The Philipsburg mail. [volume] (Philipsburg, Mont.) 1887-current, 1893-07-20
FOR FRKK COINAGE
An Interesting Letter on the
Subject.
FROM OUR BOULDER CORRESPONDENT
The Scarcity of Gold Makes 2t I'M
possible Fer Cur Country to Do
Its Business On Single stan
dard, or to Pay the Interest
and Principal ON Its BODds.
from OUR BOULDER CORRESPONDENT

anu EEAHtlHdA Oh AtS ASUpNAS. |
PRINCETON, Montana July 1G, 1885,
"Interest and Principal Payable in
Gold Coin ofHhe United States" That
is the legend The people Of this great
republic have for many years past caused
to be engraved on their national, state,
county, township, municipal. school and
corporation bonds, amounting in the
aggregate to billions Of dollars and large
" held against us by our merciless
creditors in Europe. Did our people
ever realize the enormity of that promise
and their utter inability ever to redeem
itg How much gold have they "in sight"
to-day to it with? A scant hundred
million in their treasury and an unknown
quantity variously estimated at from
loo to l5O million dollars aout Of sight.
In short not enough, or barely SO, taking
'ssght and unseen" together, to pay %
cents on the dollar on the amount of
greenbacks and national bank notes
payable on demand. WHAT would remain
provided .one-fourth of the bank notes
wore exchanged for gold coin by their
holders to pay the hundreds Of millions
Of interest falling due semi annually ON
those bonds, not to speak OF the blaanons
represented by the principal of these
obligations (-the latter are generally
| liqalidated by renewal bonds-bMt the
interest must be paid)? Why, nothing,
Of cormse, save perchance small trade
balance in our favor. And what would
come of the "gold in sight in case one
hostile gun were fred at or from under
| the stars and stripes? 1t would go "out
of sight" quicker than one can say
s'seat,7' at least that was our experience
every time yet nnder such conditions.
The United States barely produces
sufficient gold annually, when all the
silver mines gre running, and these
furnish nearly .one-half the yearly gold
product-and they produce nearly one
third Of the worlds .gold-to meet inter
est payments on the national debt. The
use of a bl-metallic currency, gold and
silver, one OF both, admittedly is in the
first instance to form basis Of intrinsic
vaIEe (Which paper money has ngt) to
the bank note circulation of any one
nation; in the second place, to be used
as medium for the adjustment of trade
balances between nations No sooner
did our small stock Of gold begin to flow
over to Europe recently at the rate of
less than million per day for few days
only, than all our financial, commercial
trade and industry we're paralyzed;
the hundreds Of thousands, and the
president with his cabinet became
alarmed. The effect indeed was a panic
which is gathering head as the question
of the single gold standard, with the
danger it exposes us to- continually, is
being understood by our people That
was the first object lesson. The closing
Of the mints of India to the free coinage
Of silver was the second object lesson
Tt increased the panic and net only
closed down all our silver and many
copper and iron naines, and sent the
price of wheat down to keep the price o!
silver company, but it also closed many
manufactures, putting another half
million of men ouf of employment
Within thirty days the Union Pacific
railroad found it expedient to reduce its
train and other service by one-half
: Notwithstanding the worlds fair, which
should have caused it to double itl
carrying capacity. And the end is no
yet.
European governments legislate fol
classes; ours, presumably, for masses
The present distressing state of affair."
/, is not of recent origin nor confined t.
: the United States. The English peopl,
not it's aristoc1acy or money changer
have been distressed for years; so arr
the German laborersand agriculturalists
It was Englands hopeful dependency
Australia heavy gold producer
which led in the collapse of confidence
in the single gold standard. The United
States came next, closely followed b,
J. Canada. All Europe would follow if i
were not largely propped by bayonets
Providence has been kind to the hus
bandmen the known world over for man,
years in raising his crops and fattenin&
his stock. There have been no wars o
/ devastating pestilence for many years
provinces of Russia. The prices O
lated by silver-not gold nor pape
money. The white metal is and for v ove
1000 years was the PRIME standard o
values the civilized world over II
demonstration was crime. 1t en-
n hanced the value of gold at the cost O
every product of nature or human skill
1t costs more than sl.29115 per ounce t
y produce 1t; that every man of common
o Intelligence in the mining states know
l. and many in the agricultural ane
manufacturing ones-to their sorrow.
A return to bi-metallism is the onl
y thing that is likely to save us fror
p bankruptcy, and in the large centers {
it manufactures and population, from
y chaotic anarchy that has hitherto bee
70 an utter stranger in our policy. Ope
e the doors, Of the mints to silver, y
al representatives of the people, and NJ
N President, their servant (not ruler),
& you do not you will have to open tt
ID gates of prisons, poor houses and as,
e. lums to let in the multitude
to ROLAND RoMBAUER.
ly =--
A Successful Robbery.
l. On the night of July 18th, about