The Monitor-register., 1896-05-15

IsTER. Truly yours,
VIM. z. FLITcRAFT.
z. FLITcRAFT, ESQ.,,
WooDsTowN, N. j.,
DEAR SIR:-I have your note of the
9th, enclosing a copy of your MONITOR
in which is an article headed
aIntrinsic Value" by Gen'l A. j. Warner,
President of the American Bimetallic
League.
Ny good friend, General Warner, ia a
master of the art of juggling with words
SO as to throw dust In the eyes of the
unwary. In his effort to substitute bad
money for good money he takes excep-
ton to the term intrinsic value" max
ing some quotations out Of their c~ontexts,
and also making q little effort at ridicul-
ing those who may sometimes find it
convenient to make use of that expires
sion.
Ii he would refer to the dictionary he
would find that the word 'intrinsic'' is a
synonym for ''true" among other words
with which it corresponds, or with the
term inherent" / will therefore sub
stitute for the word intrinsic" its syno.
nym, the word s'true," in order that l
may enforce q quotation from a very
much more prominent, ADLER and more
judicious advocate of bimetallism than
General Warner, namely Henri Cernuscii,
the most conspicuous promoter of the
futile undertaking to keep silver and gold
at a parity at a fixed ratio of weight by
legislation, sven if that ratio does not
correspond to the inherent value of the
bullion in b market.
says, nearly in these words,
"that coin only is true money which will
STAND the fire test and of which the
bullion is worth as much after it is
melted as it purported to be worth In the
coin. The coin which does not meet this
test is not good money" In other words,
the coin which is not good money is bad
money. Therefore, the difference be-
tween gold coin and silver coin is that
one is good money, the other is bad
money. That is what plain people mean
Dy intrinsic value-a real, OF true, or
genuine coin which can be trusted-not a
sham, or a fraud, or a fifty.cent dollar,
which people won't take unless forced to,
because it is bad money.
General Warner and his c~oadjutors,
acting under the cover of free coinage.
propose also acts of legal tender which
are acts of force, for the purpose of fore.
log unwilling persons to take payment
for their labor, or their earnings, or their
goods in bad money; holding the rather
ridiculous and absurd position that If by
an act Of Congress people are forced,
whether they will or no, to take bad
money in payment for their services then
that bad money will become good money.
1t won't do. The absu rdity is too easily
exposed. As President Lincoln said.
"Some people can be fooled all the time,
all the people a be fooled a part oil the
time. but all the people cannot be fooled
all the time"
The day of folly is about gone by.
The trick by which free coinage is accom-.
panied with an act of force 10 order to
put bad money upon the people, has been
found out. Gold is valued, or esteemed,
or held desirable, or wanted, or de.
manded, because it contains within Its
own substance the inherent elements
which u people to desire, or to value,
or to want it. People do not want silver
at the rate of sixteen to one because they
can get 1t at about thirty to one, and
therefore they will not support General
Warner or his hackers, the owners of the
silver mines, in forcing the people of this
country to take payment for their services
in what according to the definition of the
most conspicuous advocate Of bimetallism
is bad money.
/ impute no intrinsic vice to my good
friend who possesses the extrinsic merits
of excellent appearance and good man.
ners. Neither can l impute to him any
intrinsic capacity to estimate or valne
the evil influence of the policy which he
II he possessed that capacity
he would shudder at the possible conse-
quences of his " efforts. / use the
word "intrinsic" as the synonym for the
words with which it corresponds. These
monetary fallacies of the silver miners
with which we are dealing contain
intrinsic" or onward" or
sinternal" or "true'' or ssgenuine'' or
'real" or Essential merit. They are all
by the same 's~intrinsio' or
inherent" vice-a technical term which
is often made use of in respect to danger.
our substances that blow themselves up
when over inflated, like the bad currency
which these people are trying to put upon
the community.
/ venture to suggest to the readers of
this article to consider the fact that the
bullion value of the silver produced by
the silver miners of this country last
year, for whom General A. J. Warner
acts as the advocate, was q fraction over
million dollars ($32, 600, O00),
about one-third the value of the hens
eggs put upon the market by the hen
yards of this country. The coinage value
of this bullion at 16 to 1 was over sixty
dollars $3.50, 600, 00O). If this effort
which ia promoted under the guise of
free coinage to put this bad money upon
the people OF this country at 16 to 1 were
successful it would yield a profit to the
silver miners corresponding to the
figures which have been given if their
schemes could be carried out. This fact |
may explain the urgent efforts which are
being made to delude the masses of the |
people of this country into taking bad or |
cheat or cheap money in place of good
money made of gold or its equivalent.
EDWARD ATKINSON.
D--Lz- M n anna