The herald., 1896-08-23
Sherman's Essay"

Times says 1t is "meaty and to the
point"
Yes, there Is meat in It; one could not
mistake the odor. 1t was unnecessary
for the Times to call attention to the |
meat, for it is so tainted that It smells
to high heaven"
For instance, his assertion, 1--WE can
not, by law fix the value OF efther metal
or coin," is so contaminated with lie
germs that saltpeter cannot save 1t nor
salicylic acid restore 1t.
Ugh, the odor of 1t!
If the author of this brainy (?) "es-
say" believed what he said (Which he did
not) your simple minded Jeems would
modestly ask him. by what power or
authority were the values Of the present
silver dollar. half dollar and dime fixed?
AS to value they are not in their prime
val condition. They were not dug out
of the earth, neither did they come out of
the smelter in their present condition.
Who, then. had the temerity to place
fixed values upon them and proclaim to
the people of these United States-these
people who boast Of their freedom and
independence as their birthright-that
they must, accept the dictum and hold
these coins at their face value? Was 1t
an individual that so presumed upon
an indulgent public, or was 1t conven-
ton of men? Perhaps It was an eccles-
iastical body of men-priestS or prelates
no, Mr. Sherman knew better; no one
knows better than he. that legislation
alone can fix the value of coin even IN
a despotic government, much more is II
true in a republic. Why does he poes
before an audience as statue of cring-
ing servility to falsehoods?
Another slice of meat that us to the
point and has strong suggestion of
!, raf f.o n
great law of supply and demand affects
the value (of coin) as 1t does of iron. cop
per or zinc" Now, Jeems was just so
simple as to think that the precious met
ais, which are used almost exclusively
as a basis of financial exchange, bore no
relative value to the base. or utilitarian
metals. He thought the last named
metals were used in arts and sciences
and for the general utility of mankind,
and fluctuations of their value were con-
trolled by fluctuations in supply and
demand, but mans demand for gold and
silver dollars is generally pretty uni
form. But, though mans demand for
dollars may fluctuate ever so greatly,
yet the value of coin is held unswerving-
ly firm and true by the legal grip In
which 1t is held. 1t Is true that stocks.
Erie bonds, etc, may and do go up and
down, but the value Of the gold and
silver dollar goes on forever.
More anon. JEEMS.
SHERMAN's ESSAY.
N. 2.
The air Is still redolent with the fra
GRANGE of that "meaty and to the point"
essay. Here is a dish of 1t, filled with
lie-germs. "One of the great body of
creditors here Is the 100000 soldiers, their
widows and orphans, who are creditors
to the United States to the amount of
over 100000 900 a year" These people
all honor to them, are in no sense credi-
tors of the United States; or, if it be true
that they are, then this nation during
he rebellion took upon itself the charac-
ter of "bloodthirsty shylock and extor-
TONER" Ca question which Jeems is not
ready to admiD in that it did not pay it's
soldiers proper remuneration for their
services. The monthly pay roll of the
government, and it's bounties paid to
the soldiers were not in any degree what
they should have been. else this stupen-
dous debt could not be held by them
against the government. But it is not
true, therefore we must look upon this
great army in some other light than as
creditors of the United States 1t Is
true they are in annual receipt of large
amounts of money from the government
treasury, but these amounts are not
paid them in response to legal demand,
but they are rendered them as a reward
for we'll doing and are free gift from this
government.
Another "meaty and to the point lie
germ: The only object and effect of
this measure free coinage of silver)
will be to degrade the dollar, to lessen its
purchasing power nearly one-half. to
enable debtors to pay their debts at
% cents for dollar and to cheat the
public creditors who hold our bonds"
1T is one of the objects of those who
advocate the free coinage of silver to
force the government to pay these bonds
in silver coin reduced in value"
Oh, the stencil! burn feather!
Was that Major McKinleys object
in advocating, but a few months ago,
the free coinage of silver? All, no; the
distinguished author of that essay
knows full we'll that Major Mckinley,
and all others who advocate, or did ad
vocate this measure, had in view many
things. First, the restoration of the
debased silver dollar to it's proper value
and volume, thereby enabling the gov
ernment to pay it's debts with honest
dollars and not with an honest dollar
Second, they have in view the eternal
destruction of the corner on gold Third,
they do not lose sight of their ability to
forever annihilate the Capitalization of
power, which is coiling itself about our
government like the anaconda that it is
Fourth, they desire and have in view
| the release of the farmer from financial
bondage, an impetus given to indus
tries whereby those who are willing
to work may find employment; they hope
to bring relief to the laboring man
from the thraldom of such human
teaches as Mark Hanna has evidently
proved himself to be. Oh. there is so
much that is honest and laudable for
the free silverites to do that they will
be too busy to hobnob with corporations
lsand goldglots But Jeems gives these
latter ones due warning that no mercy is
|, going to be showered upon them; no SEN
| 'timental, brotherly-loveism, is going to
be manifested toward them. Charity
has suffered long and was kind, and the
time is at hand when free silverites will
rnete out to these gold ccrmorants their
just deserts, and if they cannot quench
their Unsuitable desire for gold and land
lordism they can at least disrobe them
of their power for harm and oppression.
oh, the virulence of that germ-pois-
oned meat.
Simply, as ever yours,
JEEMS.
Alexander Hamilton on Bmetallism
Editor Herald: Hon. Alexander Ham
ilton, the first secretary of the United