Owingsville outlook. [volume] (Owingsville, Ky.) 1879-192?, 1896-07-23


rcvulutionist by many of his con
scrvative contemporaries. A. sure
as he learned the worlds eXpe-
rience of the impossibility of main
tanning double standard of money
composed of two different metals
50 sure would he have insisted that
there could be only one standard
and that should be gold, the stand
ard Of all the great civilized ma
tions. His successors did finally
establish IN fact the gold standard
and it had continued for many
years prior to the year 1873 as the
standard of real money, although
the paper issues of the War era
gave an apparent mot real) ex-
pansion of values TO commodities,
but which valued in gold were not
comparatively high priced. In real
ity commodities were measured by
the value of the deprecated paper
money, which in its turn was meas
ured by its value in gold, so that
the gold standard was at the bot
tom of valuation after all.
In 1878. silver at l6 to was at
a premium in gold. Except a few
millions of small change hid away
in banks and by the people in their
homes, there was no silver money
in this nation. Up to that time
there had been coined since the es.
tablishment Of the nation only about
eight million silver dollars and
eighty million dollars in fractional
com. After due debate, which the
records of Congress show to have
been so open and ample that any
Congressman or Senator at all at
tentive to his duties must have
been entirely conversant with, the
act was passed dropping the stand
ard silver dollar from coinage and
establishing by law the gold stand
ard, which had been in fact for
many years the monetary standard.
That is the so-called "crime" of
1873. There were no silver dollars
in existence except the few owned
by coin collectors and the few
probably held by the people as me-
mentOes and pocket-pieces. There
we're surely none circulating as
money, for the whole eight million
that had been coined in the previous
eighty years were not drop in the
bucket. The fractional silver coins
from 50-cent pieces down to Scent
pieces were not in circulation, for
even they were at premium of a
few cents. Then how is the act of
1873 TO be truthfully denominated
a ''crime2" 1t wronged not a per
son out of cent; it caused no
contraction of the currency, for
there was no silver in circulation
and but comparatively little United
States silver coin in existence; il
didn't change the standard of mon
etary value. because the nominal
standard was already the paper
currency. and the real standard was
gold. The truth is it was not a
Crime" in any sense OF the word
and to call it so now or at any 9TH
er time is and was an abuse of the
word and a misstatement of fact
In truth the act of 1873 was only
an Official recognition of the fact
that only a single standard wa,
possible, and to align this nation
with the other great nations of the
world in the use of the gold stand
ard. IL the immense production OF
silver had not caused the reduction
of the price of silver metal shortly
after the passage of the act of 1873
and if sumo politicians had moi
felt the necessity to themselves OF
some issue TO howl over to keeT
themselves before the public and t.
delRde their constituency with the
'belief of zeal in their behalf, moth,
ing would have been heard of free
unlimited and independent coinage
of silver. What would any of then
have cared if silver at 16 to l haC
continued to be worth two to fiv,
cents on the dollar more than gold
Not snap would any of them hav,
cared, from the silver mine owner
down to the cheapest demagogu,
that ever sat in Congress.
What are the facts as to the pros
perity of the people since 1873
These when called to mind are
within the recollection of all wht
we're old enough to know them
, The Jay Cooke panic of 1873 hao
not the remotest thing to do will
silver coinage. 1t was a Wall stree
spectators break, TO which ar,
liable all gamblers, of all sort
whatsoever, and to which all othel
people who mismanage their affair
are subject. The Cooke panic sub
sided after a while. The resump
ton of specie payments came il
1879. When it was seen by tn,
people that specie payments wer,
assured the small premium on GOLD
valued in paper currency disap
peared. When the paper was fol
currency found to be worth as
much as gold the people preferred
the paper as more easily handled
Then began such an era of pros
perity as scarcely has been evel
known. Let every one, from the
day -laborer, the small and the
wealthier farmer to the clerk anc
the merchant, tax his memory and
say if he didn't make more none,
and enjoy more of the comforts anc
even luxuries of life between 1875
and 1898 than he ever did before
or since that time. We all know
that during those twenty years
and especially the last ten years oil
them, people bought land and paid
for it out of the profits of the lands
produce; many others bought LAND
and were in fair way to pay fol-
it until the speculative panic came
and was fastened down on them by
this aoifatiou for eil.,ariSp, With