Daily inter mountain. [volume] (Butte, Mont.) 1881-1901, 1900-01-02
COLD AND

In the face of the argument made in
1896 that prosperity YOU be impossible
under a gold standard, the Inter Noun
tain regrets to see the Anaconda Stand
ard express the following opinion this
morning:
And now, after years of depression,
new and large deposits OF gold arr
brought to light. and once more the world
moves onward ard upward in its career Oh
industrial development.
If the world moves onward and up
ward in its career of industrial develop
ment, on account of the discovery of more
gold-as our contemporary maintains-it
will only need the discovery of still mora
gold to keep the world spinning on its
axis in the direction of perpetual pros
perity. In other words, a double stand
ard is wholly unnecessary, provided the
single standard is copious enough to meet
the business exigencies of the world!
tSuch is the argument of the leading
newspaper organ of the silver democracy
of Montana. 1t is a confession that the
only argument in favor of a double stand
ard is a scarcity of metallic money, and
that if enough gold can be found to en-
able the world to maintain it's onward
and upward career of Industrial develop
ment, as at present, a return to bimetal-
lsm will be unnecessary! 1t was bad
enough for the Standard to state one year
q that tho ~, tito ~ wa Il, - botroo,, ejI
Yer and gold was fixed by the worlds ex-
changes, and that the question of ratio
was irrelevant to the restoration of the
white metel; but it is positively serious
for this great silver champion to acknow-
ledge that an onward and upward career
OF industrial development is not only pos
sib!e Under a gold standard, but is ac-
tuaIy being experienced at the present
time! If this be true. and the average
production of gold co%ntinues-as now
seems more than likely-wllat is the out
look for Montana silver?
Only "a few weeks ago, the Standard de-
voted column of it's valuable space to
proving that the, present prosperity is
due wholly to a cycle, the velvet edge of
which happened to hit America with the
inaugural of President Mckinley.
Now, it has apparently dropped the cycle
hypothesis, to take the advanced gold
bug ground that prosperity is possible if
there be gold enough to form a basis for
the business of the world.
IT is a death blow to silver production
in Montana for the great champion of the
free coinage cause to make such a con-
cesssion, and to attribute the present
prosperity of the country to the larger
amount of gold that is filtering through
the arteries of commerce.. According to
the concession made by the Standard, the
only hope for silver mining Us to stop
as money a possibility by diminishing
the supply of gold. This. is. tantamount
to an acknowledgement that the gold men
made a logical fight for their side of the
question when they brought gold to the
florlt by diminishing the supply of sill
Yer! In effect, it is an argument hat a
single Standardization gold or silver-is
good enough to ensure an onward and
upward career of industrial development.
provided the metal lis as plentiful as god
seems to be at present.
If the Standard had not already lost it's
influence upon silver men, it's position
would be very disheartenimg to them. II
unwilling to. accredit the administration
with wisdom in the management of ma
tional affairs, giving to the settlement of
the tariff dispute it's logical place in the
restoration of confidence, to expan-
sion its responsibility for the more Wig
orous circulation Of our commercial
blood-al Of which has to do with the
prosperity We now ~enjoy-why did not
Che Standard stick to its cycle theory and
FAY our advancement to the gods of High
Olynlpious? Why concede that twas
made possible with gold, unde a gold
standard?