The Madison daily leader. [volume] (Madison, S.D.) 1890-current, 1896-10-23
SILVER TO Be
GOOD AS GOLD.
Open MINIS and Legal Tender
Laws Will Make White Metal
Good as the Yellow.
NO 5O-CENT DOLLARS.
This Is Not a Question of Bullion, but
Of Renonetiz,d, Debt-PayinS
Coined Money.
A Reply to a False Charge Against the
silver Dollar by Ex-senator John H..
Reagan of Tex s-A Rank ID ccp-
ton of the Goldbu.s Made
Perfectly Plain.
Austin. Tex, oct. 5, 1898.

Austin. Tex, oct. 5, 1898.
One Of the SCare-CrOWS used by the
advocates Of the single gold standard
is the false representation that if the
policy of the free and unlimited coin
age of silver should be adopted it would
cut in two the wage Of labOrerS and
COmTelthem to take dollars with
out an increase of the rate of their
wages, that those receiving salaries
would get hut One-half the pay they
now receive: that those having money
on deposit in savings banks would only
rec GIVE from the banks in return for
their d"posits> 50-Cent dollars. which
would he hut the one-half of what
would be du" them; that the endow-
ment funds of colleges and universities
would be reduced one-half in value;
as would all trust funds.
This %frightful statement is repeated
day by day by the newspapers and
other advocates of the single gold
standard. as a controlling argument, to
prevent the people from voting for the
candidates who represent the policy Of
the free and unlimited coinage of silver.
The newspapers and men who are urg-
ing this settlement know it to- be a
stupendous falsehood. They make It
look as plausible as they can. and ring
the changes omit in every possible
form. And by this means have de-
ocived and are deceiving and mislead-
ing thousands of honest people, who
may not he able to detect the fraud
which is being praCticed on them.
What are the real facts as to this?
The gold standard advocates, as the
basis OF their false statements. COM
va 20 Sil1-pr h,,1liop liraSta1 re tho ,,,oli-
~ of money. uncoined and not a legal
tender. with gold, which is by law
coined into money and made a legal
tender in payment of public dues and
All debts, TO the amoun stamped on
each coin. Is this an honest COM
%parison? Does it speak the truth?
Does it not, in effect, assert a thinly
disguised, but gross and monstrous,
falsehood? Let us see. If and
the nations should prevent the coin
age of gold bullion. as has been done
as to silver bullion, depriving 1t by
law of the qualities Of money, taking
from it it's debt-paying quality, then
the gold bullion would not be money,
no more than silver bullion is now.
And the gold bullion would become a
comruodity as silver bullion is now, and
would simply bring what it would be
worth for use in the arts. The same
is true as to silver.
To, make an honest comparison of
gold and silver, and to tell the honest
truth, we must compare gold coin, in
vested with the legal tender quality,
with silver coin invested with the same
quality. Doing that. We find the silver
coins in the United states, not silver
bullion. worth as much in the purchase
uf property and in the of
debts as the coins OF gold. And we find
that more than one billion Of dollars OF
silver coins in circulation in Europe are
at par with gold. Why is this? Sim
ply lcCauSe both are coined with the
value Of the coins fixed by law.
Has any one ever seen a 50-cent dol
lar in this country? OF course not. And
why not? Because our more tina $780,
u" 5000 silver dollars, or their represen-
t~atives, are the coined money of the
United states. their valued fixed by
law and they are made a legal tender
for all debts. Hence. those now coined
are as good as gold.
No laborer, no person drawing a sal
airy, no depositor in a bank will be
paid, nor will any offer he made to pay
them, with silver bullion. They may be
h"AN 80 y 500 Nh'y iHhy h'N bC
lawfully paid in coined silver: but the
dollars in which they could be so paid
would be l00-cent dollars. and equal to
gold, because they would buy as much
property and pay as much of debt as
the same number of gold dollars.
If it be said that tie stamp of the
government and the mandate OF the
law make the coin Of greater alt than
the bullion. the answer may be made
that the present value of gold Is fixed
by law.
An act of the British parliament
PASSED in the year 1874. fifty-two years
ago, requires the Bank of England to
purchas" all the gold presented to 1t
at 3 pounds. II shillings and 8 pence per
ounce. That fixes the price all over the
world, less the cost of transportation
to London. SO that it's price is not
governed by its intrinsic value, but by
IN act of parliament; and this makes
il IN that sense fiat money.
Money is the creature of law. The
material of which il is made is no
money until mad so by law. whether
It lie gold or silver or paper. The gov,
eminent or the banks issue their note.
to circulate as money. These note.
have no intrinsic value. Their beine
money ARISES lfpEI tfe lict mat thell
issu" is authorized by Law. the promis,
:, redeem them in coin. and. in som.
cases. the making Of them a legal ten
der. SO that il is the operation of tn,
law which makes money, and not tn,
material Of which 1t is APO
though geld and silver are recognize,
as more suitable material out OF whicl
to make money than any thing else.
X gold and silver bullion were money
why the IL ws OF this and other coun
tries defining the degree Of fineness O
the metal, the amount of alloy in tn
coins. their weight, and the value G
each coin, and making them a lega
tender?
The falsehood resorted to by the gol
standard advocates has for it's objet