Iron County register., 1898-11-24
GOLD STANDARD sopH1srRY.
Ingenuity and Cunning OF Wealthy
Fund-H0lders I'm DeceivfnE and
Vfctimizing the People.

The wealthy fund holders or the
world who profit by making money
scarce and dear employ all the artifice
that ingenuity and cunning can invent
for the purpose of deeeiving and VIC
timizing the people. They embrace
among their Aanks many men of great
intellectual power. Their wealth af-
fords them opportunities and leisure to
cultivate their minds and study human
nature. The result is that they become
adopts in the use of ingenious and So
phistical arguments that exert pow
erful influence over the thoughts and
actions of large class of shallow
minded but very pretentious men. The
terms "sound money" ""honest money"
ETC., are used to appeal to and placate
the moral sense and elude investigation.
The term "best money" appeals to the
pride and aspirations of our people,
who desire the best of everything that
Is obtainable.
But the advocates of the gold stand
ard do not stop when they have turned
to an account these higher attributes
of human nature but go further and
apply their artifices to the lower and
baser passions as well. The argument
that the movement for the restoration
of silver as a money metal is in the in
terest of silver mine owners is calcu-
lated to excite envy, the most perverse
and ignoble trait of human nature,
against the owners of silver mines ON
the ground that his product is being
especially favored by law, suggesting
to the mind at the same time that the
balance of society is being injured in
order that the owners of silver mines
may make additional profit. In this
connection, however, they forget to re-
mind the people that gold mines are
the private property of individuals as
well as silver mines. In making this
appeal to the baser passions an insult
is offered to the intelligence of the peo-
pie, the presumption in the mind of the
party advancing the argument being
that the lower or baser passions are SO
much stronger than our intelligence
that the deceptive argument made will
have the effect of controlling our
actions in favor of a policy that benefits
them while it Injuries the balance of So
ciety.
They DO not remind us in this connec-
ton that gold and silver alike have en-
joyed the same rights and privileges as
money metals from time immemorial,
and have constituted the worlds source
of money supply. They do not suggest
to us that when the silver miner is dis
eliminated against by having his prod
gold miners product is enhanced there
by, and that so far as the question ap-
plies to mine owners it is between the
owners of gold mines and the owners
of silver mines, as the government or
people, in their collective capacity, are
not the owner of either the gold or sill
yer mines. They do not make any COM
plant because the silver miner has been
deprived of the privilege that his prod
uct has enjoyed from time immemorial,
because this might suggest that the
owners of gold mines were receiving
unmerited favor at the hands of the
government.
So far as the miners are concerned,
the balance of society who are not en-
gagged in mining, have no special in
terest in the question. because the gold
mines and the silver mines alike are at
the present time as they ever have been
in this country, private property. The
question that affects the people is one
of immeasurably greater Importance
than discriminating in favor of or
against the product of any individual
class in the nation. It is question of
money supply which affects the pros
perity of the entire country, the value
of our property, our ability to pay
debts and taxes, and for our laboring
people involves questions of continued
employment at remunerative wages.
The appeal that comes to us in the
shape of all these ingenious and sophis-
teal arguments emanates from those
who own the great debts against the
nations and people of the world. They
are interested to give money larger
power to command other things. They
understand the way to do this is to
make money scarce, and in order to
make money scarce they have concen-
trated their efforts throughout the
world to procure the outlawing of sill
yer and the closing of the mints against
it, thus restricting the money supply to
gold alone.
During the 25 years since the work of
characterization was started the gold
of the world has doubled in value, that
is, every ounce of gold in existence will
now exchange for double the amount of
other things in general that it would in
1873. Therefore all the debts that ex-
listed in 1878 are now worth twice as
much to their present holders as they
were at that time. The property of the
people measured against money to pay
debts is at the present time worth only
one-half as much as it was in 1873. Thus
through the force of law closing the
mirts against silver the fund-holding
classes have doubled their wealth and
plundered society to the amount of the
gain they have thus made.
This is not all, however. During this
process of falling prices bankruptcy
has overtaken the Industrious and
of our people. The last 30 years have
been years of strikes, 1ochouts, and
labor riots, and are marked by a con-
of wealth unparalleled in the
history of the world. until to-day grave
and serious problems, unknown and
of before. are at our threshold
for settlement. The questions of mon
opoly and trusts. and the powerful COM
binations of capital, menace popular
government and the rights of man in
the United States. the very citadel of.
The American people are pat
riotic, brave, and honest. Education
s1o1a ia all that iS naefied fo rnafxa