Los Angeles herald., 1892-03-26
THE CLOSE CALL ON SILVER.

The result of the great debate on the
silverauestion is something of surprise
to the friends of silver, the Bland bill
being only saved by the skin OF its teeth,
as it were. This small showing of the
friends of free coinage is due to several
causes, to accident, to trimming and to
the tremendous fight made by the gold
bugs, who rallied in force and employed
every agency on earth to defeat the
canse of the people. A partial defeat,
however, need not discourage the friends
of the white metal. A process OF edu-
cation has been going on which will not
stop until the great wrong OF 1878 has
been undone, at least as to the future.
The misery and injustice wrought in the
past is, OF course, irreparable. Without
entering into any discussion of most
intricate and involved question, it may
be broadly stated that the capitalist
classes of the world are engaged in a
desperate and unprincipled effort to
reduce the price of silver to something
like that of such commodities as copper
and tin. The movement proceeded orig
inally from 'Change in London, and was
adopted with enthusiasm by the gold
bugs of Wall street. The motives OF
England in seeking to depreciate silver
are three-fold. In the first place, she is
a great creditor nation, and it is to her
manifest advantage to exact payment
from her debtors in the most precious
medium possible. In the second place,
her capitalists and persons of fixed in
come, receiving their revenues in gold,
desire to increase it's purchasing power.
Thirdly and lastly, England's immense
transactions in India are based upon the
silver rupee, which she coins at her
pleasure. If che could buy silver at 40
cents an ounce, and transform it into
rupees at par, she could buy cotton and
other East Indian products at prac-
tical discount of 60 per cent. A trinity
of such motives might very we'll ex-
plain England's devotion to silver
decentralization. 1t is subtle agency
through which she can inflict deadly
injury on the producers of American
wheat and cotton and on the American
silver miner.
The animus of the New York goldbug
is equally simple, although he has not
the excuse which the Englishman has ),
of elevating his own country at the ex.
pense OF rival power. On the con-
trary, he gratifes his cupidity at the
cost of his own countrymen, and is will
ing to hand over the destiny of the
masses all over the world to the creditor
class. The gold and silver coinage of
mankind are nearly equal in amount, the
volume of gold circulating as money
being estimated at So, ,0lS, 1869, hile
the silver amounts to $500, ,371 ,346.
The attempt to altogether discredit
nearly four billions of dollars in silver,
and to measure all values by the re-
manning nearly four billions of gold,
means steadily Tightening money mar
kets all over the world, construction of
industry and paralysis of enterprise.
1t is the greatest conspiracy against the
welfare of man ever recorded in any age.
1t means doubling the possessions of
every man of fixed income, and more
than that; for, in the resultant univer-
sal bankruptcy, he would be able to ae-
quire the possessions OF his neighbor.
1t would be fearful exemplification of
the ecriptural aphorism that to him
that hath it shall bs added unto him;
while as to him that hath not the little
that be hath shall be taken away from
him. 1t would be replacing the old
slavery OF the feudal ages by subtle
and overpowering despotism OF capital
and chicane.
AS far as the United States are con-
cerned an additional crime would be
perpetrated. We should deliberately
strangle great industry, mining for
silver, which has been leading element
of not only the prosperity but of the
solvency OF the United States. Silver
has been already pushed down to dis
count OF thirty per cent. If it shall
once be understood that the United
States can be made to connive at its
continued demonetization there is no
telling at what point it will stop.
The gold bugs are, of course, able
to make their influence felt in the
halls of congress. They control the
press of New York, and newspapers
which they do not control they coerce
into silence. Mr.. Amos Cummings, OF
the New York Sun, in giving his vote