The daily morning Astorian. [volume] (Astoria, Oregon) 1883-1899, 1896-06-05
crEAr MONEY DEAD.
Edward Atkinson Thinks that the Silver
hubble iihs Been Prieked


Now York Herald
Tho Herald lately sent one OF ilH rc-
porirrs TO ask Mr. Edward Atkinson Ia
give hls observations on the present con-
dlllon OF the sound money contest Mr.
Atkinson expressed his entire Willingness
to do 20. saying. however. that IN hlB
Judgment the logic OF events had already
brought The nnal conclusion into effect.
and that the day OF reasoning or OF
economic discussion had gone Dy
what do you mean exactly by the
logic OF cycn,s7" Mr.. Atkinson wnH asked
II mean that any ono possessing ordi.
nary faculties of obHrryatiou ana ordl-
nary knowledge OF monetary matters
could Hvc tho necessary uyil results OF
tho hland and Sherman acts. and could.
az did. predict with certainty ~ TO
everything except the date of the indus
trial paralysis and financial crisis which
these acts caused II ~ also ~ easy
and simple a matter TO prrdlct the fnai
result ana the return OF the proplr OF
this country TO true monetary system.
which IN now certain"
kindly state what you mean BY mat
resulty
n mean that In contest between good
NNAtA'9 AlAA hAA NNNNA'N AA'lN AsAA W NhA
one conclusion The case 10 analogous
TO tho contest between liberty and slav.
cry. it became manifest TO Seward
many years before tho active contest
broke out that there was the 1rrcpfcHHi-
bio contest between freedom and slavery.
II became manifest 10 Lincoln. and he
announced hia conclusion that the nation
could not exist part slave and part free.
THE same analogous conditions have
existed IN regard to money. Good money
and bad money cannot live together. In
tho same country and nj tho same time.
The had money. which Ia OF fuii legal
tender. drives the good money out OF
circulation by force OF law. In inter
national commerce good money drives
bad money out OF circulation. therc be-
ing no force OF law or legal tender af-
fccting International commerce
"Thrru must b. "a nnnl ultimate stand
ard. or unit. or coin by which all other
forms or types of money--of silver. nick
ol copper or papcr-muAt be rated. An
such subsidiary types OF what In somo-
times called money. sometimes currency.
sometimes instruments OF exchange. can
only DO kept In circulation az a parity
with the unit or standard by positive.
absolute redemption or payment therein,
II the law gives an employer the power
TO force bad money upon workmon ana
does not give the workman an easy and
ready means OF converting that bad
money instantly into good money. that
workman win be cheated
That would be- the effect OF forcing
had silver money OF fun legal tender
upon wormon and everybody else. Bad
money can only be circulated by force,
Good money requires no force, Every
body IL glad 10 get H. Money made OF
gold. or lis representative convertible or
rcdocmable In gold, Is the worlds stand
ard or unit OF value, The efTort TO drive
this country on the worlds standard has
failed"
Would Il not be we'll, Mr., Atkinson,
TO define the difference between good
money and had money!"
What. ngaing II IL not necessary.
but may be rcstatcd. Henri Cernuschi
the ableat advocate OF international BIZ
metallism. has made the only true dehni-
ilon by which one can stand. In the fol-
lowing words: 1t is by the ordeal OF
iiro that money can be tried The coins
which. being melted down. retain the
entire value for which they were legal
tender before they were melted down are
good money. Those which do not retain
IL are not good money.
Then you hold that the silver miners
and the senator's and representatives
whom they retain In their service are
allied In an cfrort to force bad money
upon the people OF this country"
ssuredly; their motive Is hardly con-
ccalod, and some OF their attorneys In
the senate and In the house have avowed
that purpose, like the senator with whom
4 ttnNnNgn,E IN, hsa
tion. whose reply was that he didn't be-
llovc In the damned rot but had got to
vote for g.
Have you given any thought to the
real cRusc OF this silver course on the
part OF the owners OF silver minesg"
1T II not necessary to give much
thought to that The bullion value OF
the product Of tho silver mines last year
was a little over t9O.OOO.00O IN gold, Its
coinage value at l6 to was over S6N.00),-
900 In gold The profit OF about SS0,OOO,ON
In the objective point OF the owners OF
the silver mines and their retainers In
the senate aud In the house of repre-
sentativcs, In order TO get that pront
they are expending large and increasing
sums OF money In the effort to mlslcad
the community and to cnvat them by
forcing cheap or bad money upon them
by acts OF legal tender
This conflict corresponds very closely
to that between slavery and freedom.
These mine owners are the prototypes OF
the slave holders. and their advocates
In the house ana senate are the proto-
types OF the senators and representatives
who. at the dlctatlon OF the slave hold
ers, left their posts, A leading senator,
who Ia the advocate OF the mine owners,
hua Nhut 20 fhA RannhllNan
convention does not submit to the dieta-
tlon OF himself and his associates they
will leave the convention. Any attempt
at compromise on this issue between
good and bad money win meet the fate
of all such efforts TO fend on the final
decision"
How do you meet III"
THE way to expose this fraud OF bad
money" Mr. Atkinson replied, rs n very
simple one. The pretext OF these had
money advocates Is that the coinage OF
silver dollars at l6 to should be as free
MS the coinage OF gold dollars. and that,
by itself, can be agreed to, Coinage is
nothing but the manufacture OF round
disks Of metal, stamped and certified.
There Is no danger in free coinage"
Where Is the danger?'
"Tho danger lies In the efforts OF these
supporters Of free coinage at l6 TO l to
force cheap 5O-cent dollars upon the COM
munlty by an act Of legal tender. The
moment any one offers to any of these
people to agree to free coinage without
an act Of force or legal tender by which
they may compel uniformed people to
accept these dollars, they Immediately
give up their case; they will not accept
free silver dollar coinage without the
power to force them upon the people.
Thelr nnrnose Is TO denrlYe the COM