The herald., 1893-10-13

Trhe HERALD under this heaainR prt nts com-
municali0ns, but does not assume responsf
biliiy for the sentiments EXPRESSED
Towards the conclusion OF ex-Mayor
Hazard's letter in last Sundays HERALD,
In which he criticizss my position on
the silver question. he says: The eyes
OF our people are being opened to the
grab conspiracy whereby silver was dis
credited in the money metals OF the
world ia the interest OF bondholder and
creditor Glaze" etc.; aud yet through
out moat OF hia letter Mr.. Hazard is en-
gagged in this selfsams business OF dis
efediting silver, for in effect he assumes
that 1t is the ty OF the government to
redeem tbs silver dollar In gold. Why
don't he insist that the government
ought to redeem gold dollars in sllverf
Both propositions are absurd and wholly
contrary to the true theory OF bimetal-
lism. Under that theory, q standard
silver dollar is just as legal and just
AS honest, and is supposed to be
lust as pussaut In its own right. requir-
ing no redemption by government or
othar power, ~ the standard gold
dollar, no motr end no less. Under our
constitutional ,iuuSle standard every
citizen hae. q uught TO have, and did
have for ovs, so yegrs, the right to
measure yala~s ny sither silver or gold,
i, q. hy deiined wcrsh or dollars freely
coined OF cNrved out OF the universal
mass OF ei;hvr metal. at his optlon.
These metals nAyo values OF their own,
which mankind desires to use in their
eimplcity, vithuut eophistlcation Dy
juggling coinsga laws Tor the measure
ment ot the prpUuets oi their labor; tne
functions Of tHe nationsl government IN
this matter, bsing with single exceptions
strictly analogous to that OF the state IN
the sealiag OF weights and measures,
that is. il merely certifes honesty and
the weight and fineness OF each standard
coin OF either metal that any
citizen may ask it to thus certify. With
this duty performed the k>vernment's
duty ends. II leaves the coins Of either
metal to take care OF themselves, or
rather it turns them over in kind, and
only in kind, to the parties depositing
or furnishing the bullion. 1t guarantees
their weight and tneness, but 1t hae no
more to do with guaranteeing the value
OF either than has the party who brings
the bullion to the mint and receives tit"
back again, duly stamped and certified
and then puts il in circulation.
Itis pre- epostesous to assert that when
ever the government has coined silver
Tor gold) dollar the faith of the nation
ia pledged to maintain it at q dollar,
compared with any other dollar" The
only interest or duty the government
has in connection with maintaining the
value OF coins Of either metal, consists
in using always the cheaper metal in it's
own payments as dictated both by self-in-
terest aud common sense, which, how
ever, much people and governments may
seek to evade it or wriggle around it
10 the only known way in which, pri-
marily, the general masses OF the two
metals can be kept on any common
level: and, secondarily, and as q natural
result thereof, the coins OF each can be
kept at q genuine and not bastard
parity, which is the kind OF parity the
United States government has been en-
gagged in maintaining, at the instigation
OF greedy Shylocks, ever since it resumed
specie payments, nearly 15 years ago. II
it had adopted and adhered to this rule
OF paying in the lower specie thsre
woud have been no serious divergence
between the two great money metals;
The relative value OF gold would not have
almost doubled, thereby causing q fall
OF commodities OF from one-third to -one-
half.
Mr.. Hazard, like go many others,
loses sight altogether, apparently, OF the
subtle peculiarity of all standards OF
value, which fuctuate mp and down;
whereas other standards, as rule. do
not fuctuate at all. And II one desires to
appreciate some Of the momentous
n 41n al lfa. &c h. II
this rise and fall OF the level of the
standard of value as affected by the ex-
pansion or contraction of the circulat-
ing medium, let him read the remark
able passage from Alieon's history of
Europe, as quoted in the HERALD Of lsst
Monday, October I'd. The profound,
lony-reaching views therein expressed
should sink deep into the hearts of
every citizen. Evidently the eminent
writer had made a special study OF the
the influence on human welfare OF the
rise aud fall OF the level OF money, as
we'll as study of history in general.
When money. from scarcity or con-
traction. goes up, property goes down
with the same inexorable certainty that
one end OF teter board must perforce
90 down when the other end rises
anil vice vcrsa. Alison attribu 0
the fail of the Roman empire to I Q
scarcity and consequent rise IN value 1
gold and silver, and to the equally con-
seouent and inevitable fall of all other
property, together with the abject mia-
ery and increased burdens which that
fall entailed. Within century after
Columbus discovered the new world the
annual supplv OF the precious metals
for the use of the globe was trebled, and
the prices OF everv species OF produce
were Quadrupled, labor was rewarded,
enterprise was stimulated, the relations
Of society were changed, the weight Of
feudalism cast off and the rights OF man
established. Later, or from 1916 70
l849, Alison continues, from the effects
OF South American revolution and
Eaglish legislation, the scarcity of
money again caused it to become every
day more valuable, and ali llother articles
measured in money less SO; and as q
result. which many of us vividlv re-
member, ell Europe in '48 was aflame
with revolution, which, happily, Was
averted by the opening Of the great
treasures OF nature in California and
Australia.
And now again, since 1878, not
through any failure Of nature, but
through the deliberate. and. one is
tempted to say, devilish and revolu-
tjonary acts of human governments,
about 81 800, 200, 900 in standard and
.lvood q coined silver haa been WantOuly