Shepherdstown register. [volume] (Shepherdstown, Va. [W. Va.]) 1849-1955, 1895-08-22
WHO IS DOING THE eRIsINes

No thinking man can pay any at
tention to the assertion that the news
papers of the country that oppose the
free coinage of silver have been bought
up by "Wall Street" and the Gold
bugs" But the absurd charge is so
widely and confidently repeated, that
thoughtless people may be misled by
it Just as some were by the old canard
that the Golden Club" was flooding
the country with British gold" to help
the cause of tariff reform. 1t is there
fore worth while to examine it mo-
ment.
Since no one has yet produced any
direct evidence of the giving of such
brides, we must regard the differences
from known circumstances to prove or
disprove the charge. If there Is some
one whose interest it is TO corrupt the
press, and who has the means to do IT.
and if the press itself is VIGOROUSLY
corruptible, we may be justified in sus-
pecting the charge is true.
The silver men assert that the pur-
chasing power of gold is continually
increasing, and they imply that the
advocates of the gold standard reap
the benefit of this increase. If there
were clique who owned or controlled
all the gold in the country, this might
seem plausible. But there can be no
such clique. All our gold is at this
moment at the command of every man
who has anything to give for it, either
in work or goods. The day laborer
has the same right to demand gold
and the same assurance Of getting it
that the millionaire capitalist has.
There is more gold coin slowed away
in stockings and chimney corners
today than is held by all the banks
in the United States. The banks hold
it for the sole purpose Of meeting the
demands of their depositOrs, and are
liable to be called on to pay it out at
any moment but the small savings be-
long absolutely to their owners. Have
these millions secretly and noiselessly
combined to bride the newspapers?
For they are the only persons who
have either the interest or the means
to do it.
The case is very different with sill
yer. The owners Of silver mines are
comparatively few; they are astute
and well organized they can see their
own interests plainly and act as unit
to subserve it. The cost Of producing
an ounce of silver is certainly less than
fifty cents on the average, and it has
been produced as low as twelve and
a-halfcents. Now they are advocating
a policy that will compel the Govern
ment to pay them $1.29 cents for every
ounce of silver they bring to the minis.
Here is a business proposition that is
as plain as day. The profit can be
figured out to a cent, and does not
rest on any hypothetical appreciation
which no one can compute even if 1t
takes place. If you had money to in
vest would you not much rather buy
share of the mine-owners profits
from free coinage, than to make deal
with the goldbug for part Of his zap
preciation?'
If there is any money to be spent in
this currency question, one does not
have to think long to find out whose
interest it is to spend it. a little con-
sideration Will lead fair-minded man
to suspect that this corruption cry has
been started by the silver miners to
cover up their own tracks.
There is one other matter worth con-
sidering in this connection. This is
an age of newspapers. People read
newspapers who never read the Bible.
The daily and weekly press WELD an
influence the like of which has never
been known before. If the American
people have allowed this great power
to be assumed by men who are so mer-
cenary and degraded that they can be
bought at wholesale, as the silver men
imply, it can only be because they are
lost to all sense of honesty themselves.
Not even Messrs. Stewart and Jones
would dare to hint at such thing,
though they have done, and are still
doing, with certain Of their satellites,
all they can to corrupt our people and
destroy their integrity and honor.
An Ohiert-l eSson