The Ketchum keystone. [volume] (Ketchum, Idaho) 1885-1899, 1892-05-21
An Apttquated Statesman.


called to preside over the Pocatello
republican convention, he delivered
a speech in which among other
things he said in substance: "You
all know how I stand on silver coin
age. Almost before l could take
my seat in the Senate l was called
upon to cast my vote in favor of
silver. The bill which passed the
Senate at that time provided for
the coinage of the American pro-
duct. After it went to the House
the democrats amended it so that
it gave us unlimited coinage, where
by the silver of the whole world
could have been dumped upon us. "
We do not think the people of Ida
no will want Mr.. Mcdonnell for
Governor of their state or for United
States Senator soon after such
an expose of himself as that. For
if he knows no more of the facts
relating to silver, than his speech
implies, he is not qualified to fill
the office OF Justice of the Peace in
a silver community; if he knows
better and seeks wilfully to deceive
such as may not know, he is unfit
to fill any Office. In either case he
is disqualified. Live men, fully up
with the times, and fully appraised
of the status of the world about
them, and fully inabued with the
spirit of reform, and especially of
money reform, are the want of the
hour. Any ignoramus can twaddle
endlessly about the whole world
dumping its silver upon us, but
such nonsense means nothing, and
only helps to prolong the gold bug
system of robbing that must be
overthrown before prosperity for
any but the monied classes can be
reached. There are extant in the
world but $3,8O7, 100000 in silver.
This coined into American dollars
would give us fractions excluded
$50 per capita of population.
France, with a population of 49,
600, 900, and a territory about the
size of the state of Texas, utilizes
$57 per capita and prospers by it.
With our so much greater public
domain, our vaster industrial sys-
tenn, our countless public enter
prises saa Improvements &c be
inaugu Ated and completed, ana
viii population alseeSg nearly
double that ef France, we need nc
ia1s gran 800 per capita. But rs
has been esd, II Ee had aii thc sil-
yer IN Ebo world it would moi gye
us that sracEat, Tins lIlws Of trade,
however, wisioh are iAii4xibie and
never sas Jag, make it impossible
under any conditions that could
exist for us to materially increase
our present amount of silver.
About half of the worlds annual
product is consumed in the arts
the remaining half is coined, and
the amount held by each individual
nation is so small that each one
imports practically as much as it
exports, so that relatively. the sill
yer supply of each of the nations
is stationary. France furnishes an
illustration and an example of this
fact. She stopped the coinage of
silver in her minis in 1875, but
without disparaging the silver coin
she had on hands. All of her OBJ
legations then payable in silver are
still so payable. Her metal re-
serves are gold and silver in about
equal amounts. Her coinage ratio
is ISL of silver to one Of gold,
or about 3 per cent higher than our
own. She has for II years main
tanned about $3.50, 600, 900 of silver
at par with gold, and no nation
not even the United States-has
dumped its silver on her. Are we,
then, who need all of the worlds
supply of silver to put our business
on cash basis to shrink from an
impossibility that if possible would
benefit US? Evidently Mr.. McCon-
nell belongs to that antiquated line
of alleged statesmen who cannot
be sidetracked too soon for the
country's good.
A BOOM is being inaugurated for Hon.
E. w. Jones, of wagon road bill'' fame
in last winters Legislature, as possible