The Wilmington daily Republican. (Wilmington, Del.) 1890-1902, 1896-09-24
MAssy ON SILVER.

The following letter from Petroleum
V, Nasty, written in 1878. is Of peoul-
lar interest just now. 1t contains q
moral which the free and unlimited sill
yer coinage people will do well to heed:
CONFEDERATE K ROADS
(Which is in the state Of Kentucky,
Jan. 20, 1878.
amt 90 certin that want the sill.
YER bill to pass ez I wuz The fact is,
the thing don't work ez I sposed it
wood, and amt clear on to it. There
is suttle principles in these finanshel
questions witch requires good deel Nv
thought, and there is underlyin prin.
ciples witch a man hez got to understand
afore he is competent to set hisself up
ez authority.
One thing I am certin Nv, Bascom
amt no finanseer, nor never will DO,
and told him so.
"Wat is q fnanseeri" asked he.
"a finanseer, sed I, assoomin the
look of Dan'l Webster, els man witch
kin pay his debts with nothin, man
witch kin git suthin with nothin."
1.-THE Corners, then, is full Of finan-
seers,'' he remarkt bitterly, castin a
casual glance at the slate wich was jist
full enutf to turn over and begin on the
t'other side.
But he hezn't any Nv the science nv
1t. wuz argooin with him the t'other
day in favor Nv my nQshun nv a leather
currency, though I told him silver wuz
much the same thing, and, for example,
wood assoom that silver wuz to be the
currency Nv the fucher.
NOW, don't 700 see, Bascom, that eff
he'd twict as much money Good drink
twict as much whisky and pay fur itP"
How much is twiot nuthin?" was
the unfeelin anser NV the tyrant who
holds the destinies Nv the Corners in
his hands. That's wat your oapitle's
bin ever since l knowd yoo."
"Parson," sed he, II don't see wat
earthly difference it's goin to make
wether silver is currency or anything
else. How are 700 a-goin to git silver
eff it is made legal tender? Eff silver
wuz ez bricks, wat hev 700 got to git
any Nv it WITH"
"Troo, G. w." wuz my answer,
"but can't 700 see that to hev silver
wood relieve the dettor class? Even
now, afore it is legal tender, it's only
with 90 cents on the dollar, and, when
the country is flooded with it, it will
go still lower. Then we, or rather SIGH
Nv us CO hev property to raise money on,
kin pay off,
"Eggsackly SO, retorts Bascom, "yoo
kin pay me for the good honist likker
NV mine witch 700 hev consoomed in
coin wich is less than the dollar 700
promised. All rite. But look here
come in here all NV 700 Iwantyoo sill
yer men to know eggsackly wat 700 are
rushin into.
And this feend led us into the back
room-that back room witch contanes
the subsistence Nv the Corners. There,
in long rows, wuz Basoom's stock.
There, in barrels, piled one on top Nv
another, wuz the delishus whisky Nv
Louisville, Nv different ages, rangin
from that NV two weeks old to that
WITCH had jist left the still and wuz
scarcely cold yit There it lay, and ez
my eyes ranged affeckshunately over it
felt of Good hev the drinkin Nv all
that likker I wood be content to lay
down and die when the last drop wuz
gone.
Bascom pinted to an immense tank
witch he had erected within a few
days, with pipe runnin in from the
roof
II shan't raise the price Nv likker in
conscience Nv bein paid for it in a de-
preshiated currencyl' sed he.
fell on Bascom's neck in an extacy
NV delite, while the others SHOUTED,
"Rah for Bascomr'
&c. W., " remarkt, while teers suf-
foosed my eyes, II never placed 700
much below the angels, but this gener-
Gus act hez histed 700 100 per cent in
my estimashun. Bless 700, G. W., bless
yoo!"
but I'll tell 700 what I shall do.
Do 700 see that tank?" sed he.
MAY I ask wat that is for?" sed.
"That tank will fill with rane wa
ter" sed he. "The moment 700 git to
payin me in silver 1 shell take out ov
eech ov them barrils jist eggsackly 8 10
gallons NV likker and fill it with wa
ter"
"Merciful hevingsl" we all exclaim-
ed, land yoor likker so weak now"
"And when silver gets down to rs
cents on the dollar shell take out 20 /
per cent nv whisky and fill her up
with 20 per cent Nv water. And so on
down. Eff silver goes up, shell add
whisky eggsackly in proporshun. In
short, my whisky is jist a-goin to foller
currency, and nothin shorter. Yoo fell
lers witch work for wagis may SWEET, but
I WON'T
"But yoo'l increase the size Of yoor
glasses?' said l.
"Not any. But 700 may drink twice
ez many times to git the same amount
Nv drunk ez before, by paying for eech
drink u
And Bascom stalked hawtily back
and took his posishen behind his bar.
There wuz consternashun i'll the Cor
ncrs SIGH ez I hev never seen. There
wuz hurried consultashun at the dee
kin's house, and I sejcsted that we
emancipate ourselves from the domin.
yum Nv this tyrant by startin a grosery
Nv our own, on the joint stock princi-
pie, witch wuz agreed to, eech man
agreein to contribbet $40 to the capitle
stock, witch would be enuff to buy
barrl ur too fur a beginnin.
We wuz enthusiastic till we cum to
ballotin fur the man to keep the place,
wen it wuz found, instead Nv my bein
chosen yoonanimously, ez eggspected
to be, that evry man he'd voted fur his
self. Ez not sole Nv them wood re-
coed, the skeom wuz blocked rite there
and FINELY he'd to be abandoned, and we