The times. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1890-1903, 1896-08-30
BOUNTY FOR SILVER BARONS
OF Fortnight Cents Per Ounce On all
the Silver They Mine
IS WHAT FREE COINAGE MEANS.
This Silver Mine Trust VIII BE the Big
cestof All the Monopolies lffree
Silver Wius-Plsin Talk to
Farmers
fyHTIT.

Editor OF The Tines
Sir,-College professors ana magazine
writer's on finance are too prone 10 SHOOT
ing over the heads OF average business
men. who wish TO get at the kernel OF
the money problem with as niue outsiye
verbal shell as possible. Nei.h.I tnS ,
| learned statistics q these pdlhstdh.IB
gentleman. nor yet tie bespangied rneto-
ric. nor the refUrbished platltudes Oh 11e
| Platte orator seem 70 meet tue u,iiio -
OF the plain farmer or artis1h "Ho -, no
ten minutes 10 give TO tho money queS-
| dom ,..
Much Of the confusion over this subject
| Is due to the fact that very many peopiS
do not distinguish between i,,d mT }ne Or ana a
what merely is d substitute 10. OF 4"
! representative Of money. WEBSTER uf-
fines money as % coin, stamped nelal;
usi ally gold. silver. or copper stamped
by authority. and Lsed as q medium OF
| cXCi ange: 90 bank notes or bills OF crceit
issued by authority and exchangeaoie TOT
coin, or redeemable. are called moneS.
Let MS fix in our minds that money IS
one thing and substitute or repre@h-
tative OF oney IS something else.
IN n primitive state OF society sucn as
we had on our frontiers few centu-
ries ago. so many coon skins would pur-
chase for tho trappcr so many pounds 81
powder, lead, and other such commoai-
ties. While the coon skins We're, uhuOuOt-
Cdly a medium Of exchange, they were
not money. 4 little later in our own colo
ny Of Virginia wien tobacco was mace
legal tender for debts and the salaries
Of the clergy we're fixed at so many nun
dred pounds OF tie fragrant weed. that
ARRANGEMENT in the absense or money,
waa no doubt. very convenient. and marx
ed quite stride In commercial progress
from frontier barter In pelts to higher
and more settled basis OF trade. While
! tobacco was a II odium Of exchange for
English fabrics such as bondon-mads
COACHES an6 fine cloths, 1t was not mon
ey As we come down the ringing
grooves Of time to a peuod Just prior
| TO 1851 we find In Virginia bank bills Of
| state banks, Issued by authority redeem
able as set forth on their faces. az the
bank Of redemption. In the gold and sill
yer coins Of the United States govern
mfnt.
These bills were not money but repre-
sentatiyes Of morey. Every one under
stood this. An acute realization OF this
fact was occa sioually seen in ante-bellum
days when fellow presented mis- bills at
The bank Of redemption and found iSi, the
ey in Its last analysis. which Is truly the
crucial test. whether crowned with thorns
or laurel. meant the gold and silver coins
| OF the United states government. Thess
were mOLey and 0eaving out COPPER
| certs nothing else was money. fs
knew besides that one Of these silver dol
| lars was as good money as one of the
| gold dollars and was current for 100
| cents wherever tho gold dollar was, in
| Europe. Asia, Africa. or America.
This was the status Of money and
| al! those media OF exchange. whether
| bank bills inland bills drafts checks.
notes. bonds, and duo bills. IN fine, all
! those representatives Of money. the basis
| OF which was the gold and silver coins OF
| our government This was the situation
| in 1851 not only In Virginia, but in every
| State and Territory in the Union. Syn
| chronous with the first gun fired at Sum
| ter all these gold and silver coins dis
| appeared, North. East South. and West.
as suddenly and as mysteriousy as sord
-.
! IN their places we had some printed slips
| OF paper with the legend, six months
| after the ratification of treaty OF peace
| between the United States~and COpicder-
| ate states Governments, or words 10
| that effect. These were the promises Of
a de factO government. II any one be-
| lieves that government can make money,
here Is chance for him 10 get millions,
! such as It is. TOR "A song. No. God made
the metals and leaves 10 70 mans indus
| try end g0OG sense 20 find them, weigh
them ana stamp them honestly. This is
money and nothing else is. The Eternal
Intelligence could doubtless have arrang-
ei IT so that man could subsist without
bead, bot lie made many different
grains that will make bread and after
many trials the most highly civilized peo-
pie find that wheat makes the vest bread.
although millions of Chinese and others
still Wcfry along on rice and the cOun-
try darby clings TO ashcake.
IL Is a far cry one VIII say from coon
skin barter to the gold standard. 10 far
Their than from the buckskin hunting
shirt to the Prince Albert coat
The fact is Oh, most worthy Populist.
that as Brother Jasper says about the
sun, the world do move also. Call IL
development. evolution. or a STREAM Of
tendency for good. or by whatever name
suits your fancy or philosophy, the world
has reached that point of civilization
where IL demands the very best possible
| in all the laes OF life. Those who have
| spent q lifeline in its study say that
ia finance gold IS that best possible.
But. says our iree-silyer friend, God
made silver as well as gold. and all this
| trouble hogan in 1873 when the great
crime was committed Of revising Ills
decree. At the time Of the 'crime" OS73
silver was worth $l.29 per ounce. Was
| there one single Individual in this whole
country so gifted with the faculty OF see
| ing through twcnty-three years OF time
from 1873 TO 1895 with all their contiu-
gonces and mutations. who could have
! iOrecaSted nearly quarter or "A century
and could have seen that silver would
| be about co cents an ounce to-day?
Whatever the cause, IS the silver dollar
| to-day what II was in 1861 or 1873? The
arithmetic that makes 81 100 IS "A big in
vention. The government can make this
accents piece OF metal substitute or
representative of a dollar just as IT can
make piece OF paper (grecnbackj
representative dollar. This is what the
silver mine-OwLcrs are asking govern
| ment 10 do. il other words their modest
request IS that government shall give 10
SlNtl iHlllt-bN' L'4N q bounll OIL - cents
per ounce on all the silver they mine
STRIPPED Of rs glazing absurdities, its
fine phrases, its crown OF thorns and
cross OF gold" its disingenpous appeals
to the disu esses OF the people this Is the
sum and SUBSTANCE OF the free-silver
movement. Farmers. as a class. are not
the wisest people in the world. and they
do have their silly season like other folks.
but depend upon II. Messrs Stewart Tell
er & Co. you are not going to hunco
them into your big silver game so easily
Better 90. MesSieurs to New York CITY
as Chicago is already mOnOpolized by
Your amiable confreres. and open =
green goods cifice at once and be done
with IT, 1t Will 10. much more respectable.
Talk about oil trusts. coal combines and
sugar synCicGtes. this silver mine trust
oycrshadows them all. The bursting OF
the SOt Ia Sea Bubble. Laws Mississippi
scheme. the mcrus multicaulas, our late
bOoms all combined would be as the
scratch OF a pin TO the cash Of a battle
axe cOntrarted with the Inevitable col
lapse OF the free-slver movement, II IL
were only temporarily successful
! JOHN w JACKSON
Columbia, Va, August Is. 1896.
" g---
"BOY ORATOR or IHE JAMES,"