Richmond planet. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1883-1938, 1896-09-26
Massey ON SILVER.

4 Letter written Eighteen Years Ago
Which Is Apropos NOVA HomeIy IL
lustration OF Diluted Currency
The following letter from Petroleum
V. Nasty, written in 1878. is of pecul-
lar interest just now. 1t contains a
moral which the free and unlimited sill
yer coinage people will do we'll to heed
CONFEDERATE X ROADS
I (Which is in the state Of kentucky,
Jan. 20, 1878.
1 ain't so certin that want the sill
the thing don't work ez L sposed it
wood, and 1 amt clear ON to it. There
is suttle principles in these finanshel
! questions witch requires a good deel nv
thought, and there is underlyin prin-
ciples witch a man hez got to understand
afore he is competent to set hisself up
ez authority.
amt no finanseer, nor never will be.
and told him so.
"Wat is a finanseerf" asked he.
"a finanseer, sed 1, assoomin the
look of Dan'l Webster, "is man wioh
kin pay his debts with nothin, a man
witch kin git suthin with nothin."
''The Corners, then, is full of fnan-
seers," he remarkt bitterly, castin a
casual glance at the slate WITCH was jist
full enuff to turn over and begin ON the
t'other side.
But he hezn't any nv the science nv
it. l wuz argooin with him the t'other
day in favor NV my noshun nv a leather
currency, though told him silver wuz
much the same thing, and, for example,
wood assoom that silver wuz to DO the
currency nv the fucher.
"Now, don't 700 see, Bascom, that eff
. he'd twict as much money Good drink
twict as much whisky and pay fur itf''
'How much is twict nuthin?'' was
the unfeelin anser nv the tyrant who
: holds the destinies NV the Corners in
his hands. That's wat your capitle' s
bin ever since / knowd 700. "
"Parson. " sed he, II don't see wat
|, earthly ff'rence it's goin to make
, wether silver is currency or anything
, else. How are 700 a-goin to git silver
) eff it is made legal tender? EFF silver
) wuz ez bricks, wat hev 700 got to git
any NV it withY'
"but can't 700 see that TO hev silver
wood relieve the dettor class? Even
now, afore it is legal tender, it's only
with 90 cents ON the dollar, and. when
the country is flooded with il, it will
go still lower. Then we, or rather SIGH
I Nv as ~ hev property to raise money on,
= kin pay off,
"Eggsackly so" retorts Bascom, "yoo
S kin pay me for the good honist hkker
? NV mine wich 700 hev consoomed in
/, coin witch is less than the dollar voc
4 promised. All rite. But look here
! come in here all nv 700. Iwant 700 sill
4 yer men to know eggsackly wat 700 are
e rushin into.
4 And this feend led us into the back
d, room-that back room witch contaneE
the subsistence NV the Corners. There,
in long rows, wuz Bascom's stock
i There, in barrels, piled one on top Nv
II another, wuz the delishus whisky Nv
Louisville, nv different ages, rangiT
], from that NV two weeks old TO tina
+ witch had jist left the still and wui
scarcely cold yit. There 1t lay, and 6.
= my eyes ranged affeckshunately over i
II felt eff Good hev the drinkin NV al
that likker wood be content to la,
: down and die when the last drop wul
gone.
Bascom pinted to an immense tanl
witch he had erected within a few
days, with pipe runnin in from tn
II roof.
e 81 shan't raise the price Nv hkker Il
conscience NV bein paid for it in de
y preshiated CURRENCY" sed he.
y fell ON Bascom's neck in an extac
,. NV delite, while the others shouted
"a "Rah for Bascomp'
10 &C. w." remarkt, while teers sui
is foosed my eyes, 81 never placed 20
ID much below the angels, but this genel
ii GUS act hez histed 700 100 per cent i
SO my estimashun. Bless 700, G. W., blef
rs yoor'
- But I'll tell 700 what shall dc
- Do 700 see that tank?' sed he.
f 'May ask wat that is forY'' l sed.
4. "That tank will fill with rane W:
te ter sed ne. 1.-THE moment 700 git I
IN payin me in silver ! shell take out c
lr eech oy them barrils jist eggsackly8 l.
gallons NV hkker and fill it with W;
ter.
"Mercifpl hevingsl" we all exclain
ed, land yoor likzer so weak nowP'
''And when silver gets down to
cents ON the dollar / shell take out
" per cent NV whisky and fill her I
b. with 30 per cent NV water. And so {
mt down. Eff silver goes up, 1 shell &C
whisky eggsackly in proporshun.
ry short, my whisky Is jist a-gOin to foil
": currency, and nothin shorter. Yoo fe
at lers witch work for wagis may SWEET, b
re- / won't.
ne nc "3ut yoo'l increase the size OF 20
Rlasses?'' said /.
he! mot any. But 700 may drink twi
h ca many times to git the same amour
he Nv drunk ez before, by paying for ee'
ed drink. -
IN. And Bascom stalked hawtily ba'
rls and took his posishen behind his bar.
There wuz conservatism in the &c
NJ ners SIGH ez 1 hev never seen. The
70 wuz hurried consultashun at the de
h kin's house, and I sejested that '
emancipate ourselves from the dOmi
on yum nv this tyKant by startin a grose
he nv our own, ON the joint stock prime
on pie, wich wuz agreed to, eech M
agreein to contribbet $40 to the capt.
$50 stock, witch would be enuff to buy
80. barrl ur too fur beginnin.
~ ~ We WIZ enthusiastic till we cum
p ballotin fur the man to keep the pla'
h wen it wuz found, instead nv my be
an chosen yOOnanimously, ez l eggspeot
a TO be, that evry man he'd voted fur h
self. Ez not a sole nv them wood
coed, the skeem wuz blocked rite the
and FINELY he'd TO be abandoned, and