Daily capital journal. (Salem, Or.) 1896-1899, 1896-10-06
THE STATE STREET LIE.
..loranoe OF tine Gold Standard Exhibit
Showed Up.


EDITOR JOURNAL The great Mark
Z Hanna campaign of education goes
merrily on, and personal abuse, ridi'
. cule, ignorance and mendacity are at
a premium. The lying statement oi
money In circulation posted in the
State street jewelers. window, to
which The JOURNAL has so often
called attention, is very good speci-
men of the sort of matter that the
Hanna party is scattering broadcast
among the people. VIII that sort OF
thing win votes? How can 1t win
among really intelligent people?
After a man has once investigated the
matter enough to have a clear iGea Of
the real fundamental facts these
glaring frauds only arouse feeling of
| irritated disgust; but we must grant
| that they help TO hold in line some of
the old rank and file. Keep man in
ignorance Of the fact that there are
two sides to a question, and he Is not
likely to seriously hunt around for the
second side. He will not investigate;
he will rest contented in his own gross
ignorance.
Now this jeweler processes to be-
lieve that the statement in his win
dow is correct. Perhaps he does be-
lieve it, though that is far from
creditable to his honesty of purpose;
for no one with access to the com
monest sources of information has
any excuse for such ignorance.
Go aud look at the statement in |
question. without questioning the
accuracy of the figures themselves, it |
is a glaring fraud on its face. You
will find reckoned as "money in circu-
lation" all of the silver dollars which
lie in the treasury and also all of the
silver certificates that are out against
them! To person with ,even a nod
ding acquaintance with the real
status Of the silver certificates, could
be more plainly falsehood?
The silver certificate is simply a
warehouse receipt for so many silver
dollars, nothing more nor less. De-
post ten silver dollars in the treasury,
and you get receipt for them called
a "silver certificate" and those ten
silver dollars must lie In the ware
house until the certificate Is surrren-
dered. There is no possible way in
which the certificate and the
dollars which it represents can
both circulate at once. When
one comes out of the treasury
the other must go in. When you
deposit wheat in warehouse and
get receipt for 1t, the wheat is sup=
posed to lie In the warehouse so long
as the receipt is out. If you present
your receipt and find the warehouse
empty, the penitentiary Immediately
begins to yawn for somebody. The
silver certificate is a warehouse re-
ceipt, nothing else, not even legal
tender, and counting the 300 odd mil
lions Of them with our money in cir
culation and then adding the silver
dollars which they represent and
which can not possibly circulate
with them is the most palpable fraud
on earth. 1t is an insolent profess
sion of faith in the ignorance of the
voter. 1t is an insult TO every man
who reads it.
And yet, go to State street and start
q discussion In front of that window,
and you will find that not one in ten
of the white-shirted gOldlte fraternity
has any knowledge of wherein the
is II lie and a cheat. The
jeweler himself will come boiling out,
and you will find that he does not
know the difference between a silver
certificate and treasury note or
greenback United States note.l Un-
less he has learned better within a
week or so, he will tell you that these {
silver certificates were issued in pay {
nent for the silver bullion which lies
lncoined in the treasury, and that
hey are redeemed by the treasury in