Democratic Sentinel, Volume 16, Number 2, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 29 January 1892 — FREE COINAGE OF SILVER. [ARTICLE]

FREE COINAGE OF SILVER.

For The Demoerntic Sentinel.

Why not coin all the silver thst onr mines produce? Why not let silver take the place of all our paper promises? We have in circulation, of ihe various kinds of pi per, nearly a thou and midion* of o dollars. This paper money stems to be sat sfaotory to the people, et it is a local money, only passing in the United States. It*does not drive our gold out of circulation, nor out of the country. If this large amountof paper promise to pay in silver will not drive gold aw y, why would silver, putin its place, drhe gold away? It wiil not, and should our mintbe pul at work coining the silver of oui citizens it would only be creating their produot into money. What difference would there be in converting this iroduut into money; through the agency of our mints, and the conversion of our wheat, corn, oats or any other product into money thiough the medium of exohange? Silver is a product of the earth, the same as cereals. Why not stop the mining >nd manufacture of iron for fear we may acquire too much wealth? T. e only argil meut that the opponents of the free coinage of silver can offer is that we will g»t too much of it. Suppose huge placers of gold should be discovered in some State of our Union and the yield would bs suffi cient to double up our circulation, would they oppose the working of those plaoers, the taking out of the precious metal, and the coinage of the same? Would they not rather insist on this course, even though they knew in advance that the effect of it would be to so cheapen money that ah forms of property would bo doubled in value and the purchasing power of every dollar would be reduced one half? Wo’d they not say go and bring in the gold; it will double business; it will bring to life a thousand enterprises that are now dead; it will doable the epportnnities for in vestment; it will double the reward of the pr duoer and the wage-earner, and make our nation financially omnipotant among the nations o the earth? O, yes, gold is nil right—you cannot mine or eoin too rnuoh. Why not? Beoause all nations of the earth recognize it as “the money of mtrinsio value.” Now, suppose we dis cover gold in greater quantities than we have silver, and we become alarmed at putting in circulation on the ground that it would reduoe the purchasing power of our accumulated wealth, and stop ith coinage—demonetize it—would other nations so! low our example? Possibly they might, but we doubt it. Would our silver leave us if O' ined a larger proportion of gold? We doubt it. Vet the opponents of free coinage of silver must fortif their position by this rgunentor fail. They have 10 argument against silver except its quantity. They oppose free co'mtge oi silver because it will make us too » uch money! These self Same alarmists dvocato a protective tariii with the |>lea l at it would oreate a home market better wages for luboreis, better prices for m nufa lures nd farm products VVhy not insu e better prices and better wage ■ i.y mailing money more plentiful throu».hthe ft o coinage of silver? Oh, tl ey say, this wi 1 reduce ihe pu chasing power of a dollar Will not hr- “home market and higher wages” umiei the protective polio do the same? They ..re becoming iarnteu at their own acts in this s lver busii css. Their sena'o sno vbewail .efaot|;b. |vs have many ton- of sib r imliio i he treasury. They do not slop. I.owevcr, to tell us that the treasury has p per piomi-

ses out to cover these thousands of tons of silver. These paper promisee, based on uncoined silver, go into the marts of trade today for face value —one hundred cents in the dollar. Would thes ■ senator have bewailed the possession of t.is siivei abundance twenty-eight years age, when the faith of the government beh nd its paper promises to pay made them worth 0u1y37 cents on the dollar. In this silver dollar fwhich they now denounce as » 75 cent dollar) for. one I can see no objection, It has been used as money and must continue to be employed in that < opacity.— Simply because a large amount of silver is being dug out of mother earth is no argument against it. Congress should restore the silver dollar to the high plane it occupied prior to its demonetization by republican representatives in congress and authorize its free coinage. Every true Democrat should favor and vote or it, and if the republican party, through its representatives and president choose to defeat it, let it be held responsible. Let (be issue be made so the people may decide this great question in the campaign

of ’92.

D.