Middletown transcript., 1891-04-09

Tne WOflO IS 1ulI OF 1OOlS,
OF every shape and size
And some are very foolish fools,
And some are very wise.
But we take them all in all,
The tools of every cline,
There's one that safely leads the rest,
And has since dawn of time.
And this most precious fool.
OF all the very worst,
Is the one who tries to fool his friends
On every April first.
Boston Courier.
; | -S------
FREE COINAGE OF SILVER.
He whom the Gods would destroy the
first make mad"
/ have never been more profound
ly impressed with the truism of thi
utterance than after having noted th'
craze which seemed to have possessed
the minds of SO many of the people Of
the West as to whether the mints o.
the United States should be opened to
perform, free of charge, the work o
coming into money all the bullion sill
yer that the world contains. Just
how the American people who pay
taxes can expect to derive any bene-
fit from laboring for naught is more
than can tell, and that is just whal
the free coiners of silver demand.
There is, doubtless, upwards Of four
thousand millions of dollars (Ameri-
can standard) in silver bullion in the
world. l say silver bullion because il
the United States engage in free coin.
age and make the supreme attempt to
maintain her coinage of silver on par
with gold, ] have so much faith in the
ability of her countrymen to do it, to
believe that they will partially sue
ceed-quite successful enough to con-
vert all foreign silver coin into bull
lion. But it can only be done by a
sacrifice to the entire people Of at
least twenty-five per cent. of the
amount coined. That is to say should
the dream of the free coiners of silver
be realized, should all the silver of the
world be coined into American doll
lars it will be SO coined at an expense
of one thousand millions of dollars to
the American people. That is to say
that the holders Of the silver of the
world would realize about one thous.
and millions of dollars more for the
silver they now hold than they would,
had not the American people provid-
ed for the coming Of that silver into
money. 1t is absurd to suppose that
Americans can enhance the wealth of
the silver holders of the country by
one thousand millions ofdollars unless
it be at the cost of one thousand mil
lions of dollars worth of wasted Ameri-
can industry.
Either the silver bullion of the
world will not be coined into money
and thus increase the volume of mon
ey in America, or it will be coined in
part or whole at cost to America for
whatever increase the bullion holders
may secure by parting with their
silver bullion. That is a great price
to pay. What are the benefits? A
class of men (not very large) of un-
fortunate men, We may say, are now
in debt and have been in debt for the
lands which they till. 1t is their
dream, their hope. that by an unlimit-
ed coinage of silver they will enhance
the selling value of their products,
and thus be able to more easily pay
their debts. This might be correct
were it not that if the price of their
products be enhanced because of the
free coinage of silver, the price of
those things which they purchase will
also be enhanced. For few months,
perhaps years, labor would unques-.
tionably suffer. But the laborer is
worthy of his hire; :" and it would be
only question of a short time when
he would get his price, and the farm.
er would be compelled to pay him
higher wages. The fertilizers with
which the crops are produced which
go upon the soil a year before Gin
many cases) the crop is harvested,
would certainly be much higher in
price than now, and all farming uten.
sils would increase in price; conse-
quently the capital required for farm
ing would of necessity be greater, and
the interest to be paid to the factor
who in SO many cases advances the
fertilizer, will of a necessity be high
er, and consequently it will be no less
difficult for the farmer to produce
from his wheat, and his corn, and his
oats, and his hay, any more money
than he produces under the conditions
as they now exist. They claim that
it is impossible for them to accumulate
under tie present condition, and
hence they cannot lessen their debts.
If any one of these intelligent,
thoughtful farmers who has been
crazed by this glittering hope which
free coinage and abundant money
holds out, will take the trouble to sit
down and think, / am satisfied that
he will look beyond the mere question
of what shall constitute the medium
of exchange.
He will certainly see that the farm
er is always a creditor as we'll as
debtor. He owes the landlord for his
rent, or if he be the owner of a mort
gagged farm, he owes the mortgage
for his interest as we'll as the princi-
pal. He owes the factor for such ad-
vances made to him wherewith to buy
his seed, his fertilizers, his feed, and
possibly his clothing; in all those
cases he is the debtor. But he has
loaned the fertilizers which he has
bought to the soil of his farm he has
loaned his labor and all the labor that
he has hired to that farm and that
arm is his creditor until those crops be
gathered, when the condition is al
most Immediately renewed. He must
znow that if legislation on the medi-
inns of exchange will enhance the
value of his products it will also en-
nance the value of everything that he
luVs There can he NO 1oo;alo tian nm /,