Democratic Northwest. [volume] (Napoleon, Ohio) 1869-1894, 1891-09-24

That intellect must be in a state Of in
nocuous desuetude'' which can not COM
prehend it, and no one not in a state of
moral decrepitude will undertake. to
justify it.
Judge West says: Against the act
dropping the standard dollar no clamor
was raised until after the discovery of
the great silver deposits of the north
west"
The "clamor" was first raised, not by .
silver miners but by students of the
money question, who saw in the act (,
demonetizing silver a cunningly laid
plot to plunder debtor nations and all
other debtors for the benefit of credit
holding class; and the fulfllment of
their predictions is their justification.
Nor did they wait till '76 to sound the
alarm. There is good reason why
there was not earlier general protest
in this country, and that lies in the
clandestine manner in which the act
passed the American congress.
1t is perfectly safe TO say that Judge
West did not know for years after that
such an act had been passed. 1t is
probably safe to say that not five citi-
zens of the state of Ohio knew of this
act till some time afterwards The
press was as silent as the grave upon
It, and no doubt for the good reason
that it had no knowledge of it. One
man in Ohio did know it, but whether
he understood the economic effect of
such a measure is for him to say. We
have it from their own lips that no
other representative in congress from
, the state of Ohio when the act passed
knew it. We have it from his own pen
that the president of the United States,
who signed the act, did not know that
1t contained such provision. Let
those who doubt this read the denials
of Senator Thurman. Representative
Garfield and others from this state, and
the denials of such senators as Blaine,
Conkling, Allison, Stewart, Beck, Howe
and others, and of such representatives
from other states as Holman, Cannon,
Kelly, Randall, Burchard and Others
That the direct and necessary conse-
quence of the demonetization of silver
has been to increase the value of gold
and to depress prices is as clear as
any logical conclusion from admitted
data can be. Any one who would deny
this puts himself in an awkward posi-
ton when he claims that the restora-
ton of silver will cheaper money. If
money was not increased in value by
restricting it, it will certainly not be
lessened in value by having that re-
striction removed. But that gold has
increased relatively to commodities and
all other forms of wealth, and espe-
cially as compared with farm lands is
admitted by all authorities. Let any
one who doubts this consuA the tables
of Soetbeer, Sauerbeck the London
Economist or the statement just issued
from the treasury department, which
shows that large number of leading
staple commodities, the production of
which can not have been materially
cheapened, are lower now than they
have been before during this century
the gold discoveries in California and
Australia.
: The effect of this alteration in the
money standard by fifty per cent has
been precisely the same asif the bushel
measure, the yard-stick and the
pound weight had each been increased
by fifty per cent, and that by these
altered measures annual products were
: distributed and the payment of debts
required. Would anybody but the di-
rect benefciaries of the fraud attempt
TO defend such an alteration of weights
: and measures? No more justifiable is
an increase in the money standard,
which affects all weights and all meas
| ures.
| Finally, under existing conditions,
with gold production constantly grow.
l ing less, while it's use in the arts and
, dentistry Increases and population and
wealth increases, and the gold standard
l is extended over more and more coun-
. tries, there is no other possible result
3 bat continued increase in the value o1
: gold.
t Judge West repeats the prattle about
r an eighty-cent dollar. What is dollar
l If the weight of the gold dollar should be
i doubled it would still be, according te
a the reasoning of the advocates of gold
, the honest dollar A cent is the hun
1 dredth part of dollar, and if the dol
3 lar has been increased in weight, or II
value otherwise, 80 has the cent beer
: increased. The gold dollar has beer
= increased in value. The silver dollal
3 has been increased in value. The sill
9 yer dollar, with commodities generally
S has not decreased in value. Would tina
s be an honest yard-stick that was con
r tinually being made larger? No more
= is that honest dollar that is all the time
J; growing dearer The people hav'
!, come to know it is not, and they know
t enough not to submit longer to thu
It fraud of an increasing money standard
: Money supply of some kind they will
have, and the only honest money i
that which maintains stable relation
d to commodities and preserves an evel
6 balance between debtor and creditor
n Such relations can be maintained onl,
}, by money supply proportionate to in
g crease of population and wealth. Sucl
e supply the gold mines do not and cal
e not afford. 1t may come for man,
e years through the mines of both metals
|, but the world has never suffered iron
y an over supply for money purposes O
n either or both of these metals, but civ
it ilization has been more than once wei
1t nigh wrecked through the scarcity O
D. the precious metals for money supply
It A. j. WARNER.
Is