The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1890-08-09
AN ORGANS ARGUMENT.

THE Tribune is mad. 1t calls THE
pleasant names. a
1t had challenged THE HERALD to nam Y
a country that had prospered under free
trade. THE HEHALD did so by showing
that, according to the Republican census
of 1880, the wealth of this country ha
increased twice faster under Tree trade
from 1850 to 1860 than under protec-
ton from 1870 to 1880.
The Tribune admitted the double pros
perity under free trade but said it was due
to the production of gold in the free trade
era. The HERALD showed that the pro
duction of the precious metals had not
stopped at the close of the free trade era,
but had gone on at an increasing rate right
up to the year 1880. md at this stage of
the argument the Tribune goes to calling
The HERALD uncouth names. The only
argument the sheet makes, besides talking
of 'wars and rumors of wars" is that
a ''great proportion of the precious
metals mined since 1860 consisted of silver;
ergo, the total wealth would somehow
not increase. Why silver production
should arrest the prosperity of a country,
passes comprehension. There is nothing to
reply in particular in what the Tribune
says, but we may notice few of its errors
once more.
"Gold was discovered in California in 1S4S
The product that year was nothing worth
mentioning and very little the succeeding
| year." says the Tribune.
n &c 81,
VOL XIII, page 81, gives the production of
the precious metals in these two years as
S5O, DOC, 900, of which only s50,000was silver.
There was no silver discovered in the
United States until 1882" says the Trib.
but the United States census says there
was $4,000 in silver, mined each year for
ten years proceeding 1859.
And so we might so through nearly all of
it's statements. 1t makes one argument,
however, which we will notice.
According to the Tribune silver has
caused the ruin by coming upon the scene
in 1859 and being demonetzed IN 1878. This
caused gold to rise enormously, and then
''silver and all the products of the earth ani
the earth itself fell in the same ratio"
Just sc. From 1850 to 1860 the average
yearly production of gold was about fit,
millions; from 1860 to 1880 the averag,
yearly production of gold was about forty
four millions. 1t is clear, then, if gold hat
appreciated 20 the enormous extent tn,
Tribune maintains. that the yearly produc
of gold since 1861 has been worth IN lcl
more, by reason of the rise in its value
than the yearly product prior to 1860. Nov
add all the silver mined since 1860 and TIL
total yearly value of the precious metal
would be much greater than before 1860
when, according to the Tribune, there wa
no silver, and gold had not been appreciate
in value. BY pleading an immense rise il
the value of gold since 1860, the Tribun
kills its own argument.
The climax of the TrtbuneS article is
very fair sample of that papers reasoning
and we here append it, to crafty the cur
osity of any of our readers that might lik
to see a genuine protectionist argument
1t says of THE HERALD writer:
Hhe stuffs himself with few of the explode
arguments of free traders and like u monke,
jumps on his, music box, and jabbers to tn
country like jabberng idiot.
Any one not converted to protection b
that argument must be dull indeed