Union County courier. [volume] (Elk Point, Union County, D.T. [S.D.]) 187?-1913, 1890-10-15

/ SILVER AND GOLD THE SOW
EREIGNS
Front the Judge.
During the wArof the rebellion a
gold or silver dollar had a purchus-
ing power twice as great as u green
back, the legal tender Of the
national government. The precious
metal. disappeared from sight and
circulation, and were as far from
humble touch as the gilded scallops
of a vanishing sunset. Only after
long years Of recuperation from the
wear and waste Of that stupendous
struggle; only after the sword had
been beaten into the plowshare and
furrowed for the yellow in place OF
the crimson harvest; only after the
cannon was smeltea into the anvil,
and changed its hoarse chorus into
the chant OF peace; only after the
rattle of muskelry had been shaped
into the rhythm OF factory-wheels
aud the hum Of looms and the pulls.
ing Of trip-hammers; only after the
thud of the mines drowned the re-
membrane of strife, did the metal
lie assurance of prosperity necklace
with lustrous coin the throat ofpeace,
Not until a.decade Of plentiful har-
vests Of bnttered meadows, ripened
grain, snowy cotton-lields. OF drowsy
herds and a vaster but peaceful
army, drafted by toll and Sayoneted
with yellow corn, stood sutlcr and
guard over a saved union; not until
the m%unilicence of national protect
ion, of national industries, beckoned
mills to rise, manufactures to flour
islI, mines to be burrowed and fur
naces to lift their torches to the
and write in rhythm and light
our best and latest declaration Of
Independence, did exiled gold and
the currency of kings. return
to the hands Of sovereign labor.
. !
Why are these metals money?
Why is a disk OF gold or silver any
than any other circlet Of met
al? Is not a piece Of paper proper
ly stamped, as long as it will pass
and purchase, as good? If gold or
silver were us common and could be
uuarried like granite. these metals
be worth no more than the
Their scantiness gives one
value to the representative quality,
their difficult procurement through
another. No dug dollar OF
one Or the other hut costs in
the getting ninety or more cents OF
its value. The fortunate mine is
offset by the less fortunate. "Pan
that pays is heralded. Pan
dirt that does not is silent. The nv
erage of luck. good and bad, brings
the product to the same expensive
Iron rusts, copper furnishes,
lead corrodes and all waste. Gold
and silver, in the matrix of the mine,
boarded in hiding, or rescued from
wrecks of the sea. are cliangeless and
the same. The trinkets buried with
the dead PharolIs, the golden masks
found covering the faces Of the her
oes of Troy, the bracelets stripped
from the skeletons Of POmpeii, the
garnitures of two Thousand or four
thousand years ago, are in value,
ounce for ounce, the same as the
yesterday smelling from the Conn
STOCK loie. They represent work
crystal lised work saved and trans
ported oysfti VA issg linz Ct the cen-
lures Tisslabor iliat built Nm,
eveh and Babylon has persisted from,
Millions Of days work
rolled into smoke in the Chicago tire
and was lost forever. The PALACES
Of trade vanished. The riches OF
paper promises were finder. The
melted bullion oftle hanks alone
saved. BY common consent
and the instinct OF value the indie
str,Iitible metals, worth as muci,
melted "a IN coin, impervious to de-
cay. unconquered by time, have
been in all ages and chimes the un-
changeable representatives OF labor
and interchangeable for work again.
TIT
The two metals, silver and gold.
in the worlds ownership are twins
in value. 1t is estimated that there
are three thousand five hundred
Of gold, and three Thousand
tive hundred million dollars of sill
yer used Or usable MS the basis Of
commercial Interchange. Ifacoun-
try buys more than it sells it pave
the balance in cash. The United
as an illustration, purchases
Of Brazil, coffee aud other products,
fifty-eight million dollars worth an
i,ually. Brazil buys of us about
eight million dollars worth. The
difference of fifty millions is settled
directly or indirectly in metallic
money. Checks, notes and paper
AZ commercial credit are only disable
q reach their ultimate redemption
III bullion.
TIT
II should he remembered that be-
fore California gave us its gold that
precions metal was only procurable
kOm tho transatlantic continents.
When, however. the Pacific state
screened gold from its river sands,
and Australia r~e-enfurced the affiu-
dnt supply, in . decade there was
lIpnred untold millions into the
Jeasuries Ut trade. Europe was
frightened at the flood, and Ger
MANY, regarding the proportionate-
l%srarer silver s the safest, made it