The independent. [volume] (Lincoln, Neb.) 1902-1907, 1905-03-09

goods take much higher rates than
do stoves. A. ]. GUSTIN.
St. Louis PopuIists at Work
Editor Independent: You said in
one of your editorials that your read
ers write to you, just as they W ould
write a letter home. / had never tried
to put my frame Of mind into words
but you did it for me.
Now populists in this city have got
q fight on their hands, and hand-to-
Z hand one at that. We have to parry all
imaginable kinds of arguments and
find quotations from The Independent
usually fill the bill But there are too
points that | shall have to have assist
ance with. One of which is the state
ment that United States silver dol
lar is equal to two Mexican dollars
and are exchanged on that basis, in
Mexico as we'll as in this country That
is, IL you cross the Mexican border
with pocketful of our silver dollars
any business man will give you two
Mexican silver dollars for each one of
the United States dollars Information
needed is that statement true if So
why?
The other statement is that "at the
time that Abe Lincoln's secretary of
the treasury issued bonds, United
States treasury notes were worth only
forty cents on the dollar, and those
who purchased those bonds did not pay
for them in gold, but really bought two
dollars and half in greenbacks for
j one dollar in gold and afterward paid
for bonds with the greenbacks at their
face value. If you can give me any
information on the above | shall be
very grateful. GEO BOLT.
ct Is true that an American silver
dollar, although it has less silver in
1t than Mexican silver dollar, is
worth just twice as much as the Next
can dollar, either in Mexico or the
United States. Furthermore, the Amer
lean silver dollar is of equal value with
the gold dollar in every mart of trade
the world over and the silver certifi-
cate is at premium over American
gold everywhere in Europe, Asia or
South America. The premium is Just
the difference between the cost of trans
shipment of metallic and paper money.
These are the facts. No man of in
telligence will deny them.
Now for the reason. The United
States has great export trade. All
the world must have our productions.
The Englishman, the Frenchman, the
German, the Mexican, the Chinaman.
or the merchant of Japan would be a
very silly person to take less for a
silver dollar than would be given to
him in exchange for it in the goods
OF the United States that he must have.
The silver dollar is legal tender for
all debts, public and private in the
United States, except where otherwise
provided in the contract. Mexico buys
American iron, agricultural i1nple-
ments, cotton goods and many other
things from the United States. The
Mexican merchant who had 100000 in
American silver would be rather silly
to take $4,000 in gold for them, when
he could cross the border and buy as
much OF these things with them as he
could for the same number of gold dol
lars. Don't you think he would? All
one time the bankers forced green
backs down to about forty cents. The
bonds OF the United States were paid
for in lawful money" greenbacks OF
anything else, not in gold. Then the
bankers got law passed making the
bonds payable in "coin," and by fur.
ther manipulations got them made pay
able in gold COIN" That was what
was called Strengthening the public
credit" when there never was a time
that the government did not have the
credit to borrow money. 1t is literally
true that bankers bought government
4, bonds with greenbacks worth 40 cents
on the dollar and afterwards had them
made payable in gold at 100 cents on
the dollar.--Ed. Ind.)