Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1892-02-25

Ii
amounts to putting in circulation that
amount of silver money, which is all
the metal we mine in America, and by
his advocacy says that this is a good
thing, and equivalent to free coinage,
still that free coinage would be wrong,
etc. A house divided against itself
must fall; equally so, an argument self
contradictory. Does it not about strike
my friend that he about says that though
two horses are of equal value. still one
is of more value than another? This is
the redubtiO ad absurdum, but it is the
10 yic of his utterances.
Again, as yainst free coinage, Judge
Emerson advocates the present law of
the government buying silver at the
market price and issuing silver certifi-
Gates. He says that by the first the
mine-owner gets a dollar for bullion
a dollars For the sake of argument,
suppose we admit that. and take up the
other branch of it. When the govern
ment goes into the market and buys its
silver does it not have to pay the spec
ulative price put upon it by the opera
tors in the same manner that the price
of stocks, bonds, wheat, corn, iron and
lead is for the day fixed9 Now, sup
pose to-day Uncle Sam bought silver
and issued certificates therefor at so
cents, and tomorrow bought and issued
at $1.25; suppose we coin at 4122 grains
to the dollar. The school boy, much
more an able lawyer and great scholar
like Emerson. can see that there is no
stable value to our money of that kind;
and that SO long as we continue to fol-
low that policy, as at present, a silver
dollar, or a certificate representing it,
will not be money in the true sense,
but will be subject to the manipulations
of those who control the gold coin of
the country. So long as that policy is
continued, so long will silver and silver
money be just as much controlled in
price, as other articles of commerce:
will remain as much an article of COM
merce to be specialized in as steel rails,
pig-lead, wheat, coal-oil, or whiskey.
On the other hand, it will be admit
ted by every student of political econ
omy or the science of civil government,
that it is one of the functions of gov
eminent to provide currency money
for its people, and to fix its standard
value. This has been a governmental
axiom for thousands of years, and is
expressly asserted in the Constitution
of 1877 vesting that duty in the Federal
Government.
1t is the duty of government to furn-
ish not only money, but money in suffi
cient quantities to meet the needs of
the people. Now, money must be either
based upon the public faith alone, or,
else, it must be based upon the public
faith, combined with a metal, or other
thing of value, whose value is fixed by
the common consent of mankind.
The first is letter of credit, as is
sued in Revolutionary times, or
s.greenbacks" in the civil war era; only
public faith backs them. Troubled
times come to all peoples, and in such,
not being supported by any real, cor
poreal thing of value, are liable to
fiuctuate in value as faith in the public
faith increases or diminishes.
But money based upon a metallic
standard, backed by the public faith,
pledged that so much of it marked
with the governmental insignia, shall
be received for all public and private
debts, will not so fuctuate: will not,
for common consent, evidenced by law,
is behind its intrinsic value.
Judge Emerson, you know very well
that if Congress provided that the gov
eminent should coin all silver present
ed into dollars, that those dollars, or
the certificates representing them,
should be receivable in all amounts,
large or small, for all public or private
debts, debts due to government and to
persons, that silver would lose its pres
emit speculative character, would cease
to be liable to the fluctuations of
controlled by gold bugs, would
become money in its true sense, would
be interchangeable with gold. That is
what we want, that is what the people |
will have, or know some better reason |
Why not than has yet been given,
Resp'y, &C., j. B. WALKER.
February 18th, 1892.
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