El Paso daily herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1881-1901, 1897-08-03

1--WE declare that the act of 1913,
demonetizipg silver without the know
ledge and approval of the American
people," etc.
The act of 1873 did not
demonetize silver, as is claimed by
this sentence of the platform. The
act says itself in specific terms that
"tbis act shall not be construed to
Il fleet any act done, right accrued or
penalty incurred under former acts,
but every such right is hereby saved,
thus clearly stating that it did not
demOnetiZe any of the coins author
lied prior to that date, while every one
of the four hundred and fifty million
standard silver dollars coined since the
passage of that act is and has constant
ly been full legal tender, and none OF
them is or has been demOnetized.
The act of 1873 was not passed with
out the knowledge and approval of the
American people, as the platform as
eerts. 1t was submitted to congress in
april. 1870, printed thirteen times.
discussed at intervals until January !,
1873 clearly three years., the debates
| and discuss ons filling IA pages OF the
| cong resi- opal record, which was pub
lished daily during the sessions in
which it was discussed. The American
| people had ample opportunity to know
all of its provisions, and that there was
no popular disapproval of 1t Is shown
| by the fact that | y of the members Of
the house which passed it were re-
| elected, many of them con tinuing to
serve in congress to the end of their
| lives, while several are still members
of that body. notably, William NJ.
Stewart of Nevada, who voted for the
ill and who, in a speech delivered on
June u, 1874, said: 1.-THE laboring
man and the producer is entitled to
| = Lob =
ured by the same standard of value
| that measures your national deot. You
require from the la boring man gold to
pay the interest on your national debt,
| which is right, which can not be avoid
ed if you mean to save national honor:
but then give him the same money
with which you pay that debt. The
IquestiOn Will never be decided until
you determine the single question
whether the labOrlng man is emitted
to have gold dollar if he earns it. or
whether you are going to cheat him
with something else"
"We declare thai the act of 1873
has resulted in the appreciation
of gold.''
1t has not "resulted in the apprecia-
ton of gold" because gold has not APP
preciated. Any article ''appreciates'
in value only when there is an increas-
=
reduction ia the quantity or al enlarg-
ed mes d for it in the current affairs OF
| life. The fgureS Of the best StatiSti-
| clans show that the gold cOin of the
| world and the total money of the world
| have increased mucn more rapidly
| than tn population since 1873, hence
| the absurdity of The claim that il has
| -appreciated' in value, as the amount
| for each Individual in the world has
greatly increased since the passage OF
the act in question. The gold money
| of the world has more than doubled
since 1873, the silver money of the
world has nearly or quite trebled In
that time and the paper money has also
increased largely, while the popula-
tion of the world has increased O1Iy %
per cent in the same period. 1t is thus
evident that the total amount of money
for each individual in the world is
much greater than in 1873 and that
there can thus be no increased per
capita demand for gold and hence no
appreciation" in its value, while the
fact that a large proportion of the
business of the world is now performed
with checks, drafts and other forms of
credit without the direct use of money
further reduces the demand upon gold.
The mines of the world produce more
gold today than they produced of gold
and silver together in 1873, the silver
production of today is nearly three
times what it was in 1873 and the
amount of silver now annually coined
is more than was produced from the
mics OF the world in 1873. The num-
Der of silver dollars coined in the
United States in the fiscal year just
ended was two and a half times as
many as in the entire history of the
mints prior TO 1873 and the totcl num-
Der of full legal tender dollars coined
by our minis since 1873 is 80 times as
many as We're coined in the entire
history of the mint prior to the act of
1873.