Little Falls weekly transcript. (Little Falls, Morrison Co., Minn.) 1894-19??, 1896-10-09
OUR SILVER CRAZE.
RESULT OF q CONSPIRACY OF MINE
OWNERS TO FORCE UP THE
'1 PRICE OF SILVER.

The Two, Nevada Senators, the Arch Con-
spirators-Both Were Yellow Goldbugs
In 1873 Story Of Their Sudden CONVEX
sion rs Told by David "A. Wells-Be-
came Interested In Silver Mines and Be-
gan Devising Schemes to Increase Their
Fortunes at the Peoples Expense Bland
and Sherman Act Schemes and Their
q Results--Free Coinage the Latest and
Worst Scheme. = $500 ,"''dz
: Perhaps the two men most responsible
for the "silver question:" which has
disturbed our finances. for many years
and is responsible for the industrial de-
preston since 1898, are the two senator's
from Nevada--William M. Stewart and
John p. Jones' Strange to say, both Of
these most ardent friends Of silver were
it's most deadly enemies when the great
''crime Of '7S" was committed against
silver. Read these quotations from their
speeches In the senate: = ]. Il & n
az The question will never. be settled until yop
determine the simple question whether the
laboring man Is entitled to gold dollar II he
earns it, or whether you are. going TO cheat
him with something else. That is the upshot
Of the whole thing.-Senator William M. Stew
art of Nevada. June IL, 1874. = -"
Do not let us try to deceive the American
people. Do not let as try to make them believe
BY some hoous pocus Of legislation that we can
give them something Of real value, we can give
them measure Of value. that is better than
the universal standard Of mankind. Senator
william M. Stewart Of Nevada June II, 1874 !
believe the sooner we comedown to pure
" gold standard the better 1t will be for the
country. Did any country ever accumulate
wealth, achieve greatness or attain high civil
lization without q standard Of valueY And
what but gold could be that Standard
Gold is so exact q measure Of human effort
that when 1t is exclusively used as money it
teaches the very habit Of honesty. senator
John p. Jones of Nevada, April /. 1874.
These two men participated in the
''crime of '73" and with their votes
helped to ''strike silver down." Have
they since repented for their crime and
been doing all possible to atone for it?
This would be charitable way Of view
ing their conversion, but the facts appear
to point to very different explanation.
We quote the following from recent
article in the New York Tribune by the
Hon. David A. Wells as throwing light
on this subjects:
The explanation in the case Of Mr..
Jones and his business associates does
not seem to be attended with any diff
Guilty. They had become largely inter-
ested in the mineral resources Of their
state, especially silver mining, and were
reported to have accumulated great
wealth from their investments. AS
shrewd business man, he naturally look
ed out sharply for his business interests
He early saw what others failed 80
promptly to see, that the production Of
silver in the woodland especially in
the United States through improved
methods Of mining, refining and trans
portation Of ores, was rapidly increas-
ing. He doubtless foresaw what the
world now knows, that the worlds
product Of silver, which was 81, 600. 900
ounces in 1878, would become 165, O00,-
900 ounces in 1895; that it's market
value Of 81. 80 per ounce in 1878 (reck.
oned in gold) would dwindle to 65 cents
in 1895. T.. g, g"
What it now costs to produce silver
no one accurately knows. The cele-
brated Broken Hill mines of Aus
tralia' yielded last year-1895-over
10, 900, 900 ounces Of silver at total re-
ported cost Of about 40 cents per ounce,
and good authorities report that some Of
the American mines turn out millions
Of ounces at the present time at an
equally low figure. With such an aspect
of the future, it did not require any
great measure of business sagaoity on
the part Of Mr.. Jones and his silver
mining associates to foresee that this
prospective great increase in the produo-
ton of silver would impair It's market
or bullion value and diminish the
profits Of mining, and that something
must be done to avert such q contin.
gency. As the world had then, az 1t has
now, q sufficient supply OF all the silver
it needed in the arts or a. an instru-
mentality Of exchange, any attempt to
seem feasible.
They accordingly hit upon the follow
ing ingenious plan: That the treasury Of
the United States should be required to
buy 60 much Of the surplus produced BY
the mines Of Mr.. Jones and his associ-
ates as would tend to maintain the
price Of silver, and consequently their
enormous profits, or at least prevent any
further decline in them. They therefore
induced congress to require the govern
ment to buy at least 81. 600, 900 worth
of silver bullion each and every month.
the total production Of all the silver
mines in the United States being at
that time about IS, 600, 900 per month.
The government consequently at once
made market for about two thirds Of
all the product of this industry, and I'M
der this act the treasury did buy $685.
1856, 900.
This device to keep up the price Of
silver did not, however, work as its
originators expected it would at the
time it was put into operation and for
the reason that the worlds annual out
put at the time Of its enactment-name-
~, 70, 476, 900 ounces, with an average
value Of 1.152 per ounce-had reached
100, 213, 900 ounces per annum in 1889,