Reporter and farmer. [volume] (Webster, Day County, Dakota [S.D.]) 188?-1946, 1896-08-20

the channels Of trade, and also is there
an unlimited demand for tie atse Of s1rer
coin Nth which to tralsa~' Plr bus1nes82
These propositions ma, according
to Mr.. Towne, cover the question
of maintaining at a parity with gold
freely coined silver dollars which
contain a portion of fat money.
We believe that no better answer
to these questions can be giventhan
to quote a paragraph from the
speech of Judge Geo. N. Aldredge
Of Texas, and we ask the reader to
note carefully what it states
Fou nth proposition-That the free and I'M
limited coinage Of silver al I6 TO / would create
unlimited demand for silver and restore it to a
par. How the mere coinage Of silver can in
any way increase its use among the people |
am unable TO understand. II there was not
enough Of it for use as money and the govern.
meut was limiting the coinage OF it, and there
by denying the people the nse Of it as money,
then there would be force In the proposition 70
increase the coinage Of silver, But our con.
ditiou Is exactly the reverse Of that. The
amount off coined and u~ucoined silver ia the
treasury Is $5i2,Ut@.000. while the amount in cir
c~ulation is about SlO7,GJ0,05J. To encourage
the use Of silver By the people, the government
exchanges coined silver, ct IFS minis, Tor geld
OF Iegel tender currency, and pays the express
charges on the silver 70 any partof the country,
This coined SILVER is all good money. The dol
lars are legal tender for all debts ia any amount
and the halves. quarters aud dimes are ex-
chapgeable in sums Of twenty dollars for gold
or other legal tenders. Notwithstanding the
IN duccmont offered by the government 20 pro-
mote the use o~fsilver, it has hitherto been IN
able 10 force into circulation more than about
one.ffth Of its stock on hand. Then why all
this clamor for more coinage. II q man had
i've times as much blood in his body as his
arteries and veins would circulate, and four
ffths OF it was lying idle arouna his heart,
would any one say that such a man needed a
free and unlimited infusion Of blood. A gov
eminent can no more induce people to use
money they do not want than it can induce
them to cat what they do not like. The true
place OF silver is as a change money. 1t is in
dispensible for that purpose and unsuited to
any ether, and all the si~lyer-tongued orators in
the land cannot change this fact. The 81, $3.50,
anu % HDIu picCes were 700 cUluu anu were ul-
popular as change money, and the government
stopped the eoinags of them. On the other
hand, silver is not a debt-paying money in any
great amount, nor the money of commerce., for
the reason that it is too bulky and too heavy.
When a man gets over IS or $40 of it, he unloads
on the first bank he comes to, and the bank un-
loads on the treasury. Thus the circulation Of
1t is limited TO just what the people will use.
When the people get enough of a thing, they
know it, and you cannot argue with them about
it. They are gullible on theories, but intensely
practical in business.
Ii, then, the government stamp
cannot create value, and we do not
need o SILVER money for the
convenient transaction of our busl-
ness, why then this demand for the
free and unlimited coinage of silver
dollars on a fictitious and fiat ratio ?
Not because it was demonetized in
1878 for it was remonetized in 1878
and continuously since then has
been full legal tender in any
amount for any debt, public or
private, unless otherwise specified.
Not because we lost our silver
money in 1873, because we prac-
tically had no silver money then
and we have five or six hundred
millions of it today. Not because
the gold is supposed to be control
led by the rich, for the silver mines
are practically all owned by mil
l%ionalres, Not because there has
been a decline in the prices of farm
products since 1878, for there was
a greater decline in prices for the
same length of time in a period
previous to 1878 when we had the
free and unlimited coinage of sill.
yer. Not because we do not pro-
duce enough gold, for we are the
greatest gold as well as silver pro-
ducing nation on earth. Not be
cause silver mining is one of our
chief industries and needs protec.
ton, because the silver production
Is only one.half of one per cent of
our total productions, and the po-
lltlcal parties who want to protect
the silver product cont want to
protect the ether ninety-nIne and
one-half per cent. 1t may here be
stated that the value of all the sill
yer produced In the United States
In a year does not equal the value
OF the eggs raised in one year IN
the states of South Dakota, Iowa,
and Nebraska, and it may be also
stated that the populist representa-
tlves In congress voted for the
German tariff bill which reduced
the duty on eggs go that any nation
in the world could bring their eggs
into this country aud undersell the
western farmer.
What then is the cause of this
demand for cheap money ? 1t is
tins The existing hard times and
the advantage taken of it by the
political demagogue who presents
to the people a plausible tale which
appeals to their prejudices and