The Ketchum keystone. [volume] (Ketchum, Idaho) 1885-1899, 1893-08-19
ABSOLUTELY PURE

I
| gold standard in this country.
Why WAS tho policy of monometallisn
inaugurated and what have been its r.
sultsi It was devised for the purpose O
enhancing the value Of money and securi
ties. The purchasing power of gold ha.
been appreciated nearly one hundred
per cent and the appreciation has doubled
tho actual value of the worlds thous
ands of millions of dollars of interest
bearing securities. It has been enorm.
ously profitable to the holders of those
securities; it has been dreadfully disas-
trous to all whose labor contributes te
the fund from which those securities,
principal and interest. are paid. Here in
the West we have been led by reason OF
tho direct and disastrous effect upon OUT
leading industry to give this subject that
careful thought necessary to arrive II
correct conclusions. The people of the
East have not given it such thought
they have carelessly accepted the expla-
nation that the prices Of the products Il
human labor have declined because OF
over production. That is false assump-
ton. We tell you prices have shrunk be-
cause of the appreciation Of basic money
- = result of the application of the prin-
cipal OF monometallism. You will agree
with ~ in this proposition when you
have given the subject that independent
study and investigation to which its i'm :
portance entities it. We want to tell you
again that this rule of Inonometallism, If
it be finally fixed upon us, must apply to
all classes of property. Values must all
shrink. The values Of your lands, the val
ues of your buildings, the values of your
factories, the values of your railroads
must all be pared down. You cannot es-
cape from it; neither the efforts of finan-
ciers nor the Intervention of clearing
house associations can prevent the fall.
When the process Of shrinkage shall have
been finished, rs per cent of your stocks
will have been entirely wiped off the
boards of the exchanges. Thousands Of
millions of dollars Of your investment
securities will not be worth - much ~
the paper upon which they are printed;
they represent only an equity; the bond
holder comes drst and tho value of the
property will not be sufficient to more
than pay the bond, when finally measured
W TIC oIuSlo 6Oiu SIouOSiO.
Free coinage Of silver will enlarge the
volume of basic money;it will stop the
fall of prices and establish them upon q
much higher plane; it will add to the
rewards of all who toll; it will increase
wages; it will make the burdens of life
easier in the homes of the masses; 1t will
Tighten the sky of industry; it will
make music among the spindles; it
will put Thanksgiving in tho hearts and
songs on the lips Of millions; 1t will
overturn the bondholders' conspiracy and
take the yoke Of hopeless poverty from
tho necks of those who have been ground
into the dust beneath the wheels of this
Juggernaut Of gold. Moreover, we want
to sag to those who own factories that are
standing idle, that free and unlimited
coinage Of silver would At once creates =
new and almost boundless market for
them. Free coinage in the United
States At ratio Of Is to would at once
bring food of orders for goods from
Latin American countries. This trade
would amount to tens Of millions of dol
lars annually; it would permanently turn
the general balance Of trade in our favor,
and would obIigs Europe to pay ito bal
lances to rs in gold,-ayo in gold,--while
drawing tho silver of Mexico we would
draw the gold af England, and tho BIZ
metallic Uuited States would become the
money center of the world. Our trade
with all silver using countries would be-
come direct, thus building up our mer
chant marine. The remarkable prophecy
Of the French economist, NJ. Ernest Seyd,
10 we'll worth quoting in this connection.
80 far back as 1871, two years before sill
ver was demonetizsd in the Uuited States,
n. Seyd used these words:
ut is great mistake to suppose that the
adoption Of the gold standard of value, by
,ther States besides England. will be bene-
icial. It will only lead to the destruction
If the monetary equilibrium hitherto ex-
sting, and cause fall in the value of silver,
rom which England trade and the Indian
,ther interests, grievOus as will be the gen.
raj decline of prosperity all over the world. |
1.-The strong doctrinarianism existing in
England as regards the gold valuation is 50 |
hind that. when the time of general de- |
PRESTON sets i'll. there will be this special |
eaturc:
The economical authorities of the coun- |
sreshadewed; every possible attempt will |
'e made to prove that the decline OF COM
ncrce is due to all sorts of causes and ir-
econcilable matters; the workman and
lis strikes will be the first convenient tar
ct; then Specializing and 'overtrading
vi!l have their turn: many other aiieRa-
ions will be made totally irrelevant to the
endency of financial writer's.
The great danger of the time will be
hat, among all this confusion and strife,
highlands supremacy in commerce and
manufactures may go backwards to an ex-
ent which cannot be redressed, when the
cal cause ii. q the demonstration of
raj remedy is applied"
The last clause expresses the only por-
on Of this prophecy yet unfuIflled, and
|eariy points the way By which the
United States may again obtain CONNER.
iaI supremacy over Great Britain.
There is worry large aud respectable
lass of our fellow citisens who would be
lad 20 SEQ silver restored but who do
Ut think the United States could main
lin tho parity of the two metals in the
bsencc of IN International agreement.
7e would call the attention Of allsuch to
statement made BY the late Mr.. Blaine,
Int those have always been most success
Il in dealing with tho financial affairs Of
arGOvernment who have had the greatest
,nfidcucc in the resources and credit If
le country. We believe the United
tates is strong enough. and that it,
ealth and credit are SO great that it can
ecrce what the position of silver in the
asiness of the world 10 to be. We know
at France for seventy wears maintained