markets Of the world. Hence they had
| bSbtci iclp ub thcJ uONi biAJCcu W
one, and as they were made by the law OF
1909.
When did the silver dollar of 4l2l grains
become "dishonest dollar?" Was 1t no,
an honest dollar from 1792 to 1873, when II
was surreptitiously, by act Of Feb. 12, 1873
| practically demonetized9 What has made
It dishonest" dollarP Indeed, what
| gives either gold or silver Of q fixed numbe,
| of grains Troy their money valueY Is 1t moi
lawH What gives our national bank "prom
ises to pay" or the legal-tender greenback
any value whatever Neither OF thee
"promises TO pay" is redeemable in coin
and yet we hear no complaint from the
'gold bugs'' that these paper dollars, based
upon the faith OF the government" are
not honest dollars
20 consistency, thou art jewelW
| G. p. CULVER.
WASHINGTON, d. c.. Jan. 2e, 1886.
/