The Seattle post-intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, Wash. Terr. [Wash.]) 1888-1914, 1895-08-09
ANOTHER SILVER AGITATION.

There is phase of the silver question
now being agitated in New York which,
for a wonder. has nothing whatever to do
with the questions Of ratio. International
agreement or anything else which relates
10 the coinage proposition. This phase Of
the silver question comes from crusade
OF the manufacturers OF articles from
pure silver against the concerns engaged
In making and selling bogus articles.
fraudulentIy stamped as Sterling
The honest manufacturers claim that the
genuine goods are being driven from the
market by the flood Of counterfeits, made
up In some cases OF alloys which have no
trace OF silver and I'm others of silver
heavily alleged with base metal.
Fortunately for the dealers in bona fide
goods, there is statute in New York
which forbids the sale of any article
stamped sterling unless IL contains 925
parts in every 1000 Of pure silver or OF an
article stamped pure silver or solid"
unless IL Is nine-tenths fine. Under the
provisions of that law several leading
dealers in New York have been arrested
and are now under indictment for
vending the bogus goods. fraudulently
stamped. A careful examination of :'sil-
Yer" articles exposed for sale in the various
stores of New York discloses the fact that
large proportion of them contained less
than one-fourth of the pure metal. and
some as little as per cent, and of course
il is apparent that the same stuff is sold
7faof-
false pretenses.
There is a pointer In this for the silver
producers of the country. At the present
low price of silver bullion there has been
"A steady growth of the demand for "ster-
ling" articles in lieu of those which are
simply plated" owing. of course. to the
fact that solid silverware is much cheaper
than ever before known. and to the fur
Their fact that such ware Is practically in
destruetible. If all the ware which is be-
ing manufactured and sold as sterling"
were in reality composed of silver of the
coinage standard of fneness, there would
be much greater demand for silver bull
lion for use In the arts than there is at
present.
The sale of tho bogus article, under
misleading brand. is as much of fraud
on the producers of silver bullion as il is
on the purchaser of the article. In both
respects II is like the sale of oleo or other
butter substitutes as pure butter. In re-
Spouse TO the demand from the dairy inter-
ests such sale of butter substitutes is made
in most states misdemeanor. The sale
of bogus 'silverware'' should receive pre-
ciseiy the same treatment at the hands of
the legislatures of the various states, and
such legislation could readily be had IL
there came demand for 1t from the hon
est dealers and the silver producers.
The dealer in bogus butter may possibly
be guiltless of fraudulent intent. 1t re-
guires expert chemical knowledge TO be
able to apply the tests TO discover whether
the article sold is really butter or n sub
stitutc. The dealer In bogus silveraare
can rarely enter such plea He is usual
~ well qualified to make the simple tests
necessary to determine whether the ar
ticle In which he deals is what it purports
TO be or whether IL is an imitation. When
such dealer sells an article as sterling
silver" when ne knows It is nothing Of
tho kind. he is guilty of wilful fraud. and
should be punished therefore.