Middletown transcript., 1897-04-10


the silvtr baif dollar was reduced in weight
from 20dl4 to 1so grains and the quarters. dimes
and 5 cent pieces were reduced IN the same
proporticn. These coins were then made q
legal tender for only IS in amount, and the
coinage of them for private account was stop
pod, but tho government purchased the silver
bullion and coined them as they wore needed.
So, no crime was committed In 1873 against
the halves quarters, dimes and half dimes.
That crilse was committed under Millard Fill
more. In 1879 these coins wore made legal ten
der for SUMS not exceeding $40
In 1873 tho standard silver dollar of 4121<
grains was loft out Of the coinage oct and the
trade dollar Of 40 grains was substituted for
1t. This was done at the request Of the Pacific
slope to enable our dollar to compete with
the Mexican dollar Of about that weight, in
China and Japan. The standard dollar was
not legal tendor from Feb. H. 1873, to Feb.
%, 1873, at which time It's recoinage was provid-
ed for, and it was reinstated as q legal tender
for all debts, In whatever amount. But S, ZOO
coo of this daddy dollar" was coined prior to
1878. out Of total coinage Of 81, 900 600, ,000.
jefferson stopped the coinage Of 1t In 1906 and
for 30 years not one Of them was coined, and
the daddies never complained. They did not
have sense enough to see that Jefferson had
sold out to Lombard street, These dollars
were not in fact legal tenders prior to 1873,
because the people did not tender them In pay
ment Of debts nor in purchase of goods. They
had not been In circulation since Andrew
jackson was president. and hardly any middle
aged man had ever seen one of them. The peo-
pie had demonctized them by melting them
down or by sending them abroad for that
purpose, and to this good day they have never
been demonet;zed in any other way.
The act Of 1873 simply recognized what the
people had done and for five years continued
the policy that the people had been pursuing
for nearly half century. The legal tender
faculty Of this dollar was restored to 1t II
years ago. The government has $3.50, ,000, 600
Of 1t on hand now, and has stood ready at all
times to furnish it to anybody who wanted it.
This is the biography Of the demonstration
mouse that has been evolved from mountain
of denunciation.- The poor little thing never
lived but five brief years and has been as dead
as q door nail for II years. While it lived it
was SO harmless the people paid no attention
to 1t. Shakespeare says, "The> evil that men
do lives after them" But it Is even worse in
the case Of this mouse. The evil that 1t did
not do lives after it in the shape Of grasping
mine owners, two ply editors and unscrupu-
lous politicians.
Thriving on Assassination.
We are told that the standard dollar Is not
primary money. 1t is not promise to pay,
it is legal tender for all debts, and 1t does
not have to be redeemed In anything on the
face of the earth. If any man can give bet
ter definition Of primary money than this, /
would like to see it.
This government is the fast friend Of silver
money and of the people who use 1t, rather
than Of the American and English corpora
tions who mine silver and would coin it ct O
fictitious valuation. Prior to 1873 this govern
ment coined S144, 600 of silver; since then,
$537, ,000, 600. In 81 years, under a gold stand
ard, nearly four times as much silver was
4,,a kL.r H.
BILE standard. A certain kind lady always
chloroformed her child when she whipped it.
Miss Silver was assassinated in 1873 at time
when there was almost none of her in circula-
tion, and since that fateful day she has thrived
on assassination and has grown from living
skeleton to be the fat woman in the circusi
In contemplating her brilliant post mortem
career am constrained, with the apostle, to
exclaim: "Oh, death, where is thy sting2 Oh,
grave, where Is thy victoryP"
After 1873 this country prospered as no 9th
er ever did for 10 years, and we are asked to
believe that 1t took this wide awake nation 19
years to find out that it was ruined by the
legislation of 1873 Tho negroes in some Sec
tions believe In a hoodoo charm, which Is
harmless for year and then suddenly devel-
ops insanity, fits. etc. The crime of 1873
seems to have worked in q hoodoo way.
The Egg Argument. p
The IS to people tell US that the coinage Of sill
yer will create unlimited demand for 1t. They
decline to give us the howness or tho wherefore
ness of this new born demand but with child
like faith they expect it to rise in all its beau
ty as the fabled Venus rose from the froth Of
the sea. They say the demand will come:
SO the Seventh Day Adventists tell US the end
will come, and If their picnic comes off first,
they win not need silver; the demand will be
for free and unlimited wuter. They contend,
If this government takes all the silver that
comes at l6 to /, silver will be worth par all
over the wOrld, and they use an egg argu-
ment to prove it. They say, If merchant
advertises that he will pay Is cents per dozen
for eggs, SO long as he has the ability to take
all that come, eggs will be worth Is cents in
all that country. But suppose the merchant
did not take themi Suppose when farmer
drove up to his store the merchant said unto
him: "My friend, you have misunderstood
me. am not buying eggs. am simply count
ing them, certifying that they are good and
handing them back to you" What would eggs
then be worth? Tho same old 10 or Is cents
per dozen.
Under unlimited coinage the government
would not buy silver or guarantee the value
Of the coins. 1t would stamp 1t "without re-
course" Silver would come from every coun-
try in the world and the government would
be fool to undertake to guarantee the value
Of the coins by trying to preseEve the parity
between the metals. If herder drove lot
of COW ponies through the mint and they were
branded 1890 horse and delivered to the
owner at the other end Of the bl;lding. 1t
would not improve the breed Of the ponies
nor create a wild demand for them at the
brand price.
Our government has lost $500 cox, 600 trying
to create demand for silver, for the sole and
separate use bchoof and benefit of the silver
mine owner. by buying it when it did not
"A a L, Of hos ciIr
mining styillain still pursucs' It'll Uncle Sam
has this silver on hand now. It would load a
two horse wagon train 173 miles long, putting
LOCO pounds on each wagon and letting them
OCCUPY 80 feet each Ii line, and / am mean
enough to want to see him get even with the
game before we start new deal for anybody g
benefit.
Can't Stop the Flood of Silver.
If the unlimited coinage Of silver by our
government could bring it to par, the imme-
date effect would be to start every mine and
mill In the world running at It's utmost capac-
ity, a large portion Of the unemployed capi-
tai of the world would seek this field, and the
bowels Of the mountains of the earth would be
torn asunder 10 get the benefit of the double
price. In 1891 S2l4, 10000 Of silver was mined
and sold at about 6 cents per ounce. If the
price was raised to 12a cents per ounce, the
I6 to price, what would the harvest bef The
old rule of three will solve the problem. If a
railway engine viii run 80 miles an hour on
s. pounds of steam pressure, how fast would
It run on 129 pounds of pressuref The blasted
thing would have to stop once in awhile. and
wait for its shadow to catch up. Senator Stew
art and his crowd tell us there can be no Hood
Of silver In Noahs time there was man OF
sanguine temperament like that. He was
ktanding on the tip end Of high mountain
and the waters were licking his toes. He hail
ed Noah and begged to be taken In the ark,
but Noah had sailing orders from above and
refused to take him aboard. AS Noah sailed
away he shook his fist at the old man and ex'
claimed, "Go to the devil with your old dug
out; 1t isn't going to be much OF shower
anyway"
The fifth proposition Is that 10 to coinage
win increase the prices Of property. If this
government should open its mints to coinage
Of the worlds silver at 10 to /, we would go at
once to silver moncmetallism. This Is the
voice of all history emphasized by the present
status Of every free coinage country on the
earth. We can no moro have bimetallism in
actual use and unlimited silver coinage than
we can have q square, round object, or dry,
wet weather. Wherein would the people be
benefited If they get double prices in half val
ne money! If farmers products brought
double prices SO would the manufacturers The
benefits and advantages would be equal, ex-
cept that buyers would always deduct enough
to safely cover the fluctuations of silver, and
this amount would be dead loss TO producers
and premium to spectators. knew boy
who sold cur dog for $780, but he took pay
In pups at $40 apiece. SO he was not material
IL benefited by the inflated prices.
Cheap Money Hurts Labor.