The representative. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1893-1901, 1896-08-05
GENEROUS AMERICANS
ROB THE PODUCERs TO ACCOM-
MODATE OUR ENEMIES.
The Hinglishman's Good Reason
Why Uncle Sam Should Not
Remonetixe Silver.

The Dubuque, Iowa. Telegraph, edi-
torially states q practical illustration Of
the silver question, calling 1t "Fatuous
Generosity"
Messrs. Perry. Clay and William
Lyon. of Denver, COL. recently visited
England to bring back a fugitive from
justice. On his return to Denver Mr..
Lyon, who had discovered that silver
was the money Of the people of Eng
land, made q most instructive and I'm
portant statement to q representative
Of the Rocky Mountain News. He
said:
1--WE found some things in London
which surprised US very much. We
found that every man had his pockets
full Of silver. They all use it and it
is the money of the people. When you
come to consider that the smallest bill
they have is the $25 note-f5 sterling
and the smallest gold piece $3.50 the
half sOverefgn-any man Of common
sense can tell you what they do their
business with. It's a common sense
proposition; they do 1t with American
silver. The housewife, when she goes
to market, takes not bills or gold with
her; she has silver money. When a man
starts out in the morning, he first gets
breakfast, for which he pays two shil-
lings In silver. His cigar costs him a
shilling In silver. His dinner costs him
three shillings in silver and his supper
three shillings in silver, and If he goes
to the theater he pays three shillings In
silver for his seat. They buy their
dresses and their handkerchiefs and
neckties in silver and. in fact, its about
the only money the middle classes know
anything about.
II venture to say that If you start at
the Union station here and 90 up Sew
enteenth street and stop every man you
meet, not one in a hundred would be
able to give you change in silver for a
S. bill. It's different over there. Not
that the people have more money but
they do not have it in paper or gold Of
large denomination. Nearly every man
you meet would be able to give you
change for sovereign, which Is equiva-
lent to our IS bill, and the change would
be in silver. You can hear it juggling
in their pockets and it makes a merry
sound, too.
THAT silver all comes from America,
too. They buy our silver at 70 cents an
ounce and coin it into money at more
than 1929. 1t doesn't cost them at the
outside over 80 cents an ounce How
long will it take them at that rate to pay
on their debts. Any school boy can fig
ure it out. The Lucania, on which we
went over, had AZ 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 48 houre before
1t was coined and started on the way to
general circulation, 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, If 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 revrse of what
they are, we're England a producer and
the United States q non-producer and a
consumer Of silver, does anyone suppose
that England would permit Americans
to have British silver at half price for
conversion into coin for domestic and
foreign use? If so, he does the British
an injustice. They would compel buyers
to pay the highest possible price for the
British metal. Our policy is different
Instead of forcing outsiders, as we easily
can, to pay $1.29 an ounce for American
silver, we obligingly rob and discourage
our own producers to supply silver to
foreigners at 70 cents. And in robbing
the silver miners we incidentally rob the
wheat and cotton raisers of one-half of
the value of their products. It is no
wonder that industry is depressed and
that distress reigns throughout the land.
If this were not the richest and most re-
sourceful country on the footstool, it
would have been irretrievably bankrupt
long ago.