Washington standard. [volume] (Olympia, Wash. Territory) 1860-1921, 1898-02-04
It ashin9ton Standard
OLYMPIA. WASH.
FRIDAY EVENING. FEbEl All /. lSN.
Still Persists.

Still Persists.
Tho Nook>ack Reporter hcG, the .
question in IT. attempt /" Justify the
Tasty Judgment it passed upon the
Teller rc~"luti"n IN clIarart"ri<lng ii
a T,ll,r'~ Nonsense. II viii he
rcm,mh. u,i the SrANrALp lacked
uI" dat Journal for tt" presumption,
and il very naturally attempts the
.u;,l,-ti~h plan %: THROWN. ont any
,h.u- Ia Obscure the lo>.tj"m il thea
a>-D.Inrd aud tu,:>,. up tltc strain on
the theories thus advanced.
The Reporter a->umc> that inasmuch
~ gold ha! always, without question,
been used in payment al L. :. bonds
IN t. the characterization al silver i'll
1873, that there was an understanding
that such policy should and had
continued despite the solemn a>sur-
ancc~ oi Congress to the contrary, and
the Injustice it would and has done to
the dcbt-paying classes OF the com
munity by augmcnting the value OF
the measure by which their property
has been sized up for payment of obi
cations, for which under the silver
standard they were an ample consider
alton.
IF the Repnrto~ "'"'''a only impress
us mud the fact that the exist
encc OF houses to live in, lands to dwell
uuon. food to eat and clothes to wear,
are some of the primary necessities
which make either gold or silver OF
any value, and then only aS me-
d;um NJ exchange, 10 would be better
o1ru 10 grasp the great truth underly-
ing our system of barter and exchange.
1t is the value of necessities and the
want of a means OF transferring them
for other property that gives to money
its representative value, fixed by law
The stamp of the government is, of
course, the life and essence of that
value, for we have already seen how a
metal that has been deprived of its
debt-paying power depreciates to one
half its coin value as bullion, and is so
sustained by even limited legal ten
der quality as to pass at par with gold
when coined into money. This object
lesson, should be taken in connection
with the impressive fact that gold and
silver had never parted company on a
ratio of less than 16 to l, until the act
of 1873 deprived the white metal of all
use as primary money. From that
time until 1878, when limited legal
tender power was given to silver COIN
age the appreciation OF the gold unit
of valuations, as applied to all classes
of property, rose very rapidly. The
Bland-Allison act afforded a partial
remedy so far as the individual credi-
tor might not insist upon the insertion
of specific contract clause in the
contract whereby the right to pay in
silver was waived.
Now Mr.. Reporter, if these pre- misses
are tenable, had the bond purchaser
any just right to expect that he
would he paid in currency that by
contraction of the legit innate use Of
money should attain value double
to that of the same number of dollars
under a bimetallic system when COM
pared with articles of real or intrinsic
value? If property gives the value
to money, as mediator, is there any
reason or justice in making valueless
article Except from the law that is
back of it) worth twice as much of
articles of real value? Why should a
capitalist who exchanged, thirty years
ago, a piece of realty worth $4,000
under the silver unit of valuation up
to 1873, for U. S. bonds, now, after
cutting off coupons SO many years, be
enabled to command and receive twice
ms much property as the face-value
of his bonds as he paid for them?
You see, Mr.. Reporter, there are two
sides to the sign-board, and it is unwise
to read but one.