Dakota farmers' leader. (Canton, S.D.) 1890-19??, 1893-04-21
CANTON. SOUTH DAKOTA. FRIDAY APRIL Il. 1898.
KILLED BY a DEmocRAT1o HOUSE.

''Who would be benefited by free
coinage except the miner and speculator, .
is question often asked by the plutoc-
ratio .'honest dollar" brigand-whon never
earned an honest dollar in his life-and
thrice as often answard by the champions
of true Democracy and Repu blicanism.
A certain petty evening journal OF Peters
burg, Va, in a recent editorial, outstrips
allits competitors IN exposing the fallacy
Of free coinage" This 8 one gallis'
editor says: ''rhe speculators would
then proceed to buy up all the bullion at
it's market value (07 cents on the dollar
and by having it coined into standard
dollars, would make 33 per cent on every
investment" Between our natural con-
tempt for liar and our innate sympathy
for fool, our feelings toward such q
character as THAT are absolutely indefi-
nable. Who d IS he suppose would sell
the bullion at Its market value of 81
cents" when thr government was stand
ing ready to coin it into dollar? With
free and open n;:nts the value Of silver
bullion is alw Is determined by the ratio
of coinage, n.;d nothing could more
effectually l,:.,ud a man as an ignoramus
than the statement of that editor. An
analysis OF me facts brings us to this:
The relative values Of corn, cotton,
wheat ais. other staple products and
silver btIion, with gold, have. been
about tire same ever since the war,
and whatever tends to materially adj
vance thu price of silver will result in q
proportional advance in these other COM
modities. The reason this is true is that
India is orr principle competitor in the
production of cotton and wheat, and
thn III of hot 1A<o
the prices # the world.
Under the coinage laws Of In6ia Is
ounces of silver IS equivalent TO one
ounce of gold. An India rupee contains
l9O grains of silver. One ounce of silver
will, therefore, make about n rupees.
For the past twenty years bushel Of
wheat has sold for II rupees, while one
rupee pays all charges to Liverpool.
When silver is worth IS cents per
ounce, 6ne pound sterling will buv about
six ounces of silver. Six ounces of silver
will make fifteen rupees. which, in turn,
will buy six bushels of wheat delivered in
Liverpool.
The annual output OF American silver
mines is about equal 10 that of the rest OF
the world combined, or in other words, is
nine times our per capita Of the world S
supply; hence but for the demonstration
of Silver in 1873. we would have been
able to practically control the price Of
silver throughout the world. But since
we refused to maintain the monetary dig
nifty of our white metal. its commercial
value has declined from 81 20 per. ounce
to IS cents, and this is what the English
speculator pays for the bullion with
which he buys Indian cotton and wheat
in direct competition with American pro-
ducts.
If the Bland silver bill had been pass
ed by the last congress this years crop
of wheat would have sold for Sl.25 per
bushel and cotton for IL cents per pound.
Let it, be remembered that that was a
Democratic measure promised by three
national Democratic conventions, intro
duced by Democrat approved by a
Democrat committee, endorsed by ninety
per cent of the rank and file of Southern
and Western Democrats, but killed and
buried by a Democratic house with 148
majority. -