The daily morning Astorian. [volume] (Astoria, Oregon) 1883-1899, 1895-02-06
STOP THE SILVER AGONY.

The silver statesmen ought to get
themselves together and give them-
selves a ,chance. Several OF them
know enough to know that the outcry
thev have been making for some time
was .rot" from the first, and has been
continued until II is not merely stu
pidity and Justification, but an an
achronism, and certainly the worst sort
Of thing that relates to money is an
anachronism, says Murat Halstead 1t
was silly beyond measure to be in
sist,ne when we had s5OO,OOoOOO of sill
yer money in the treasury, that we
demonetIzed silver. 1t was a jackass
,awp-that and something worse. And
1t was very ridiculous. We had coined
in sixteen years Of alleged demonetiza-
lion. forty times as many silver dollars
as has been minted In eighty years OF
free silver coinage. We had stamped
in the years Of the awful criminal de-
monetIzatlon five times as much legal
tender. in all amounts. silver, as had
been turned out in five times the num-
Der of years when there was no re-
stralnt and no limitation whatever
upon silver coinage. Not only this, we
were turning over to the silver miners
gold coin--In two motions, using two
slips Of paper-so that for the silver
trust the government was merely an
agency for the conversion Of silver In
bulk to gold fresh from the dies. We
do not wonder the silver smelters
grunted little when the this was
stopped, but they were not 80 foolish
as to think that they could make the
people at large believe that they were
wronged because the silver trust no
longer were allowed a derrick to lift
the gold out of the treasury for their
own sweet and exclusive uses. leaving
the people the silver
The silver shrielxing was growing
ludicrous years ago, when the only fam
tasy It had for support was the wild
and woolly assertion that II silver was
made free at the mint, its value would
be doubled In the market, This climac-
terlc OF financial foollshness faded out
however, when the champion silver
screamers concluded that they would
be willing to compromise on ratio
OF % ounces Of silver to equal one OF
gold. The great point Of the manlacal
propagandists OF the silver standard
has been from the first that there was
not gold enough to serve as a measure
OF value The latest fact bearing upon
that idea, so much and so Violently
insisted upon, is, that the gold pro-
duction stimulated by the demand for
the yellow metal, is equal to the pro,
duotlon before the silver haranguers
We're developed. of both metals. There
has been discovered In South Africa 0
gigantic gold bonanza, and oil the ole
gold mines are increasing their produc.
tion--colorado and California, partic
ularly. Of our states. 1t Is as clear a
any fact can be In the future, tha
the supply of gold will, before the clos,
OF the country, be so ample as to pro
duce gold imitation to the extent of tn
restoration OF the old ratio OF value o
silver and gold. The true silver policy
therefore. Is to get out of the way
and let things alone-the only objectio
to that being that It would be an aC
mission that the occupation Of silly,
statesmanship is gone--and that
hard on that line Of business.
-
The country owes something 70 Sci