Arizona silver belt., 1896-07-16
A GOLD BUG SoPHISTRY.

A fayorite argument of the gold monometallists is that nearly all the silver dollars coined by the United States were minted since 1873, the year that silver was demonetized; that of the 427, ,364, 496 dollars coined since 1792, only S,O5l, ,23s of these were coined prior to 1873.
 The idea sought to be conveyed by this statement is that, as nearly all the silver money of the United States was coined since 1873, (the year it was demonetized), the demand for it's free coinage now is unreasonable and dis honest. We contend that it is the monometallists who are dishonest in advancing this argument. The fact is that nearly all our silver dollars were coined after the enactment of the Bland silver bill in 1878, to meet contraction of the currency of about 8 per capita, and with all the silver coined since then no one will claim that the money circulation in the United States has ever been greater than the require ments of trade and the prosperity of the country demanded.
 The vital point for which bimetal- lists contend is not the amount of silver coined (althougb that is important but it's restoration as money of ultimate redemption, on a parity with gold, at a ratio of sixteen to one. Congress by demonetizing silver seriously impaired its value as money, and the United States treasury officials have completed the degradation of silver by pursuing the policy of paying out gold exclu- sively in the redemption of treasury notes when the law provides that they may be redeemed in either gold or silver.
 This discrimination against silver by the treasury has had another result equally disastrous to the welfare of the United States, since it enabled the money dealers to raid the treasury and deplete the gold reserve, to replenish which the government found it neces- sary to issue gold bonds, thus increas- ing the public debt $262, 1000, ,OOe dur ing the present administration. It was clearly the duty of the treasurer under tho law, whenever the depletion of the gold reserve was threatened, to pay out silver in the redemption of all notes calling for coin, and thus have avoided the serious complications which have embarrassed the treasury and seriously impaired the business of the country.
 Prior to 1861 state bank issues largely supplied the requirements for money, and from that date to 1879 specie pay ment was suspended. In 1861 the greenback was made legal tender and after 1864 national bank currency came gradually into circulation. Before the war the requirements of trade were insignificant to what they now are, and the amount of money in circulation has not been out of proportion to the ex- pansion of business and growth of pop ulation, and, in fact, has actually de- clined since 1892, and contraction will inevitably continue unless silver coin age is resumed or the national bank circulation is increased.
 The national banks are really the instigators of the whole trouble. Their existence is dependent upon the per. petuity of the national debt, any reduc- ton of which is direct menace to to their continuance. Therefore, their interests ars all opposed to generous revenues, which threaten 2 reduction