The Wallace miner. [volume] (Wallace, Idaho) 1907-current, 1919-04-24
Gold Miners of North Side Demand That
Gold Standard be Raised to Cost
of Production

At a mass meeting of miners In |
Murray on Saturday evening, April |
-, 1919, the following preamble and
resolution were unanimously adopted:
We, the gold miners and other cit
liens of Summit, Beaver, Eagle and
Occur d'Alane mining districts, en-
bracing with Union mining district.
the territory known as the North
Side of the Occur dAlene mining dis
trict, Shoshone county, state OF Ida
no, in mass meeting assembled for
the purpose of advising, instructing
and directing our senators and repre-
sentatives in congress in the matter
Of desired adjustment Of the god
standard, do unanimously adopt the
following preamble and resolution, to-
wit:
Whereas, The maintenance of
gold standard rests upon the gold mi
ming industry; and
Whereas, The gold mining industry
for the United States is located by
nature wholly within the twelve vest
ern mountain states, to-wit: Arizona,
California, Colorado. Idaho, Montana,
New Mexico, Nevada, oregon, South
Dakota, Utah, washington and Wyo-
ming; and
Whereas, For sheer lack of sufii-
cient gold with which to function, our
present gold standard has now utter
ly collapsed: and
Whereas, A gold standard can on
ly be reestablished and steadily sus-
tanned by vast increase in the reg
ular annual production of gold, and
efficient steps to that end must speed
lily be taken; and
Whereas, Our present gold stand.
ard was established about two cen.
turtles ago. since when the worlds
population and the worlds business
have increased very much faster ant
out of all proportion to the increas,
in the worlds stock of available gold
so that the world no longer has al
adequate supply of available goll
ard or to effectively function as sucl
for carrying on the modern world.
business and
Whereas, During the last two cen.
turtles the earth's population ha.
gradually come upon a much higher
and more costly plane of living, nat
urally requiring much more none,
per capita to meet modern standards
ard the standards and costs of liv
ing, and the business methods Of tn
worlds population, have all change,
in these two centuries-in fact, /
might well be said that all standard
have been changed except the gol
standard; and
Whereas, For several decades pre-
ceding the present world war INSULT
cient gold was being produced t
meet the legitimate requirements G
the worlds rapidly expanding bust
ness, or, in other words, the produc
ton of gold had not increased apac
with the worlds increase in popula
being that at the commencement c
this war the world had already gon
short on gold for ordinary uses of tn
nations in times Of peace; and ha
the world war not occurred the tim
was still fast approaching when eff
fective means would have to be take
to greatly increase the production c
gold The sudden coming of tn
world war and consequent vast infla
ton of paper issues based on gold on
ly FASTENED the day and manifolde
the need BY the time demobiliZatio
Is completed more than $200,000,000,
600 Of war obligations will have bee
suddenly issued by beligerent ma
tons on account of the war; and
Whereas, Our nation is now con
ftonted by these further facts an
conditions, viz:
That there is only about $4,000,
CC0000 of gold in sight in this worlc
and only a small portion of this 50,
0C0000,000 is available for the bellig
erent governments with which to pa
interest on their war obligations
while annual interest on $200,000 900,
600 at per cent is $4,000, 100000.
That none of the belligerent gov
ernments has sufficient, or anywher
near sufficient gold available to eve
pay interest on its war obligations, t
say nothing of the principal sums
That the United States government
which Is best supplied, has somewha
in excess of s2,500,000,0OO gold. 0
which $1,SS3,OO0,OOO is in the fedora
reserve gold settlement fund an
$S22,O00,000 is the basis for outstand
ing gold certificates;
That the average annual gold pro
d. ction of the United States for tn
years 1906 to 1915, inclusive, wa
about $95,00O,0O0, since when its rat
of production has rapidly declined t
about 6S,000,000 in 1918; and it is be
lieved that the annual rate of pro
duction at present does not excee
$45,000,000 and is still declining; an
none Of this $45,00O,O00 is likely t
reach the U. S. treasury in exchang
for our present deprecated currency
and even if wages, freight rates, an
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