The Weiser signal. [volume] (Weiser, Idaho) 1890-1904, 1896-03-26
TIMOROUSLY ADVANCED.

week or so ago we were actually in
discreet enough TO admit there was one
thing-just one single thing-about the
silver question we did not fully and per-
fectly understand Promptly, two able
opponents of free coinage versed we doubt
not in all the subtletes of finance came
to our relief and our vision is rs clear as
the suns rays of the Y variety. The
Weiser SIGNAL. says it is perfectly aston
ished at the ignorance of the Tribune, and
that, Therefore, possibly, the mine owner
can make somewhere near as much today
ON his silver at 90 cents (per ounce as he
could at 81 30" Therefore, of course,
he's all right The Silver City Avalanche
is equally shocked at our display of pro-
found idiocy and says there is no way on
earth Of calculating the cost of silver cx-
cept by actual, practical experience, and
that Its experiente indicates that the cost
per ounce is not less than six dollars.
That makes it all perfectly clear TO us, but
we can't see where those learned econo-
msts are going to get off at. Now. there
is one other point-just one remember
that puzzles u.s. and we earnestly invite
the authorities to elucidate it. If the
United States should adopt independent,
free aud unlimited coinage of silver,
wha would prevent the operation of the
Gresham law?-Caldwell Tribune.
The Tribune must be more sensi-
tive than the SIGNAL suspected 1t
must be in mood kindred to that
frame of mind often found in melan-
choly disposed persons who Gud a
grewsome pleasure in shedding tears
over woes conjured up from no one
knows where; who find com fort in
magnifying the most thoughtless
words into heartless stabs and Sights,
out of which they can get the uncanny
JOY of plying themselves and bewail-
ing the GOODNESS they meet with in
the world
The SIGNAL never implied saston-
ishment at the ignorance of the
Tribune. Simply gave our individ-
ual idea of the matter in the most
inoffensive way and through all did
not suggest any disrespect to the
intelligence of our highly esteemed
contemporary. We don't like to be
misunderstood like that, because it
annihilates all friendly reasoning be-
tween men. If our friend will not take
it us an insult or a cruel sneer at its
personal attainments we would timid
ly ask, If the conditions referred to
make ''the silver miner all right"
would that not remove free coinage
from being thing specially in the
interest of silver barons? -which is
one of the gilt edged war crys of the
gold advocates. In giving our view
of the matter we told how, to our
mind, the preponderance of the whole
result AS silver depreciation fell upon
the farmer, the manufacturer, the la
borer, the mechanic and so on. lei
our remarks lead the Tribune TO say,
''Therefore, of course, he (the silver
miner) is all right" will it please
continue and show us, in turn, how
all the industries are sail right?'
In regard to the Gresham law, that is
another favorite chord on the mono
metallic harp of thousand strings;
bogie which our contemporary seems
to have strangely handy. The sub
stance of the Gresham law is that bad
money drives out good money, and
in advancing the proposition, we
take it the Tribune considers silver
rs bad money or 1t would not have
brought up the question. We have
always thought that, with free coin
age, silver would at once be worth
ST. and would no longer be s'cheap
money We have thought that all
of both gold and silver available was
necessary to transact business, and
that the demolishing of silver CON
tracted standard money one half
making gold insufficient to bear the
burden, which is the cause of its APP
probation and the commercial ills
which beset us, and that by remone-
tizing silver gold would be brought
down to tie old level, one would not
be better than the other and there
would be no opening for the Gresham
theory to enter into the business.
But il we are mistaken, and silver
would still be cheaper and drive
gold cut, the conduct of commerce