Walker Lake bulletin. (Hawthorne, Nev.) 1883-1926, 1893-06-07

MANY OF the leaulnB yourndiS OF
this country ascribe the gold drain
and the present financial depression
to the Sherman law, passed in July,
1890, and demand its repeal, claim
ing that this would be panacea for
all the difficulties. This is the sheer
est nonsense in the world, and many
of them in their comments upon the
question show their complete ignor-
ance of the situation.
Under the Sherman law producer
of silver with 100, 900 ounces on hand
has the right to tender his bullion to
the government and sell it at the
market rate for silver, which rate
has been manipulated by the parties
in interest down to its present point.
If the price of silver bullion is
83 cents on ounce, he receives S83,
900 in Treasury or silver certificates,
issued under the law of 1890, which
are redeemable in coin, either gold
or silver, at the option of the Secre-
tary of t1e Treasury. These certi-
ficates, being legal tender, and re.
ceivable for duties, are good money,
being backed by the faith and credit
OF the government, as well as by the
bullion deposited in the vaults. One
of the best evidences OF this fact is
obtained from the reports of the
government, which show that but a
small percentage OF these certificates
are presented for redemption, the
great majority remaining in cireula-
ton as money. They have all the
backing that the greenback has, and
in addition thereto the silver bullion
itself.
The producer of silver mentioned
takes his 1873, 900 in certificates, pays
his labor and supply bills and various
expenses for the transportation and
reduction of his ore, and the money
is distributed into all the channels of
commerce. If the Sherman law is
repealed the mining of silver must
stop, and the 1913, 900 which we have
referred to does not go into circula-
ton, and consequently the business
of the country is reduced to that ex-
tent
The value of gold and silver de-
ponds upon their use as money. De-
monetize either entirely and it would
be worth no more than iron. Sill
yer has, by adverse and treacherous
legislation, been demonetized and ex-
cluded from the minis of great
number of the nations. The demand
has, therefore decreased, and the re-
peal of the Sherman law will still
further decrease it, still further re-
ducing its value in the markets of
world, for the reason that If the Sher.
man law is repealed, and the free
coinage of silver is not carried out,
the market for silver bullion will be
entirely in England, where they are
compelled to buy from forty to sixty
million ounces per annum to supply
the demand for coinage in India, and
those who control English finances
will see to it that the lowest figure at
which the bullion can be bought, will
be the highest paid. If this affected
the silver miner only it would be of
less consequence than it really is, but
while the silver miner and producer
is affected to the extent of possibly
twenty million ounces per annum,
the wheat and cotton interests of the
United States lose hundreds of mil
lions as the direct result of the low
price OF silver bullion, the reason be-
ing that the English government
buys the silver at, say So, coins the
same into rupees at about 81. 80 an
ounce, sells the rupees at cost to her
merchants and traders with India.
and they in turn buy the wheat and
cotton from the native Indian with
the rupee at par. AS an illustration
we will say that one ounce of silver
coined into rupees with a par value
OF Sl,93 buys 100 pounds of wheat in
India. The cost to the Liverpool
merchant is therefore only the cost
10 him of the silver purchased, which
is So cents; he therefore figures the
cost OF the wheat to him in Liverpool
IN gold, and upon that cost is based
the Liverpool quotation, which gov
erns the markets of the world, and at
which quotation all the surplus wheat
in the United States is sold. Now,