Los Angeles herald., 1891-06-27

the other partially bi-metallic country,
have today in available gold coin four
times as much as England and Germany
combined. And this is the way accred-
iting silver drives gold out of country |!
1t is in the face of facts such as these
that the Bulletin does wrong to its in
telligence by such outgivings as the
following:
A man, for instance, who mad to meet
debt of 500, and who had the gold on
hand for that purpose, would not pay
in that metal. On the contrary, with
his 500 in gold he would buy, let us say, 3,
$125 in silver, send it to the mint, get
$125 in standard dollars for it, pay his
creditor 800 in silver, and pocket the
remaining $25. OF course this financial
feat could only be performed where there
was no specification of the money in
which the debt was to be discharged.
The proposition involved in this transac-
ton is not very abstruse. One would
suppose that the truly wonderful econo-
mists who are protesting to enlighten
the public might in time be able to
master it. But this is not all by any
means.
The merchant having $1,000 in duties
to pay would not offer gold to that
amount at the custom house. He would, +,
on the contrary, buy $1250 of silver with
it, get it coined into standard dollars,
pay his duties with them, and pass the
remaining $3.50 to his credit at his bank
ers. 1t will, perhaps, begin to dawn on
the minds of those to whom we suspect
''free coinage" of silver is not much
more than parrot phrase, badly learned,
that the scheme they advocate means a
horizontal reduction of the tariff to the
extent of. let us say, 25 per cent. We
do not think that the country is pre-
pared for any such violent fiscal change
as that at this time. If the tariff is to
be lowered the work will have to be
done openly and above-board, and not
by this sneaking, left-handed process.
As matter of fact, the complete re-
monetization of silver by the United
States, with an honest purpose on the
part of our treasury department to give
the white metal fair show, would re-
suit in its reconciliation all over the
world in short time. The truth is that
silver is scarce. 1t is the money of the
people over almost the entire world, and
will remain so. The earners of modest
wages must have it. You can't hand
the man who has earned fifty cents a
five-dollar gold piece or a five-dollar bill.
Immense quantities of the white metal
are being consumed in the arts. En-
gland inspired originally all the crusade
against silver. She requires immense
quantities of it, which she buys
as bullion and coins into rupees,
which her merchants use in their
dealings with India. 1t is this hocus-
pocus which has enabled her to build
up an Indian competition with the
wheat growers of California. OF course,
she would rather bamboozle us into sell
ing our silver to her at 80, 'S5, 80 and
even 81 an ounce, than be obliged to
pay US what it is really worth, $1.29 an
ounce, which sum places it on parity
with gold.
The real and uncompromising remon-
citation of silver by the United States
means the advance of silver to par
with gold, and throwing off of slavish
dependence on Change in London and
Wall street in New York. Partial legis-
lation has resulted in a partial rehabili
tation of silver. Complete legislation
favorable to silver will completely re-
habilitate it.