The Hawaiian star. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu]) 1893-1912, 1896-09-26
No. 1919

will accept that offer without eondi-
tions? / challenge any advocate of
free coinage to deny that free coinage,
pure and simple, is not what he de-
mands, and not one of them will dare
to meet this challenge.
This demand for free coinage is
cover intended TO conceal the true pur-
pose of those who seek it, Most of
those who support this measure have
been deceived and misled. Let such
men put the question to any owner OF
silver mines. to any Senator or Repre-
sentative in Congress or to any and
every candidate on the free coinage
platform in the following terms:
"If we grant free or unlimited coin
age, without charge for the coming,
will you be content and will you de-
mand nothing more?" Not man who.
knows what the true purpose is will
answer Yes to that question. Let
your readers try this.
If this question is evaded and if the
reply is "No," then the popular phrase
Free coinage at 16 to L. is a fraud,
used and intended to cover another OBJ
ject or purpose. What is that pur-
pose?
We may assume that Mr.. f. G. New
lands, Member of Congress from Ne
vada, who was chosen to make the
opening speech at the late silver con-
vention mot the Populist) in ST.
Louis. is entitled to declare what tha
purpose of the advocates of free coin
age really is. These are his words:
sour purpose simply is, by increas-
ing the coinage and use of silver and
by giving it equal privileges with gold,
to raise its value, and by diminishing
the strain on gold which gold mono
metallism has caused, to take away it's
unjust appreciation, and thus by pull
ling up the value of silver and pulling
down the value of gold, to restore the
old ratio so that sixteen ounces of sill
yer will be worth lin bullion as well
the old unit of value--the dollar
based on both metals inste9d of one,
will be restored. and we shall have
gold dollar worth 100 cents in silver
and silver dollar worth 100 cents in
gold"
Mark these words, Our purpose is
to raise the value of silver" Mr. New
lands clients must now be able to pro-
duce silver at less than seventy cents
an ounce, else they would not continue
to send it to market at that price, at
the rate of over thirty million dollars
per year, bullion value. The purpose
of Mr.. Newands and his clients is ito
raise its value" that is to make peo-
pie estimate silver at $1.29H an ounce.
How does he propose to do it? Simply
"by increasing the coinage and
use of silver and by giving it
equal privileges with gold Let
the mints be offered simply
open to the free and unlimited
coinage of silver, and leave the people
| free to use it or not on equal privileges
clients would scout at the offer and
would themselves be forced to declare
| that they intended and expected to
raise the value of silver for their own
profit only by forcing people to take
/ it at one dollar and twenty-nine cents
an ounce, whether they wanted it or
not.
! Now an act might be passed opening
| the mints to the free and unlimited
I coinage of both silver dollars and gold
dollars, coupled with a legal-tender act
to the effect that all persons might
make their contracts in terms of gold
| dollars, and that in such event gold
/ dollars only should he paid and re-
ceived That is their right now, and
Mr.. Stewart, the Senator from Nevada,
lends money on mortgages on these
terms.
To this clause might be added one
enabling any and every man to make
contracts for future payments in terms
of silver dollars, as any one has the
right to do now who pleases, and that
silver dollars should he legal tender.
or be paid and received only in the
! liquidation of such contracts But
ignorant or uniformed people would
be apt to continue to agree to work
for wages, to buy and sell their labor,
to make bargains for their small crops
and their small products, naming dol
lars only without saying which kind.
not being aware of any possible diff
ference between one dollar and an
other. II is this class of persons
whom Mr., Newlands and his confeder-
ates would defraud by forcing them