The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1894-07-17
SILVER AND GOLD AS MONEY.

coinage of silver for many years. Be
cause it has taken occasion to expose
some of the false statements of fanat-
les who have injured the silver cause by
their wild and ridiculous theories,
they have accused The Herald of SYM
pathy with gold-bugs, and other dread
full things, the epithets used being a
substitute for arguments.
We have been in favor of a cam
paign of silver education and have adj
vocated it repeatedly, meeting with a
vapid Sort of ridicule from a contem-
porary which assumes to incorporate
Iall the silver wisdom of the entire
west. We are still DESTROYS of a silver
propaganda and believe that like char
ity it should begin at home.
When people who put on airs and
exhibit such contempt for those who do
not see through their spectacles, show
their own profound ignorance of simple
facts, to say nothing of principles, it
lis time there should be a night school
or day school or a silver kindergar-
ten for their particular benefit.
Nearly every day some person or
paper is assailed in the columns of our
owlish contemporary for not sensing
the statement that silver buys as much
now of the products of the country as
1t did twenty years ago, but that if a
man wants to buy gold with those
products to pay debt or the interest
on it he would have to give twice as
much of his products as he did twenty
years ago.
hn 10
that in order to get gold to pay note
or its interest which calls for gold
coin, he would have to make a great
sacrifice, and hand over double the
Iamount of his products which he would
have to give if it was payable in silver.
Now, what are the facts? Why, that
silver and gold coins are interchange
able and at parity. They are both
legal tender to any amount A man
who wants to pay a debt or its interest
lin gold coin, will not have to sell his
salmon" or his lumber or his
grain for a less price if the debt is
payable in gold than if payable in sill
YER Produce is not sold for either
gold or silver in bullion, but for gold or
silver in coin. And either, as coin, is of
the same value as the other in all bust
ness transactions in this country.
A silver dollar is equal to gold
dollar as money. If a mans note calls
for gold, he can get the gold coin for his
silver coin. If he sells his products for
silver or silver certificates, he can get
the gold coin for them at par Thus he
does not have to dispose of his pro
ducts at anu diffarao+ ,o,.;oa - -.
sold to pay principal or interest on
his debt than if he sold them for sill
yer.
1t is true that silver as a commodity
has fallen in value in the market. Or
to put it the other way, gold has appre
ciated. This injuriously affects the
silver mining regions and those who
invest in the silver industry. But peo-
pie who have anything to sell do not
barter it for either silver in bars or gold
in dust or nuggets. They sell it for
coin or paper representing coin and
these are all interchangeable at their
face. Silver, gold or paper dollars are
of equal value as money today.
Whatever may be meant by the con-
tinual harping of that contemporary
different from what it saws is NOT
made apparent. 1t is not long since
it Informed the public that if a person
wanted to pay some tariff dues at the
custom house on parcel or bill of
goods from abroad, he would have to
change his silver money for gold, if he
could get the accommodation, in order
to pay those dues Actually ignorant
of the fact that silver dollars or sill
yer certificates are legal tender for all
debts, public and private, unless under
some special contract otherwise. and
that either are just as good as gold
at the custom house, yet that sheet
pretends to special and exclusive wis
dom on questions of finance and pro-
muigates errors so patent as to carry
on their face their own refutation.
We do not dispute that the fiuctua-
tons in the market price of silver and
that of many products appear closely
coincident, and it is possible that the
price of silver regulates the market
values of other commodities. We do
not deny that ounce for ounce" sill
yer will buy as much as it vouId
twenty years ago of many things that
are on sale. or thereabout We simply
wish to make it clear that the idea
sought to be conveyed that silver mon
ey will not pay debts today that in or
der to get gold wherewith to pay
debt in gold money, products must be
sold for a less price than if sold for
silver money is a fallacy and has no
other effect than to mislead the unin-
formed and disgust those who know
better.
THE BICYCLE ON SIDEWALKS.