Courier Democrat. (Langdon, N.D.) 1891-1920, 1896-10-08

We found that every man had 4his|
pockets full Of silver. They all use
it and tits the money of the people.
When you come to consider that
the smallest bill they have is the
S25 note g5 sterling and the
smallest gold piece $3.50 the half
sovereign-any man of common
sense can tell you what they. do.
their business with-it's common
sense proposition; they do it with
American silver. The housewife
when she goes to market, takesnot
bills or gold with her; she has sill
yer money. When a man starts
out in the morning, he first gets
breakfast for which he pays two
shillings in silver; his cigar costs
him d shilling in silver and his
supper three shillings in silver,
and if he goes to the theater he
pays three shilIings in silver for
his seat. They buy their dresses
and their handkerchiefs and neck
ties in silver, and, in fact, its about
the only money the middle classes
know anything about.
Il venture to say that if you
start at the Union station here and
go up Seventeenth street and stop
every man you meet, not one in a
hundred would be able to give you
change in silver for SIS bill. It's
different over there. Not that the
people have more money, but they
do not have 1t in paper or gold of
large denomination. Nearly every
man you meet would be able to
give you change for a sovereign,
which is equal to our SIS bill, and
the change would be in silver.
You can hear it jingling in their
pockets and it makes merry
sound, too.
'That silver all comes from
America, too. They buy our sill
yer at 70 cents an ounce and coin
it into money at more than Sl.29.
It doesn't cost them at the outside
over so cents an ounce. How long
will it take them at that rate to
pay Off their debts? Any school
boy can figure it out. The Lucania,
on which We went over, had twen-
ty-seven tons of silver on board,
and most of it was Colorado silver,
we were told. The authorities in
England told us it would not be 4S
hours before it was coined and
started on the way to general cir
culation, some being sent to India
and other colonies and the rest re-
naming in the home circulation.
That is how. England likes silver
for her own use, but doesn't want
America to use it,, Why? Well.
it the United States were to have
free coinage the price of silver
would advance and England would
have to pay more for it and there
would not be SO much profit for
that country. To my mind that is
one of the great reasons why they
don't want us to have free coinage.
or even TO use silver very largely
Were the conditions the reverse
of what they are, were England
producer and the United States a
non-producer and consumer of
silver, does anyone suppose that
England would permit Americans
to have British silver at half price
for conversion into coin fordomes-
tic and foreign use? If SO, he does
the BIRTHS an injustice. They
would compel buyers to pay the
highest possible price for the
British metal. Our policy is diff
ferent. Instead of forcing out
siders, rs We easily can. to pay
$l.2o. an ounce for American silver,
we bligingly rob and discourage
our own producers to supply silver
to foreigners at 70 cents. And in
robbing the silver miners We Incl
dentally rob the wheat and cotton
raisers Of one half of the value of
their products. It is no wonder
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