The great West. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1889-18??, 1891-06-26
GOLD AND SILVER.
How the Wall Street Gamblers Can Be
Beaten.

Beaten.
The following from the Lexington
Leader, written by Casius M. Clay.
tells how he thinks Wall street gam
blers and the gold bugs can be beaten:
1T was my purpose to discuss the
subject of railways in this series OF
papers, but the extraordinary act of
the Kansas legislature calls for an
episode in regard to money. which is
of next Importance to railways. My
paper upon money read before the
rilson club of Louisville last year, and
copied into the Louisville Journal and
most of the leading political papers
of the union was exhaustive, and was
never controverted by anyone. Treas
ury-Secretary Window, breaking from
the presidents of his predecessors,
though following in the path of my
arguments, just stopped short of a
final solution of this vexed question.
My argument is summed up in q
nutshell equality Of gold and silver
dollars, and of paper money in value,
and the paper money representing
coin convertible at will of the holder.
The trouble in congress is not want of
knowledge, but the perversion4 of power
to the criminal favoritism of classes at
the expense of the people. Many per-
sons may believe that the unlimited
coinage of silver, inferior in value to
gold would relieve the debtor and la
berer! Let us see. The late report
of the treasurer showed that the stand
ard silver dollar was worth only sew
enty-two cents.
In other words, the debtor, paying
70 cents, might be advantaged to the
extent of % cents on every dollar Of
his bonded debt. But, on the other
hand, every laborer and seller in the
nation would lose % cents on every
dollar. Here somebody is cheated!
So IT is the interest of the great ma
jority of the people to have an equally
valuable dollar, gold, silver and pa
per.
The Republican party and Cleveland
were right in going against unlimited
coinage, or free coinage of silver, if
the terms have different meanings.
But the Republicans were wrong in not
making the coins of gold and silver
equal; or in not readjusting the stand
ard basis of gold and silver, which is
now sixteen grains of pure silver to
one of gold in the dollar, and then
making them with or without seignior-
age (charge) upon terms of equality.
Wall street gamblers, the gold bugs"
and silver miners were all interested
in 1.-The way not to do it,
But the ''hay-seeds'' in Kansas have
solved the question. They have pass
ed a law making gold and silver
standard dollars equally receivable
in payment Of taxes and debts, and
that no bond to pay gold only shall be
valid in law.
Let every state pass similar laws
and let congress repeal the silver pur-
chase bill. by which silver miners are
getting a premium on silver, by OK
Guiding foreign silver, and the Wall
street gamblers and the gold-bugs are
beaten. The probability is that gold
and silver would, without any read
justmcnt. return to their ancient equal
ity.
But, if after full experiment. they
do not, 1T will be time enough to in
crease the silver in the standard dol
lar, or, what is better, reduce the
quantity of gold.
By the constitution Of the United
States, sec. 8, C. 5, congress has power
'to coin money and regulate the value
thereof" But they have no power to
say what dollar shall pass in the
states. The repeal law, or demonetiz-
ing of silver in 1873, was a bold and
shameless robbery by the confederated
capitalists of the union. The states
being near the people can force the
conspirators to terms-and the railway
robbers must go.'