Mexico weekly ledger., 1898-10-06
qARES LETTER
Fallen Fancies of the Gold
Standard Advocates.
WILL-O-TH -WISPS.
Theories Which They Hoped
Would Smother S~ilverites.
aAUDY BUBBLES WHICH BURST.

II AncFC - uoAu ~ ~NSA
the Worlds Needs, Why, Asks Our
Correspondent, Are the single
Standard Men So F~rantically joy
full at Reports of Mores
One by M the roses fall; by n
the multitudinous ~fallacies of the single
gold standard advocates go where the
woodbine twineth; n by one all the
beautiful and fascinating theories by
| which the world was to be furnished
gold enough for its monetary and COM
mercial necessities have vanished into
thin air. Human ingenuity has been ex-
hausted, and still the single gold stand
| ard enthusiasts are stumbling along
! from one blunder to another in the vain
| endeavor to make 81 perform the funo-
lions Of %. Their self imposed task is
an impossibility in nature, as all crea-
lures here below will presently find ont.
The first exciting fairy tale that was
thumped into the credulous ears of men
by every gold standard orator and organ
ON this mundane sphere was that up in
faraway Alaska there were huge and
| solid mountains of shimmering gold.
| At last q veritable Ell Dorado was found
beside which all other Ell Dorados-Cali-
| fornia, Montana, South Africa, Austria
liza and the ~rest-paled into utter and
| pitiable insignificance. Gold was to be-
| come cheap as brass and plentiful al
| salt. The prospectors, so we are told,
| dipped it up by the barrel in every
| stream. Men went to dig potatoes and
| couldn't get them save with great diff
| Guilty on account of the gold nuggets,
| big as your fist, which were in the way,
hindering the digging and Fostering the
| diggers. Men went into the frozen will
| derness beggars and came out regular
| Monte hristos. Aladdin and his lamp
| were not in it with seekers after Alas
| kan wealth. Jason and his argonauts
| with their golden fleece were paupers
beside these Cr9suses. William H.
| Seward was to have o golden statue
which should overtop the Washington
monument because he purchased Alas
| ka, the land of polar bear and Of eternal
| snow, which was to make all the peo-
| pie of the United States rich beyond
| the dreams Of avarice, all Of which
| would kill Organism deader than q
smelt.
A Shattered Fable.
Thousands and thousands of poor
| credulous mortals believed these fanci-
full stories and went to Alaska, endur-
| ing untold horrors, to find unmarked
| graves instead of unlimited gold. Now
the feeble remnant of that hopeful and
| deluded band are reaching home with
| rage in their hearts and curses on their
| lips for the sons of Ananias who lured
| them into the wild goose chase. The
truth is slowly coming out. 1t is pitt
full it is awful; it knocks into smither-
| Gems n single gold standard fable.
The following dispatch tells the impo-
tent result of so much lying and 80
much suffering in q plain, cold, blunt,
matter of fact way:
SAN FRANCISCO, Aug. ll.-F. A. Leach, super
intendent Of the United States mint in this
city, timat that the gold output Of the
Klondike this year has been only about $780,
600. The receipts at the mint here have
amounted to about 81, $4,000 since the first ar
rival of Yukon gold n few weeks ago. The re-
ceipts of the Seattle assay office have been
about the same.
Food riots are feared at Fort Yukon and 9TH
err up river points, growing out OF the failure Of
the transportation companies to get supplies
in there on the prevailing low water.
Acting on instructions received from Wash
ington. Major General Merriam win quickly
dispatch q battery Of artillery to st. Michael's,
the officer in charge having orders to proceed
at once up the Yukon river to Fort Yukon and
open q military post for the coming winter.
The expedition will also carry . large quantity
Of extra provisions and supplies to relieve dis.
tress.
No poetry about that-bread riots in
stead and the regular army to keep the
starving prospectors in orderi And Un-
Gle Joe Cannon's reindeer relief expedi-
tion never expedited worth a baubee,
but died a-bornin after the job Of buying
the reindeer had feathered the nests of
certain ~palpitating single gold standard
patriots. Net result, 100, 900 brave,
strong young men spend q year Of their
prime and at least $500 each, half Of
them dying Of exposure and starvation,
to secure a beggarly sum of $5, 000,-
000i So perishes forever the dream Of
easy and unlimited wealth in Alaska.
1t was a ravishing story with O dismal
ending.
The AIchemfst Bugaboe.
Then came the resurrection Of the
dead and buried dream Of the alchemist
to tickle the ears of men. Some savant
up in Chicago had at last invented or
discovered a process Of transmitting
base metals into gold. Indeed he could
make it out of copper, lead, zinc, iron
or any old thing. In fact, he not only
could make it; but, better still, he had
made it. He had actually made q gold
brick and sold it to somebody. No
doubt! The treasury officials had tested
it and pronounced it to be genuine gold.
All he needed was sufficient capital, and
he would food the world with gold.
There would be enough for everybody
and to spare. Once more the bimetal-
lists were reminded that they were o lot
Of bowling idiots. This nameless in
ventor who was to outdo Midas had
his run in the newspapers and then K
ploded into the realm of frauds. So the
single gold standard screamers were
ditched once more.