San Antonio daily light. [volume] (San Antonio, Tex.) 1886-1907, 1896-10-12
CRIME OF
'73 OUTDONE.
BRYAN ARGUMENTS CARRIED TO AN
EXTREME AND REDUCED TO
AN ABSURDlTY.

Demonstration of Iron e,eOO Years Ago a
Horrible Crime-Inflicted Incalculable
Loss on Standardization Fall of Prices
Can BE stopped Only by Remonetizing
Iron-Our Government Big Enough to
Do the Job without Waiting For the
Aid or Consent of Any Other Nation
Would Give Us High Prices and Plenty
of "Per Capita" Money.
The following clever satire on "the
crime of '73" and the whole silverite
argument was written some time ago
by Alex p Hull of Atlanta, Ga 1t is
considered so good that some papers
have printed it several times, and mil
lions of copies of it are being distributed
in pamphlet form:
Having been deeply impressed by the
arguments of Judge Crisp, Bryan, Stew
art, Jones and other silver leaders, and
especially grieved, shocked and Mortified
by the lawful crime of 1878" as so
luridly depicted daily in the columns of
the Atlanta Constitution and other sill
yer organs, have changed my views
on the money question and am ready to
maintain the propositions following in
joint debate or newspaper controversy.
/ accept the arguments of the advo-
Gates of silver and agree with their rem
edy as far as it goes. However, it does
not go far enough. Let us have plenty
of remedy-in fact, enough to make
debt and poverty things of the past
relics Of the dark ages. ! am in favor
of the free and unlimited coinage of pig
iron at ratio of 16 to l with gold by
the United States alone, Independently
of all nations, and can prove by the best
authority obtainable that such policy
on the part of the United States will
raise prices, - put plenty of money in
circulation" and give the "honest debt
or chance to pay his debts" thereby
making the whole country prosperous.
Now, in the first place, it may be
urged by some "who do not understand
the subject of standards of value" that
free coinage for iron would not raise
its price to a ratio of Is to l with
gold. To them reply that ''the stamp
of this government" and the illegal
tender qualities of the iron dollar
would instantly make the bullion value
of pig iron the same as the mint value,
''for who would part with an ounce of
this precious metal for anything less
than the mint value?" (Stewart, Jones
and Bryan
Again, it may be urged that our
minis would be overcrowded with pig
iron. reply that, "the price of pig iron
having been raised from 81. so a ton to
a ratio of 16 to with gold the world
over, no one would especially care to
carry it to the minis, since the mint
price could be obtained anywhere in
the open market" ATLANTA Constitu- |
tion.)
Next it may be urged that gold and
silver would go out of circulation. re-
ply, first, '"This is a mere assumption
Of the tools of the money power which |
they cannot verify" ATLANTA Constitu-
tion); second, Suppose gold and silver
do go out of circulation, is there not
plenty of pig iron to take their place
and give the people plenty of money!"
Bryan, and, third, "Such an assump-
ton mixes the idea of circulating me-
dunn and standard of value, that gold
and silver would still be potential
money metals, though not in circula-
ton, and would lend their help toward
raising prices and causing general pros
perity" Crisp.
Then, again, it may be urged against
the pig iron standard Of value that
wages would not rise in proportion to
prices. The reply is, wages would be
compelled to rise, since no man would
be fool enough to work for 81 day
who could make 1000 per day picking
up rusty nails and old horseshoes and
carrying them to the mint for coinage"
(HulD.
In addition it may be urged by the
money power, by the wall street
sharks" and the" Bond street Shylocks,
that we could not alone go ON pig iron
basis without an international agree
ment. ''To such dastards as dare to lay
limit to the power of the American
people to do what they please, indie
pendently Of all nations, 1 hurl their
cowardioe and lack of patriotism back
in their faces Bryan.
The crime" of demonetizing pig
iron took place about 2,2OO years ago,
when certain "goldolators" and "sil-
verites," in order to increase the pur-
chasing power of their i'll gotten wealth,
secretly and like thieves in the night"
got the decentralization act passed re-
pealing the good old free coinage act of
Lycurgus, "the friend of our ancestors
daddies. - ''Today China is the only
country on earth honest enough to coin
iron, and there the happy laborer can
carry home the wages of his honest toll
in a wheelbarrow" ATLANTA Constitu-
tion).
A ruinous fall in prices followed the
demonstration of iron and has continu-
ed for upward of 1000 years. l have