Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1896-11-02
BISHOP M.coyERN
O1 F1sssburgh Advances Some Strong Ar.
guments In Favor of Silver.

SHSNFOF bwt &OSEn8
OF Pittsburgh Advances Some Strong Ar
guments in Favor of Silver.
The Harrisburg Patriot publishes an
interview with Rt. Rev. Thomas Nc
Govern, bishop of the diocese of lar
rlsburg, Pa, in which he says in part:
Il am in favor of honest money. Now,
what I want to know is, what is hou-
est money? We now have gold, paper,
bonds and promises to pay, and all pass
as honest money. There is not enough
OF gold in the world to pay its indebted
ness The United States government
could not pay its indebtedness in gold
because it has not got it. She gives US
treasury notes or bonds and these are
to be paid in honest money, one paper
usually exchanged for another
What about silver?" asked the re-
porter.
''Silver is surely as good as paper,
and so per cent. better. If the govern
ment pays her Indebtedness in silver
she is paying it in a better currency
than in paper. All nations would be
bankrupt to-day if they were asked to
pay this Indebtedness in gold. Can
we not take silver the same as we are
taking paper money? Silver will at
least, increase the volume of circula-
ton, which is now in our country TOO
limited to carry on business and makes
rates too high.
Money, after all, is only a commodi-
ty in the market" added Bishop Nc
Govern, earnestly. when it is scarce
it rates high; when it is abunant it
hn To-
ton by the free coinage of silver we
are employing a better substitute than
paper, because silver has an intrinsic
value; paper has not. The opponents
of the free coinage of silver assert that
it will bankrupt us, but there is no more
danger of our government becoming
bankrupt by the free coinage of silver
than there is by an extra issue of paper
money and bonds.
"There is no danger of a general
stampede being made on the United
States treasury by the people or the
creditors. This thing of preserving the
credit of our nation is good sentiment,
but our government discounted its own
paper over it's own counter during the
civil war. The soldier was paid in paper
money on the battlefield and the Gus
tom house duties were demanded in
gold. We sold 1000 bonds for $3.50 in
gold and paid six per cent. interest in
gold on the face value of them. 10
whose advantage is the gold standard?
The shyIocls of Europe and the gold
bugs of Wall street. And at whose loss?
The toiling masses"
"Do YOU believe the prices of COM
moditfes would rise if we were to have
free coinage of silver at ratio of six
teen to one, as declared for by the Chi
cago PLATFORM"
Some commodities would probably
increase in price," was the bishops an
swer, "but wages would also rise. Free
coinage would also help our manufac-
turers because they would be better
able to borrow money at fair rates.
Every man would be employed and he
would get his wages. When there are
two employers after one man wages
are bound to go up, and when there are
two men after one boss for a job you
may be sure wages are going down.
What right has Europe to dictate TO
us what kind of currency we ought TO
have? If they are not willing to take
our currency, let them not buy our ez-
ports. But they are not going to lose
our trade. They will accommodate them
selves to the circumstances. That will
act as a tariff and be on sliding scale,
and go up and down just as Europeans
want our trade"
Bishop McGovern said he believed
the free coinage of silver would be
boon to the farmers in the west, who
pay ten to fifteen per cent. interest Oh
their mortgages. Many of these people
have bought land for $4,000 on which
they have paid $4,000. They are paying
ten to fifteen per cent. on the mortgage
of $4,000, which is now only the actual
value of the property. The result is that
in short time the farmers will lose
their property and be driven from their
homes like the tenant farmers of Ire
land, and lose all their money they
have paid on it.