Daily capital journal. (Salem, Or.) 1896-1899, 1896-07-28
IonoRANcE or FALsEAooD.
Looking Into Some Very Crooked Cam
paign Statements.


25th inst.an editorial entitled "lo 10
in Nutshell" in which there are
statements and conclusions 80 eyi'
IDENTIFY false and contrary TO the plain
facts OF history as to brand the writer
thereof as ignorant or otherwise q
deliberate and wilful preyaricator-or
in pure Anglo Saxon-liar.
The portion Of this editorial to
which we wish to call particular at
tentIon is the following:
"In 1878 free coinage was done away
with, since which time all silver has
been coined en- government account
and kept at par BY being interchang-
able with gold.
"sllyer has since fallen In price by
reason OF the great development OF
silver mines, until IL takes about
thIrty-one ounces to equal In value
one ounce in gold.
"Calamity hOwlers tells us this fall
was brought about by all the nations,
Including our own, in 1873 stopping
the free coinage OF silver. This is not
true. On the contrary, the stoppage
OF free coinage was brought about by
the fall Of the price OF silver bullion. "
Most Of the statements In the fore
going extract are bare conclusions
without any facts to support them,
The first statement TO make II the
truth, the whole truth, and nothing
but the truth should be that the
silver dollar was In 1873, demonetized
and free coinage thereof was done
away with. Because OF the dem0ne-
tizatlon of the silver dollar, or IN
other words the taking away of It's
legal tender quality, made 1t neces-
sary for the government TO redeem the
silver dollar In gold In order to keep 1t
at par, for gold was favored by being
allowed TO retain its debt paying
power. If the government had not in
1873, through the influence of the
money changers and spectators,
taken away the full legal tender OF
debt paying quality OF the silver dol
lar there would not have been nor
would there now be any necessltylto
redeem IL or make IL interchangeable
with gold, but the silver dollar would
have continued 10 be In all respects
standard money on an equality with
gold. Then silver would not have
"fallen In price by reason of the de-
velopment of silver mines," but II
would have gone on performing the
functions OF money in increasing
quantities in proportion to the grow
ing demands Of trade and commerce
In this progressive age.
The statement or rather conclusion
that the "stoppage OF free coinage was
brought about by the fall OF the price
of silver bullion, has no fact to sup
port II. Here "the stoppage of free
coinage" is given as the effects and
1.-THE fall OF the price Of silver bullion"
as the cause. Now, as the cause must
always precede the effect, "the fall OF
the price OF silver would necessarily
precede "the stoppage OF free coin
age" and II such Is not the fact, the
statement quoted Is absolutely false.
In 1873, when free coinage was stopped,
the average bullion value Of silver
dollar was one dollar and four mills;
In 1874, IL was only worth 9s cents and
mills, and the value, as compared
with gold, has been gradually falling
ever since, until IL reached 40 cents
aud mill in 1894. See The World
Almanac for 1896, page 2Oa.
Thus we see that the fall of the
price OF the bullion In a silver dollar
followed the stoppage OF free coinage;
and the facts OF history prove that
the statement In the Statesman's edi-
torial, is false.
"l6 TO l IN Nutshell is a fair
sample OF the falsehoods aud fallacies
10 which the gold standard advocates
are driven, in their vain efforts to
hoodwink and mislead the people.
They disregard both truth aud logic.
The people will view with dlstrust all
statements made by "goldbug" news
papers, for witness false In one part
~ his tastfmonV a. IN Ia dfetrnot.,d