Goldsboro weekly argus. [volume] (Goldsboro, N.C.) 1885-1909, 1893-08-10
GoLDsBORO.N N. c.. AUGUST 10, 1898
SOME CANNOT, OTHERS WILL
NOT SEE.

Ochlocratio gatherings voolferously
yslling for "Three Corpered sil-
yer" we can easilyunderstand that
there are those in the Populist
movement who can not see, while
there are others who aoiW not see
the bald facts in the silver folly.
But, nevertheless, it behooyes the
true guides of the people to be
even the more earnest and heroic
in their leaderships.
As the Philadelphia Times says
and with pertinent force: "Certains
~ give the silver men fr zee coinage.
Silver has been money from the
earliest civilization, and there is no
reason why it should not be money
now, and indefinitely hereafter, but
silver money, as all other money,
must be honest money.
What is meant BY the demand of
the champions for free silver coin
age at this time is simply this
That the silver producer shall bring
to the United States $53 worth OF
bullion silver, have the government
coin it free Of charge, and deliver
to him one hundred legal tender
silver dollars. That 10 what free
coinage means as advocated by the
"blood-up-to-the- bride" silver
champions of the West. With
equal propriety every grower OF
wheat and corn, oats and barley,
buckwheat and rye, and every
manufacturer of iron, steel, lead
copper, WOODEN or cottons might
demand of the government that it
shall give q fictitious double value
to their products. The proposed
system of free coinage is, therefore,
simply paternalism run mad.
We had free coinage of silver tor
nearly three-quarters of a century,
and during all that time there were
but 100000 of silver dollars
coined, simply because nobody
wanted them coined, and few
wanted them for circulation. Silver
was, during most of that period,
q fraction more valuable than gold
on O basis Of Is to I, and when sill.
yer bullion was worth more than
silver dollars at the adopted ratio,
the silver producers would not coin
it, because they could make money
BY selling it in bullion. To-day
silver is more than 80 to 1, and
the silver producers insist that
there should be free coinage of
silver ut Is to /. In short, they
first propose to cheat the govern
ment; next to cheat the people, and
BY the fraud invite the contempt
Of the world on our financial sys4
TEN.
But because silver is reduced in
value 10 no reason why it shouldbe
taken ont of our circulating medi-
am. It was once equal to gold on
q basis OF 9 to 1. and it gradually
diminished in value until the basis
Of Is to 1 was accepted and mains
tanned fer more than half a cen
sury; but the enormous increase in
the production of silver during the
last score of years has furnished a
supply greatly in excess of the de.
maid, Notwithstanding the ms
creased use of silver in the mechs
snieal arts has been very great.
The world accepts silver at its
commercial value, and the United
States must bow to what ia so obs
viousiy sensible and just.
II free silver coinage is insisted
Rpon certainly let us have it, but
let US have an honest dollar. The
government could we'll afford to
open its minis to coin the product
of silver in this country on = basis
Of 30 to 1. Even such q dollar
would be worth something less than
100 cents to-day, but it would be
% nearly honest money that it
could be reasonably maintained,
and possibly silver would gradually
advance to entire parity with gold
in aetuAl value. We need silver
money; we have a very large
amount OF silver money; there is no
reason why we should not continue
70 have silver money, but let us
have free coinage Of. American
silver on the sound basis of an
henest American dollar.