The Black Hills union. [volume] (Rapid City, Pennington County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1889-1904, 1895-06-21

make gold coins Of the value of so
many silver units or dollars as the law
existed prior to 1873. Twice when the
commercial ratio between the two
metals made it advisable to change
the legal ratio, the change was made
by re-coining the gold coins. This was
in 1884 and 1887.
He would make both gold and silver
legal tender in the payment OF all
debts and would repeal the law of 1878
and the Sherman law of 1890. He would
allow no determinations to be made
between the legal tender character of
the two metals.
The debtor would be given the opiion
if there were n preference as to which
Of the two metals he would use in the
payment of a debt. To give this option
to the creditors causes the dearer metal
to be demanded and it thus grows
dearer and dearer and a parity is per-
manently broken, and the gap grows
wider and wider. When the debtor has
| the option these two metals will oscil-
late close to a parity and substantially
as at a parity. This oscillation is the
elacticity that ~bimetallism gives to
primary money.
Mr.. Harvey then referred to the de-
monetization act and the scandals
which were rife at the time it went
into effect, and said that at this period
by national legislation a money trust
was formed. Silver at that time was
at a slight premium over gold.
Silver then began to fall, as measured
in gold, and the breach in the COM
mercial parity Of the two metals gradu-
ally widened. With redemption, gold
asserted its Importance, and silver cor
respondingly declined. Under the
Bland-Allison act of 1878 creditors be-
gan to make their notes, bonds and
mortgages payable in gold, to the ex-
clusion of all other forms Of legal ten
mand for gold. Silver had ceased to
be a primary money.
The speaker asked: what is the
remedy?' and replied:
Let us have nothing more to do with
the men who have assisted in tying the
hands of this great nation, and deliver
ing it's financial policy over to the gold
gamblers of the world. The bank OF
the Rothschilds in England is now be-
hind the United States treasury. They
are our financial agents; our financial
managers. We are paying them the
princely salary of $S,O0O,OOO for each
six months of their valuable services.
yNo ~ in thu hands of tho ma w hrnE-
ers of Europe
The remedy, he declared, was to re-
store silver; put it on a legal ratio with
gold; repeal all laws discriminating
between the two metals, and put sill
yer in competition with gold as quickly
as possible"
Continuing, he said: "Silver once in
competition with gold, and this will
take some of the demand off of gold.
To that extent it will lower the value
of gold. The extra demand for silver
will raise it's value. Everything will
advance in value at once. We can show
gold that we do not depend on it for
money. 1t will then be our slave. 1t is
now our tyrant. 1t will then come back
and beg US to take it as in 1873, when it
one of these gold dollars-was worth
&c less than a silver dollar. Our trade
with foreign nations is only 4 per cent
of our business and our domestic bust
ness is SO per cent of all u business.
Which do you want legislated in the in
terest of, the Sc per cent, or the 4 per
cent?"
In conclusion Mr.. Harvey said: "If
an u%nrighteous influence by schemers
and tricksters abnormally enhances
the value of gold so a commercial parity
at 16 to l cannot be maintained, then
do as our forefathers did, change the
ratio, and make the change in weight
and size of the gold coins. Monroe and
Jackson did it. They were not called
dishonest for doing so. They were legis-
lating in the interest of the people,
and not in the interest of the favored
few. We are not compelled to keep
the legal ratio at 16 to 1; we can chang.
it to 20 to 1, if necessary. to fix the
legal ratio to correspond with the COM
mercial ratio, but if the change is made,
let us make it in the rich mans money
and not in the Door mans monev
This is a question of capital on n
side and humanity on the other. OF
sound money-the sound of the clod on
the cofin-On one side, and sound o
ey-the sound that has the honest ring
of the peoples money in it-on the
other side. 1t is a question of an En-
glish policy or an American policy.