The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1890-10-02
THE SILVER LAW.


Certain Of our contemporaries abused
THE HERALD during the discussion in Con-
gress of the silver bill, because this paper
insisted that the proposed law would bone
htneither the country at large nor the
mining industry. We said that while the
law might temporarily increase the price
of silver and for time stimulate mining,
it was only question of weeks or months
at most when the golditeS should recover
their grip and play with silver as Of old
kaRc'lnssted that the coinage would not be
Increased. but would be stopped almost en-
ureiy when that provision of the law Civ
ing the secretary of the treasury discrim
mating power TO continue or discontinue
the minting of dollars came into operation
next July. As remarked above TaE HER
AID was abused oy those Republ organs
which while processing TO be friends of
silver, supported and applauded the bill,
not because it was in the interest
OF the people and silver, but because it
was party measure. THE HERALD said at
the time, and the proof the correctness of
our position has been furnished sooner
Wall street measure and silver would be
controlled by the gold interest For little
while spectators were masters and the
price of the white metal went up amaz-
ingly. Mine owners were iuoilaut, and
people not familiar with the operations of
legislation as to finance were astonished
at the effect of the law. The real finan-
ciers, however, were not alarmed. They
knew that only furry was on, and they
patiently waited until they could handle
matters. To-day silver is but little higher
than it was when the passage of the bill
became possible. 1t has gone down quite
as suddenly as it went up. 1t is worth only
what the metal is worth in the metal
market. Its money or coin value has been
eliminated and only its value for spoons
and teapots and so on retained. 1t has
been reduced to product, like iron and
copper and wheat. The law has no
effect whatever upon the price. If
the statute were repealed tomorrow
silver would sell the next day for
inst as much cash as it fetches to day, the
price being regulated by the supply and de-
mand-by the production and the consump-
ton. We are not certain that Wall street
will be unable to still further depress the
market and put down the price. 1t will do
this unless the mine-owners ara stronger
than they have been in the past and are
able to hold out longer than heretofore
The new silver law is humbug and a
cheat, and those who engineered it through
Congress knew that it was fraud. The
Republican schemers knew what they were
the party editors, blindly approved simply
because it was party measure.
No silver legislation short of free coinage
will answer. There will never be success
full bi mete lism while one of the metals has
the least advantage over the other. A metal
cannot be speculative product and a
good coin metal at the same time.
So long as the price of silver
is fixed by bullion dealers and
not at the mint, silver will not be a good
money metal While it is within the
power of the secretary of the treasury to
limit the coinage of silver, silver will not
be a proper metal for money.
THE HERALD is sorry that the bill passed,
for it delays for two years at least, good
silver legislation. We are sorry for the
American people who wanted more money
and silver money, and will be given less
than they had before, as coinage will cease
just as soon as the law will permit the sec
rotary of the treasury to close the minis
against silver. But we are not sorry for
those people, some of whom are mine-o own
ers and should have known better who
placed their trust in Republican politicians
who are either ignorant or under the con
troll of the enemies to silver If the effects
of this bad legislation We're to come only to
them, We would not grieve over their an
noyances.