The Manning times. [volume] (Manning, Clarendon County, S.C.) 1884-current, 1896-05-20
GIVE US AN HONEST DOLLAR

The goldbugs continue to agonize
over the so. called 50-cent dollar.
They are entirely reconciled to the
200 cent dollar, which they make
their debtors pay, who contracted to
pay only a hundred-cent dollar. They
are delighted that their bonds and
mortgages call for dollars that will
buy twice as much wheat, cotton, la
Dor, or anything else as the dollars
they loaned would buy. The soul of
no miser, so far as heard from, is at
all disturbed by the size OF the dol
lar he is going to make the poor
debtors pay, but he is terribly scared
about the 50-cent dollar and be is at
tempting to protect himself against
such dollar by square lying. He
never. when he talks about 50-cent
dollar, condescends to tell the truth.
Let US test him. He says that if the
mints were opened as they were from
the foundation of the government
until 1873 to the unlimited coinage Of
both gold and silver that the silver
dollar thus coined would be worth
only fifty cents He then has the
cheek to tell US that the silver mine
owner who has his silver coined into
dollars will get full one hundred
cent dollar for his silver. They think
the people are such fools that they
don't know that the silver mine own
er would not make cent by having
SO cents worth of silver coined into
the dollar if the dollar was worth on
|ly fifty cents when coined. They
think the people ale such fools that
they cannot see through such bare
faced lying. The goldites either lie
when they say the silver dollar would
be worth only so cents if the mints
were open or they lie when they say
that the silver mine owner-in case
! the nints were opened-would get
one hundred cents for enough silver
to make q dollar.
The fact is that silver was worth
just as much as gold for 1000 years
previous to 1873 at the ratio fixed by
law, and the repeal of the law allow
ing silver to be coined cut off the
market and reduced the price of sill
yer bullion. Can anybody tell US
why restoring the market by re-en
acting the coinage laws of Jefferson
and Jackson would not restore the
price. If the market for coinage for
1000 years kept silver on par with
gold at the rstio fixed by law, why
would not the restoration of free
coinage restore the value. The gold
ties say it would not, but give no
reason. We say it would, because it
did for 1000 years. The way to re-
fute' goldbug lies is to tell them that
when the mints were open to the un-
limited coinage of both metals with
out discrimination we had good
times. Since the mints have been
closed to silver we have had bad
times. We want to open them again
and see if good times will not return.
The goldites suggest no way of get
ting good times and plenty of money,
except to adhere to the gold standard
and continue to have less money and
harder times. They have tried their
experiment of demonetizing silver
and adopting the gold standard, and
we have misery. Why pay any at
tention to the advocates of hard
times? Why not repudiate the great
author of hard times, John Sherman
himself, and his disciple, William
Mckinley, and return to the coinage
laws of the Fathers, which gave US
good times.-silver Knight.