The diamond drill. (Crystal Falls, Iron County, Mich.) 1887-1996, 1899-02-18
WHY THEY LOVE SILVER.
Oniy Way 10 swindle Their
Creditors.

The democratic members OF the
house committee on coinage, which has
reported. with recommendation that
il pass. the Hill bill for the maintenance
OF the gold standard and the modifica-
ton OF the present system, have sub
mitted minority report, in which they
denounce that MEASURE yehemently.
They assert that the provision in the
bill for the redemption of silver dollars
in gold when desired will sweep the
present silver dollars from their pres
ent position as standard money into the
category OF credit money" The whole
scheme OF the bill, they assert, CON
templates the destruction of silver al
money" They claim, also, that the pro-
posed repeal of the provision which
prohibits national banks from with
drawing from circulation more than
S3000,o0 in any one month will enable
the banks ito contract circulation and
coerce legislation in years of panic and
business depression"
The democratic members of the COM
mittee do more than attack the Hill
bill. They give notice that they are
going to offer n substitute. That sub
stitute will make both the gold and sill
yer dollars standards of value, and au-
thorize the free coinage of silver at the
ratio OF sixteen TO one. These demo-
Gratis, who discover something wicked
in the proposition 10 redeem silver dol
lars ia gold, so that there may be no
possibility Of depreciation in their
value, AFRO unable to see anything wrong
in proposition 10 coin silver bullion
worth less than half a dollar into dol
lar for everybody who presents himself
at the mint, and then force creditors to
accept such dollars as IL they were tho
equivalent Of full-value dollars.
The charge Is made that the sup
porters OF the gold standard are hos
tile" to the silver dollars. That is mani
testify untrue. The half million stand
ard silver dollars which have been
coined since 1878 have had the purchas-
ing power of gold dollars all that time.
They have been las good as gold" That
has been the case because the gold
standard men have been able 10 frus-
trate the attempts OF the free silverites
to degrade" the standard silver dol
lars by depriying them OF half their pur-
chasing power. IL the Bryanites had
been successful In 1896 they would have
opened the minis TO the free coinage of
silver at the ratio OF sixteen 10 one,
thus putting in each silver dollar less
than half the amount OF metal il should
contain TO be worth 100 cents. Had that
been done, the half million dollars al
ready in existence would have become
worth only 40 cents on the dollar.
The free silverites assert constantly
that they are the only friends OF silver.
They do not explain, however, that that
alleged friendship Is due exclusively TO
their belief that it is only through the
medium of deprecated silver money
that creditors can be swindled and dis
honest debtors enabled 10 retain the
property Of others without paying for
IT, If the commercial ratio Of silver TO
gold were to-day sixteen TO one the
Organizes would cease 20 care for silver,
for II would not lend itself TO their
knavish purposes, but as long as the
| commercial ratio is thirty-four and one
half to one they will continue to de-
mand free coinage and dishonest dol
lars Chicago Tribune.