Idaho semi-weekly world. [volume] (Idaho City, Idaho Territory) 1875-1908, 1893-02-28


ing Of our Boise cor, "Old Coaster"
on the silver question, except BY a.
suming that his presentation of it is
intended As burIesque on the argu-
ments Of the opponents Of free coin
age. He asks: .Why not modify
the Law Of 1890 by cutting down the
purchase Of silver one. half and adopt
the free coinage OF silver for one
year, confine il to American produc-
tion, and pot dollars worth Of ell
yer in dollar?" Tho monthlv pro-
duction Of silver in the United States
equals the monthly purchases BY the
government. so by cutting the pur-
chases down one-half, only one-haIf
the product would be coined; but
this would be impossible. To coin
one-half free and to shut out the
other one-half is something that could
could not be done. Free coinage of
the American product would be pos
sibIe, but is not what silver men ad-
vocate. Free and unlimited coinage
is advocated, not for the benefit Of
the miner alone, bat for every labor
er, producer, business, professional
man and artisan. The demand Is for
more metallic currency. Under the
present system creditor classes are
becoming enriched by contracting
the currency and impoverishing the
masses. What .Old Coaster ("
means by putting . dollars worth Of
silver in a dollar is not clear, but he
probably means that the market price
should determine the coin value,
which is totally absurd, as well as
transparently unjust. Under the
present law silver is purchased at its
market prlce, 60 and "a cents All
ounce, is coined, and then what is 1t
worth? One dollar and twenty nine
cents and twenty mine one-hun-
dredths of . cent. The producer is
just simply robbed out of the differ
ence between the market value and
coin value. In the silver dollar. there
are 412t grains of silver and alloy
one-tenth being alloy-yet tits just as
good as gold dollar. The law
makes silver coin legal tender to
the extent of FIVE dollars, and to that
extent it is just as good as
gold. If made a legal tender
to any amount, silver coin would be
as good as gold for any amount
Notwithstanding 37l4 ounces of sill.
yer, with the Government stamp on
it, is worth dollar, 480 grains in ths
market, as bullion, brings only s;
cents. This proves that the coin val
ue of silver, instead of being s;
cents an ounce. is sl.29. 1t is un
just to contend that one dollar
worth of silver, as silver bullion il
sold in the market, should be pu
into the silver dollar. 1t would be
discrimination against the white met
!! al that is manifestly robbery, 70
the purpose of maintaining the gol,
n standard, and to maintain the gol,
n standard is to rob producers for tn
b benefit of bondholders and othsrs @
the creditor class. A just ratio can
not be fixed between gold and silve
without treating both exactly alike
d by demonetizing both and taking thei
market value-or by coming bot
= free. The present coinage law il
r. self proves that silver is just as goo
e as gold at a ration of l6 to Ito tn
q extent to which it is made a del
. payer by law, and would be to an
A. extent if the law should so recogniz
J. it. Before 1878, the year silver Wi
c. demonetized, the white metal W,
D. worth in the markets, as bullion, 81
- and $1.32 an ounce. That was whe
al both gold and silver were treated e,
Of actly alike by law. With free col
lie age now, silver would be worth VIII
,u it was then. A truer ratio would
20 l54 or Is to l, which would NAL
.. silver worth still more than what
ve known as the American ratio-16
ID under which silver is worth ST.:
al per ounce. As bullion it is wor
se but 83 cents an ounce, because it
he degraded by law to give credit
a. classes an opportunity to rob the pr
ro ducers-simply that and nothi'
I'M more. This cry for " a dollars wor
mt of silver IN dollar" originated wi
nd these same robbers, and the gre
re mass of the people east of the Rocki
.es take it up and re-echo it, believing
as to be true. They believe it to
,,v true that the silver dollar is sh'
of dollar, simply because they don't u
he derstand the question. They l
II echo the false statements of their e
emies, not knowing that they are al