The midland journal. (Rising Sun, Md.) 1885-1947, 1900-01-26
Rebuked for His Ignorance.

Rebuked for His ignorance.
Congressman Overstreet who was put
forward 10 introduce the BANKERS paper
trust bill in his speech said:
"By simple order directing thease OF
silver in discharge of our obligations by
the Secretary of the Treasury under the
law as it stands, might completely destroy
the parity and shift the standard to the
metal so used.
In noting this nonsense or ignorance
the New York .Snn, the leader OF the New
York money trust, says: such talk is
sheer nonsense. The Secretary OF the
Treasury has no more power to use the
metal silver in the discharge of our obi
cations than he has to use the metal gold.
He can only use gold coin or silver coin.
Gold coin is, indeed, worth as currency
no more than the gold it contains, because
any owner of gold can at pleasure have II
converted into cQin in unlimited guam
titles free of charge, but the case is quite
different with silver Silver dollars pass
current as equal to gold dollars to the
number of 100000, 900, although the
metal of which they are composed is equal
in value to only about 40 cents in gold,
for the reason that the coinage of them is
a government monopoly, and is not open
to the public Nothing but unlimited free
silver coinage can reduce the silver dollars
to their value as metal, and Mr.. Overstreet
betrays on the subject an ignorance OF
facts and law which in a leader III Con-
sress is ludicrous not to say disgraceful. F"
The New York Sun has as little warrant
for assuming that the free coinage OF sill
yer would reduce the value of silver dol
lars to their value as metal The reverse
will be found to be true when the minis
are opened to unlimited free coinage, and
the metal will be brought to parity with
the coins, as the gold metal is by free
coinage of the latter. There is no getting
away from that fact by argument The
logic of monetary conditions is conclusive
and the actual experience will demon
strate it when the minis are opened to
the free coinage of both metals. They will
go together as they always have IN the
past when both had the privilege of
unlimited free coinage.
But there are two important facts over
looked by the New York Sun and other
-. a., .,,o.a,, oraetiop aud silver
in particular Government has not
monopoly of silver coinage but is ebarred
from coinage altogether by act OF Con-
gress dropping the dollar from the mint
law in 1873 The second and most I'M
portant fact of all is that opening the
minis to free coinage of silver would not
reduce the coins to the commercial value
of the metal unless the legal tender
function was taken from them. 1t is the
legal tender function which attaches TO
the silver dollars now in the treasury and
in circulation which keeps them at a
parity with gold. Destroy that and the
silver dollar will at once sink to the parity
of the metal, because it would no longer
be money but simply disc of silver
bullion.
Wharton Barker's american makes the
same blunder of assuming that the un-
limited free coinage of silver would bring
the dollars to parity with the metal,
when we presume the writer meant that
free coinage would bring the metal up to
parity with the coin, providing the legal
tender, which must be the function of all
money, was retained. A simple govern
ment monopoly" of coinage would have
no influence whatever. The coins would
be only bullion with the legal tender
power omitted.
The commodity value and the money
value of metal or coin money is the
stumbling block which confounds the
masses in understanding the money
question. Nor is this strange when We
consider that nearly all of the daily press,
the weekly religious aud agricultural
press, and the Republican party country
press, have been bribed, cajoled or bull
.dozed into keeping up the delusion, that
because there is only so cents worth Of
bullion i'll silver dollar the coin is only
worth so cents The only reason why
the coin is worth 100 cents is because it is
legal tender money. If counterfeiter
makes a dollar of the exact value and
fineness of metal of the United States
silver dollar it is not good money because
it is bogus. 1t has no legal tender power,
no law to enforce its money prerogative.
II the counterfeiter makes his dollar out
of simon pure silver dollar by melting
and restamping it, it is still bogus because
he could not transfer the legal tender
with the worked over metal. If he uses
gold in the same way he cannot make a
legal gold coin, and will be punished as a
counterfeiter if caught.
The men and newspapers who deceive
the people by playing the trick of metal
and money, or commodity and money on
the masses are morally guilty as counter
feiters. And yet we find great states
men ~, editors, divines. college pro-
fessors along with little ignoiamus pol
iticians actively engaged in this deception
Just as actively and earnestly engaged in
it as the priests, statesmen and silver
smiths of Ephesus were in battling for
charms, because there was much gain in
it. Human nature don't change. In