The herald., 1896-10-02
THE GoLDBUGs' scAREcRow

THE GOLDBUGS SCANECKOW
At meeting of the commercial travel
ers' Sound Money league in New York,
recently, ex-President Harrison was one
of the speakers. He was reported as
saying that it was "as dishonest to is
only SO cents as to abbreviate the yard
measure or to reduce the cubic measure
ment of a bushel."
Such absurd assertions, or statements,
embodying the same error, are often
made by gold standard advocates far
less distinguished than is Benjamin Har-
rison. An ex-president. however, ought
to be too intelligent and honest to make
such misleading statements. The plain
truth is that all this twaddle about '53-
cent dollars proceeds either from lack
of candor or from ignorance Of what a
dollar really is. There is no such thing
in this country as a '53-cent dollar"
There never has been one. and there is
no probability that the government will
ever issue such dollar. The free coin
age of silver at the proposed ratio does
not mean a "53-cent dollar" "depre-
ciated dollar nor a dishonest dollar"
When gold bugs assert that the advo-
Gates of free silver are clamoring for the
coinage of any such dollars they either
willfully lie or they know not what they
are talking about.
The silver dollar of the United States
is today, as it always has been, an ac-
tual, honest dollar, good for its face
value in the payment of debts, public
and private, and for the purchase of any
thing offered for sale. The bullion value
OF the silver used in the coming Of a dol
lar is a property entirely distinct and
separate from the legal tender or debt
paying value of the coin. This distinc-
ton is fundamental. Failure to recog-
the money question leads to confusion.
When the government coins money it
simply converts given quantity of gold
or silver bullion into money tokens. 1t
certifies to the weight and fineness of the
gold or silver dollar, stamps it properly,
and by congressional act it is declared
a legal tender to the extent of one hun
dred certs. Having done this, the gov
ernment has no further responsibility
in the matter. Such dollar is not dis
honest" nor can it become so. The
price of silver bullion sometimes f1uc-
tuates; so does the price of gold bullion.
for both of these valuable metals are
simply commodities, the market values
of which are regulated primarily by the
cost of production, and secondarily by
the law OF supply and demand.
1t is impossible for the government
to control the market value of bullion.
Nor is there any good reason why the
government should do or attempt to do
any such thing. That is matter prop
erly left for private parties to handle
as best they can. So, whether the com
mercial value of a full legal tender dol
lar rises or falls, it's legal tender power
is always the same. That function
never goes up or down, never depreci-
ates, nor. does it ever become "dishon-
est" What more can an honest man
desire of any dollar that may come into
his possession?
It is frequently asserted that the rea-
son why the silver dollar is at par today
is because the government makes it ex-
changeable for gold. This is not true.
The silver dollar rests upon its own
merits; it is at par because it is dol
lar, invested with the legal tender quail
ity which the federal government alone
can give to it. All that free silver ad-
vocates demand is that the white metal
shall be coined on equal terms with gold,
and then left to take care of itself. They
insist that the unjust Discrimination in
favor of one metal and against the other
shall cease. This reasonable demand
is not predicated upon the improbable
and unnecessary assistance of any 9TH
er nation. In this respect there is q
most essential difference between the
platform built by Mr.. Hanna for his
candidate to stand on and the platform
adopted at Chicago.
No intelligent voter should be intini-
dated or misled by the senseless outcry
about "53-cent dollar" A careful use
of his reasoning powers will enable him
to understand that every dollar issued
by the government and made a full le-
gal tender is good enough for anybody
to receive or pay out The "53-cent
dollar is nothing but scarecrow
gotten up by advocates of spe-
cial legislation in the interest of few
persons who make fortunes by speculat-
ing in gold. But it is scarecrow which,
like all other scarcrows, loses it's power
to frighten when thoroughly investi-
gated.