The weekly tribune. [volume] (Great Falls, Mont.) 1891-1894, 1891-07-04
OR LYING, WHICH?

ability n honesty, and possessing an
average amount of common sense, could
and would treat a subject so thoroughly
discussed and so we'll understood as the
silver question with intelligence and
with candor. A newspaper that would
do otherwise is either culpably ignorant
or presumes upon the ignorance of its
readers. For instance a man or public
journal who charges that silver coinage
is a private snap is either an ignoramus
or a liar. When he publicly proclaims
that the present silver dollar is % per
cent. fraud, he advertises his ignorance
or his mendacity. When he openly de-
clares that the free coinage of a dollar of
1929 grains, authorized under the laws
OF the land, for which the owner receives
one dollar, robs the public that takes it,
and is a 22-cent bounty to the silver
dealer, he declares that which is untrue
and at the same time notifies the intelli-
gent reader that he is either ignorant or
lying. Charity suggests the former.
or coures, these are the arguments
OF gold bugs against the present silver
coinage law, but it is strange, passing
strange the world never heard those
arguments before the characterization
of the metal in 1873. Previous to that
date silver was the unit of value and
had been since the foundation of the
poynrpn,anf II p,ooc,rol %ha ,,l-o .f
gold and commanded a premium, and
yet no n heard any loud-mouthed sill
v~erites declare that the gold dollar was a
fraudulent dollar" or that any gold
coin was a fraudulent or light weight
coin because it did not bear the same
market value as silver. 1t was not until
silver was demonetized for speculative
purposes that we heard any thing said
about the per cent. of fraud in silver
CONS.
Many ignorantly play into the hands
of gold bugs by demanding "a dollars
worth of silver for a dollar" Now what
is a dollars worth of silver if it is not
contained in the 4l21a grains dollar? 1t
will buy just as much as a dollar in gold.
a dollar gold certificate or a dollar United
States treasury note. But, says the gold
bug, the 37115 grains of silver in the
standard dollar is not worth so much as
the gold dollar or the gold certificate or
the treasury note because-now note the
reasoning because the silver in it is
worth only seventy eight cents in gold;
that is, as a merchantable commodity it
will bring only seventy-eight cents. Well,
as a understandable commodity what will
the paper in a United States treasury or
a gold note bring? There are, according
to the showing of gold bugs only seventy
eight cents behind every silver dollar
with which to redeem it. Now what is be-
hind the treasury or gold note to redeem
it. Let us see. There are about 1926, OOO.-
600 United States notes and S24O,OOO,OOO
gold certificates in circulation. Now if
all this amount - between S5OO,OOO 900 |
and S60O,OOO,OOO worth of treasury notes
and gold certificates - be presented to
the United States treasury for redemp-
ton. it will be found that the greenbacks
has less than 30 per cent. and the gold
less than 20 per cent. of their face
value behind them. To make it palmer,
the standard silver dollar, according to
gold bug estimates, has 10 cents behind
it; the n dollar United States treasury
note less than 30 cents behind it, and the
one dollar gold note less than 20 cents
behind it. Now which is the greatest
According to the gold bugs the
gold certificate is the greatest, because
for every dollar it represents it has less
than 20 cents of gold in the United States
treasury with which to redeem it. Still
and gold certificates pass side by
side as money, each purchasing as much
as the other, while United States
notes or g~reenbacks buy no
more nor no less than the others. Now
does the fraud com in?
Now the fact is each is a dollar, each is
as good as a dollar and each has the
purchasing power of a dollar of gold, and
Because this great and powerful
government, which under it's laws can
coin and create money has declared and
attested its declaration by it's stamp up
0 n certain coins and paper that each is
money good, sound money, not fraudu-
lent, lightweight money, but a convert
ible money which the government takes
a creditor and pays out as a debtor.
That is why the standard silver dollar of
i12H grains is money and why a bit of
paper-valueless in the market as paper
alone-is money and will purchase wha
we eat and drink and wear. 1t is not
intrinsic value the metal or paper
possesses which makes it money but the
of the government. When men
understand these facts the
cry Of the gold bugs about % per cent
rand in the silver dollar will ha drowpod