Iron County register., 1892-04-28
NUMBER 43.

cart TO carry it.
Of course, this is not practical sober
business, il is not craftsmanship, it is
not Democracy. it is cheap demagogery
Your intelligent correspondent
'Murphy." says: IN the first place. let
me So; that | did understand Judge
Emersou's letter thoroughly, although
we did no. refer to the cost OF coinage.
We referred only to the raise in value
that would result not from the coinage
of silver, bat from the law if pa 5sej, or,
in other words, the Increased demand
that would result in case the Bland bill
becomes law
This position is well stated, and is
about the position which you and your
other correspondents all take, | believe.
Now, the fundamental error in this
logic is this. You wish to increase the
value of silver by increasing the de-
mand for it by free coinage. But will
free coinage increase the demand?
Be not deceived.
Silver is not demonetized, as you
and your correspondents assume. The
Governments is now. and has been stead
lily buying between fifty and sixty mil
lions ii year of silver and issuing legal
tender paper money to pay for it, hold
ing the metal ready to coin, (coinin g
some of it all the time,) holding the
silver in its vaults. All statisticianS
tell us-and the most violent free coin
age advocates admit-that this quanti-
ty of silver thus bought by the Govern
ment is about all that the mines of this
country produce, and fully as much as
would find its way into the mints under
coinage. So you see, the cl ear fact is
that the present law, Objectionable as
think it is in some particulars, does
create as great demand for silver Us
Il free coinage act could produce, and
hence free coinage act could not and
would not increase the demand.
But it would increase its value to the
owner by having the Government man
ufacture it free of charge. And here
is where its un-DemOcratic feature
demonstrates itself. advantages and
special privileges by law to none, was
the kind of Democracy | learned when
young, and | don't propose to lose sight
of it under the present tt4rore about
free coinage.
But free coinage" though it will
not increase the demand for silver met
al, by fiat of law, you grant to the
handful of mine-owners-gold and silv-
e. llionaire-plutocrats al
ready, the especial privilege" of hav-
ing the Government take the rough
as they produce it, and manu-
Ifacture it for them free of cost !
This one little class of people are to be
5hus favored! Done, too, at the ex-
oense of every other taxpayer in the |
country. while not one of them is ben |
eitted one mill, and no more money |
)ut in circulation than would be if the |
Government bought the metal, both |
gold and silver, and coined it. and re-
aimed the profits for the taxpayers of
he country who pay for the process.
When free coinage was first estab-
ished in this country, away back, there
we're only q few thousand dollars of
gold and silver Il year produced in
ieOrgia, \. Carolina, and the old
easonable to encourage the ''infant
industry" by offering the miners the
premium of coinage" as one Senator
hen expressed it; but if free coinage
vas ever justified as an emergency
Measure to encourage increased pro-
Iuction, the necessity for it, and the
ogic of it ceased when the gigantic
cold and silver mines of the country
attained their present marvellous pro-
portions. These mine owners don't
iced s'protectiOn," don't need special
privileges of having the government,
t its own expense, manufacture their
METAL into money for them. If the
Government wants to make paper mon
Y it buys the material for it from the
and manufactures it for itself.
it wants iron to make cannons, or
ifes, or sabres it buys the material
rom the producer and makes them for
tself; if it wants iron or stone, or 9th
T material to build po5t-office5 it buys
/ from the producer, all of them at the
larket price. The mines, the manu-
acturer, the producer, is not aided,
ut all are treated alike as they should
e. The Government doesn't manufact
re the farmers wool, nor his wheat,
or his corn or cotton for him gratis,
or does it so favor the iron, or copper
+ lead mine-owner. If there is one
Ound reason between the earth and the
ky why the gold and silver mine
wners should be thus favored, | have
ever seen it stated.
No. Let the Government buy, in the
pen markets of the world, all the gold