The Indiana State sentinel. [volume] (Indianapolis) 1868-1895, 1893-10-04
TWO VIEWS OF GOLD.
Comments of Two Senator'S Who Have
Since Changed Their Minds.

In the United States senate ON April
/, 1874. the Hon John P. Jones of Ne
vada said:
"The value Of goIG Is represented by
the average amount OF labor required
to produce it. Its scarcity gives a small
quantity of it great value, so that it is
easily transported from place 20 place.
Tt is capable of division and subdivis-
ion, and also of being reunited-aI with
out loss. 1t is in every commercial coun-
try made into coins and stamped by ma
tional authority with a certificate as to
fneness and weight. IT is flexible and
self-regulating. and flows by natural
laws wherever the exigencies of t-ade
demand it.
Cold is the articulation Of COM
merce. It is the most potent agent OF
civilization. 1t is gold that has lifted
the nation from barbarism. 1t has done
more to organize society, TO promote in
dustry and insure its rewards, TO inspire
progress. to encourage science and the
the arts. than gunpowder. steam and
electricity
The use Of gold had its origin in the
necessities Of mankind The human
heart is set upon II. II will command
the proper services Of everybody at all
times and in all places. The necessities
which compel its use are as inexorable
today as they were in the beginning, al
though improved systems OF exchange
nave diminished the proportionate vol
ume necessary 10 do the work
so exact "A measure is IL Of human
effort that when II Is exclusively used
as money it teaches the very habit Of
honesty. 1t neither deals in nor toler-
ates false pretenses. It cannot lie. 1t
keeps its promises TO rich and poor alike
hos
perish and human governments crumble
and decay, ii is itself imperishable. The
gold that was in SOlomon's temple pos
sessed the same qualities as the gold
dug today from the sands Of Africa The
gold of California and the gold Of Aus
tralia are precisely the same 1t de-
hes the corroding hand Of time and the
friction Of the ages. It is the common
denominator Of values. It makes posi-
bic the classification Of labor and the
equitable Interchange Of commodities.
Gold has interviewed in the bargains
made between men since the dawn OF
civilization. and it has never failed to
faithfully fulfill its part as the universal
agent and servant of mankind But Il
withdraws from the companionhsip Of
the bedizened harlot called irredeemable
paper money and says TO every people.
Danish her before you look for my re-
turn It is the oxygen IN the CONNER
cial atmosphere, and its absence produces
financial asphyxia."
Senator John j. ingalls,, in a speech
Feb. 10, 1873. said:
mo people in a great emergency ever
found a faithful ally in gold. It is the
most cowardly of all metals. It makes
no treaty it does not break. II has no
friends it does not sooner or later be
tray.
Armies and navies are not main
tanned by gold. In times Of panic and
calamity, shipwreck and disaster, II be-
comes the agent and minister Of ruin.
No nation ever fought a great war by
the aid of gold. On the contrary, in the
crisis Of the greatest peril, II becomes
the greatest enemy, more potent than
the foe in the field, but when the battle
is won and peace has been secured gold
reappears and claims the fruits Of VIC
tory. In our own civil war il is doubt
full If the gold Of New York and Lon
don did not work us greater injury than
the powder and lead and iron Of the
rebels.
1T was the most invincible enemy Of
the public credit Gold paid no soldier or
sailor. 1t refused the national obliga-
tions. 1t was worth most when our for
tunes were the lowest Every defeat
gave it increased value. Tt was in open
alliance with our enemies the world over,
and all its energies were evoked for our
destruction
But as usual. when danger had been
averted and the victory secured, gold
swaggers to the front and asserts the
supremacy