The daily morning Astorian. [volume] (Astoria, Oregon) 1883-1899, 1896-09-15
There Was No "Crime of IS73"--The Whole Story
Is Pure Invention.
HOW THE WHITE METAL HAS BEEN FAVORED
No Provision for the Coinage OF Standard Silver Dollars Appeared
the Original Bill, hut Over 10O,OO0OO0 We're After.
wards Coined to Pacfy Silver Miners.

did not and the reason why the sug-
grsiion 20 continue 60 coin the stand
ard dollar would have been absurd Is
because there had been no silver dol
lars In circulation In this country for
thirty-hyc years. or since 1898.
what was the use Of continuing 70
coin coin which did not exist? The
standard dollar did not exist. Nobody
wanted IL to exist. Among those who
voted for the "crime OF 70" was Sen
ator Stewart OF Nevada. II is this fact
which has prompted some funny writer
on a daily paper 10 suggest that Sem
ator Stewart now write a book and call
II The Crime OF '73-by one Of the
Criminals"
All the above statements can easily
be verified. They are matters OF record
and history. When any man talks Of
the crime Of '73' he presumes on the
ignorance OF his audience. When the
facts are once understood II is difficult
to imagine anything much more laugh
able than the common statements in
regard to the "crime.--or they would
be laughRbie II they weye no, so de-
cidedly false and so dangerous 10 the
country.
II anything further was needed TO
make them more laughabie, It would
be this.
The claim is made that the act Of
1879 stopped the coinage Of standard
dollars and thereby 50 reduced the de-
mand Tor silver and so dishonored the
metal that It's price fell of and has
been falling ever since The fact is
that In all the So years in which our
government had existed. up TO 1878.
there had not only been coined alto
gether eight million silver dollars. AZ
ter 1873 and up to 1895 there We're coin
ed 100 million silver dollars. Ii is quite
true that silver has been steadily fall
ing in price FOR over twenty years
and II has fallen because 1t has been
produced in constantly Increasing
quantities ana constantly more cheap
ly. II has fallen. just as wheat or iron
or steel has fallen. As for the act of
1873 having in any way reduced the
demand for silver for dollars, there
was no demand before. while since
then 400 million dollars have been
eoined-or fifty times as many as were
coined in all the years of our national
life before
These dollars were coined under the
act Of 1878 and the Sher-
man law OF 1890.
At the time of the passage Of the act
of 1878 the price OF silver was good
good FOR coming into dol
lars, II was worth more in the open
market for making into forks and
spoons. Then began the great produc-
ton and the Improvements in machin-
cry which cheapened it-just as wheat
or iron was cheapened In 1876 the sill
yer men began to clamor for help from
congress, and SO powerful were they
and their lobby that in ISIS the Bland
Allison law was passed, which pro-
fided for the purchase by the govern
nent Of not less than two million dol
ars worth Of silver month.
That law continued until 1890, but
he price Of silver stiu fell, in spite of
hese enormous purchases by the gov
and the silver men cried for
more help, Again they beset congress
With their lobby and again they got
what they wanted-a part of 1t, for
lothing would have entirely satisfied
hem They got the Sherman act,
which provided for the purchase of four
md one half million ounces per month
~ the government-and four and one
lalf million ounces will make make
nearly six million standard dollars.
Think OF it! In ninety years we had
oined only eight million dollars; and
low the government began to buy sill
'er at the rate of six million month
more in every six weeks than had
'een coined in nine-tenths of centu-
y-as much every week as had been
oined, on an average in fifteen years
'efore-as much every day as had been a.,
oined in each two years before - or
10000 every hour in a tenzhour day.
You can figure it out for yourself
nd see If that is not correct. The
could work their men ten
ours day all the year round and ,
'roduce $4,000 an hour, or 100000 a ,
ay, or 1888 a minute, and know that
he government was compelled by law ,
o take their entire output and pay
hem for It
Why was not that protection given
o wheat or to labor? Are the silver
nine owners such paupers that they 4,
iced government charity on such
Gale? Remember that the govern
nent was losing money all the time. f.,
he price of silver kept on falling, 9
nd every time the government bought
million ounces, the value Of its stock