The National tribune., 1896-08-20
A REASONING MAN.
EDITOR NATIONAL TRIBUNE: As an old
soldier and lifelong Republican and q sub

| soldier and a lifelong Republican ana SUD-
scriber,-but as miner and, OF course, a
| free coinage MANI object to being classed
with that same cid crowd TO which you
alIude in your Issue OF July %. This silver,
| like every etler, question has two sides;
| and while we honestly thiBk that with Tree
coinage silver would, as now, remain at par,
and that the starting NJ OF hundreds OF
mines and the employment OF thousands
| men now idle. would be great benefit to
the whole country, with possibly the exeep-
| tion of the money-loaner, we think all classes
would be helped.
We NAV be wrong but until free coinage is
! tried there is no way of proving US wrong
! The Republican party demonetized silver at
! a time when there was not the ghost OF an
| excuse for doing it: in fact. the object OF the
| bill that Gemsnetlzed silver purDorted to be
| to reduce the ratio of 16-1 to ISL, SO as to
| reduce The amount of silver in the dollar
enough to take off the three per cent that
$ liver then had above gold Bat instead of
| that they demonetized it altogether. Now,
why was that done? No one to this day
has ever justified that act; in fact, have
never yet heara anyone then in Congress,
either Republican or Democrat, who has ever
admit knowing that there was demon
etiziug clause in that bill.
Now, having demonetized silver at that
time aud in that way, the Republican party
owed il to the country to reTnsiate silver as
money and give it a trial. Then If 1t did
not work satisfactorily we silver folks would
not object to silver being redemenetIzed:
but until silver is given fair trial, we pro-
pose TO fight YOU horse. foot, and artillery,
morning, n0oH, and night, aud at every turn
of the road 80 ar we have been kept mod
! Il Inv ft,. nf
ferns, but now that our party have thrown
off ali disguise, the war viii be waged In
dead earnest en- our part to a finish.
This talk OF over-pT0duciion of silver Is
all bosh, for many Of our best silver camps
are nearly exhausted nov, aud from now on
the old mines will give out about n last as
new ones can he opened. aud IN less than iu
years with unrestricted mining the output
of silver in this country VIII me on the oe-
crease. And as TO the great profits IN min
ing jigat Is also bash. There is scarcely
district in the United States where he ex-
pendItures were not double the profits.
This holds good in gold a. well as silver
mining. / have heard the expense at
Cripple Creek estimated at 10 times the
profits. We hear of the very few who make
big strikes, but nothing of the thousands
who lose their all and get nothing. was
miner before the war, and have followed 1t
ever since in almost every district IN the
United States and some In British Columbia
and old Mexico, and think know what L
am talking abont.-G. W. SMELTZER, Cor
peral, Co. F, ID Mass. Cav, California Bat
talon, Box 124, Lake City, Colo.
This is the kind of letter that we
like to get. The writer differs markedly
from the most of the Free Silverltes In
actually thinking and believing that
other people think as well as himself.
Too many of the Free Silverites confne
themselves to learning by rote Gold
Bug /" Plutocrat. Crime of '73 ]"
"Sold out to the Money Power!" and
some other cheap phrases, and yelling
them vociferously, under the delusion
that they are making an argument
But cur comrade is willing TO give
reasons for the faith that is in him, and
we are glad to sit down with him and
try to reason the matter out temporarily
and kindly as between comrades who
entertain differing opinions.
In the first place, We will admit that
Free Coinage would temporarily help
a great many miners by giving increased
market for silver. Undoubtedly, many
silver mines would reopen, and those
running at present would increase their
production. But while this might help
a few thousand men to few months
work, the result could not help being
terribly injurious to the whole country.
The immense quantity of additional
silver that would be thrown into circu-
lation would still farther demoralize the
silver market, debase the value of the
dollar and bring untold losses upon all
who were compelled to receive it for
their days labor, or the products OF
their fields. 1t would be the spectators
harvest, when they would tatten them
selves at the expense of the common
people. 1t is the common people-the
laboring man and the farmer-who
ALWAYS suffer most when the currency is
disturbed. Everybody suffers, except
the money spectators, but the higher
I'D and richer man is the better able
he is to take care of himself during the
disturbance.
As to the employment of miners, we
have the very competent testimony OF
David III. Moffett, the mining king, that
/: there are more miners employed in Colo
RADIO to-day than ever, and that there
are 100000 of them at work in Colo
RADIO, out of total population of 100000
which is a larger percentage of employ
ment than can be found in the popula
ton of any other State.