People's Pilot, Volume 3, Number 6, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 28 July 1893 — THEY WANT SILVER. [ARTICLE]

THEY WANT SILVER.

An Urgent Appeal from the Miners of Montana. \ -> The Agricultural Class** Are Warned ot the Depreciation of Their Prod, act*—The History of Silver Legislation. The leading citizens of Butte. Mont., held a mass meeting on the evening of July 22, to discuss the silver question. Prominent free coinage advocates were present and addressed the assemblage, and the following address, prepared by the Free Coinage association, was unanimously adopted: “The citizens ot the state of Montana, In sending forth to their fellow-citizens throughout the union this appeal against what they sincerely believe to be an existing wrong of cruel proportions, and for a redress of that wrong, desire first to extend the assurance to all who may differ from them in opinion that, despite the disastrous conditions which at this moment surround them: despite the fact that many of their mines and mills and smelters are now idle and labor unemployed; notwithstanding that their property values have been largely destroyed and their credit greatly impaired, they are to-day, as they have ever been in the past, loyal citizens of the republic, devoted to its institutions, obedient to its laws, loving ana cherishing its traditions and history, and proud of its magnificent achievements. “We assert with all sincerity that although it directly and most injuriously affects one of our principal industries, and one that has formed in a great part the basis of our prosperity, we yet would not advocate the full recognition and restoration of silver as money, did we not solemnly believe that such a policy would redound to the happiness and welfare of the great mass of producers and toilers of the land, and to the increased prosperity of the nation. We place our demand for the free coinage of silver at the ratio of sixteen to one of gold, aud.its full equipment with all money functions equally with gold, upon the simple plan of justice. In sup port of the plan we assert, and to this assertion we challenge contradiction, that for centuries, and before legislation undertook to control and direct its action and movement, silver maintained its parity with gold with "but slight variation, and despite the wide divergence in the ratio of production which frequently existed. In 1816 England demonetized silver. She was even then the creditor nation of the world, and her financiers foresaw that this policy would enhance the value of gold and render it harder for other nations to pay her what they owed. For nearly sixty years thereafter France, the Latin union and the United btates maintained the parity of the two metals. In 1871 Germany, flushed with her victory over France and her treasury filled with France’s ransom of 81.000,000,000 in gold, determined to demonetize silver. Uncle Sam Demonetizes Sliver. “In 1873 the United States, the greatest producer of silver of all the nations, following the course marked out by Germany, struck the silver dollar from our coinage laws. In 1875, the Latin union, deprived ot the support of the United States and Germany, stopped the coinage of silver. In 1892 Austria abandoned silver and is striving unsuccessfully to get upon a gold basis. Within the past month England, taking advantage of the depression existing all over the world, has struck silvera last savage blow by closing the mints of India to the coinage of silver on private account. Demand* of the West. “This, briefly told, is the history of silver legislation during the past seventy-seven years. It proves conclusively that legislation is directly responsible for the destruction of silver as money. We therefore ask in the name of simple justice that legislation now restore it to its rightful place in the currency of our country. We state, without fear of contradiction, that the act of 1873 which struck down silver, was passed without due deliberation. The record shows that the great majority ot the members of both branches of congress did not know that the bill then under consideration contained such a clause. Such statements of Garfield, Voorhees. Blaine, and many others, are upon the records of their respective houses emphatically denying any knowledge of that provision of the act So that we charge that it was done without discussion or debate either in congress, through the press, or upon the platform Therefore it was a great wrong because it was done without notice and without any demand from and by the people, and its operation was inured only to the profit and benefit of the holders of our bonds and the lenders of gold. Appeal to the Agricultural Classes. “We most earnestly appeal to the agricultural classes of our country and beg them to look into the history of silver legislation and the frightful consequences which have followed the act of 1873. We call upon them to mark the steady and constant decline in price of nearly all farm provisions, notably wheat and cotton, which has followed the demonetization of silver. We invite them to close inspection of the processes through which (by reason of the making of silver a mere commodity! England has been able to bring the farmers of the United States into direct competition with the wheat and cotton growers of India. We call their attention to the significant fact that the three, products, viz.: silver, wheat and cotton, have about kept pace with each other in their headlong fall, each touching its highest and lowest point together. We assert that the failing off in prices of farm products is a direct result of the demonetization of silver, and the consequent contraction of volume of good metallic money. A careful study of these facts should, we affirm, make every farmer in this broad land an ardent advocate of the cause of free silver. “We charge that the aet demonetizing silver was almost equivalent to an actlevying a direct tax upon the wheat and cotton growers and silver miners of the country equal to from 30 to 50 per cent, of their product annually for the benefit of the bondholders and money dealers; for such an effect has been its unseen and insidious operation. We further affirm that the constantly lowering prices of the staple farm products of the land has in turn served to curtail production, to restrict growth and to discourage new enterprises, thus diminishing the field and decreasing the demand for the detriment of the working classes of the land. And to these evils, already so general and far reaching, the enemies of silver money are now seeking to add the further wrong of totally destroying a great industry and throwing out of employment hundreds of thousands of men to whom the loss of work means the destruction of their homes and poverty and suffering for themselves, their wives and children. Sherman Lavr Not Blamed. “We denounce as wholly absurd and absolutely false the charge that the Sherman act is responsible for the present financial difficulties which overwhelm the land. We admit that the false cry raised against silver by the gold men at a time when a panic threatened has created a prejudice against the silver among the interested and uninformed, but we emphatically assert that the outflow of gold during the past few days is due solely and only to the fact that the balance of trade has during that period been against us nearly 8100,000,000. We say that had there been no silver law in existence the gold would have left us just the same. Any child can understand that as gold is the money with which international balances are settled, if we as a nation buy more goods than we sell we must ship out our gold to pay the difference. Australia is passing through a panic that exceeds our own in the depression of values and the amount of insolvency, but Australia has no Sherman law. To What then are the financial difficulties in that continent to be ascribed? Cost in Producing Silver. “We deny as wholly unfounded the statement so often made that silver can be produced at 40 cents or less an ounce. Such assertions prove nothing except the ignorance of the persons making them. We make the statement, based upon practical knowledge acquired in gold and silver mining running over a period of many years, that every ounce of silver produced in the United States has cost more than 81-29 per ounce. To appreciate this statement one must have lived in mining communities. He must have seen the numberless shafts sunk upon uncounted hills, in which never an ounce of paying mineral has been discovered. He must

have been familiar with the thousands of hardy, brave prospectors who hare devoted a lifetime to the search for the precious metal and who have finally passed away, their labor unrequited, their search unrewarded. He must have witnessed the organization of scores of great companies whose aggregated capital runs into the hundreds of millions, and which started out with bright prospects only to wind up in bankruptcy. But it the cost of production is to be the gauge of value, then silver has nothing to fear from gold, for silver costs far more to produce than is indicated by the established rates between gold and silver. Gold mining in the and generally speaking does not build' up a country or develop its resources to any great extent The production of gold requires comparatively cheap and simple processes, while the yield is usually out of all proportion to the amount of labor and capital expended. On the other hand, silver mining has become an established industry, its production has developed and peopled a vast area of country comprising whole states It is permanent in character, it requires skilled labor and vast outlays of capital to successfully engage in it The processes of extraction and reduction of ores are costly and difficult It call* into existence all other forms of industry to support it It builds up communities, makes towns, cities and even states, sustains millions of people, gives traffic to railroads and pours a stream of pure wealth into the channels of commerce, untainted by suffering and u nstained by greed. We therefore maintain that the only way to ascertain the true cost ot the production of both metals is to balance the total value of all the time and labor employed in producing them against the total value of the combined product And we see that on such a basis every ounce of silver, as well as every ounce of gold, costs more than its statutory value, and that these pursuits are largely followed on account of the prizes and hazards of fortune, which are so captivating to the disposition of mankind. We also say further, that if the fiat value was taken from gold, it would be worth but little more as a commodity than silver. Demand More Money. “We iterate the oft repeated but always true proposition that there is not enough gold in the world upon which to transact the world’s business, and while the trade and population are steadily increasing the gold available for coinage is steadily decreasing. The truth of this assertion is borne out by the panic now upon us. There is plenty of everything in the world but gold, and everything is cheap but money. The gold is hoarded, locked up in the vaults and treasure boxes of the country, while property of all forms is rendered valueless, and checks and drafts no longer perform their accustomed functions. It is the knowledge that gold is scarce and in quantity that leads to the scramble for it among the nations and individuals, and it is the withdrawing and, hoarding of it that brings panics. And in this connection we call attention to this important fact, viz.: That at least 40 per cent of the entire gold production of this country is the by-product of the silver mines, so that the closing of the silver mines would reduce the amount of gold available for coinage to this extent and thus further increase the danger and distress arising from a scarcity of gold. Sherman Law Wrong in Principle. “We concede that the Sherman law is wrong in principle because it degrades silver into a mere commodity to be buffeted about by unprincipled speculators. At the same time the treasury notes issued under the provisions of that law have been of inestimable benefit in increasing the circulation at a critical time and thus preventing disaster. “To repeal this law unconditionally would be to destroy silver forever, and would be playing directly into the hands of the advocates of a single gold standard, and a contracted currency. It would be the cruelest blow ever struck at the rights of the great mass of the people, and particularly at the debtor class, for it would enormously increase the purchasing power of gold, and correspondingly lower the value of all products and every other form of property. The Sherman law was never favored by the advocates of free silver coinage, but, bad as it is, it is now all that remains between the desires of the gold standard men and the consummation of their selfish ends, and must be retained in the interest of the common people until something better is conceded in its stead. Favor Both Gold and Sliver. “We are in favor of both gold and silveras money to be coined upon equal terms at the ratio of 16 to 1. This is the money which the fathers of the republic bequeathed to us. It is the money of the constitution. For eighty years we thrived and prospered with this currency. It was destroyed at the dictation of England and Germany through their agents in this country and in the interests ot the creditor class, those with fixed incomes and annuities. We now demand that it be restored again to the place where the fathers left it, in the interest of the whole people. “The constantly repeated charge that the silver dollar is a cheap dollar is so manifestly illogical and absurd as to render it unworthy of notice among intelligent people. There are no cheap dollars. A silver collar will purchase as much as a gold dollar or any other kind of a dollar. Equally untrue is the statement that the government has lost money upon its silver purchases, because of the depreciation in its price. The facts are that the government has made a profit amounting to more than 8103,000,000 on its silver purchases under the Bland and Sherman laws, being the difference between the market and coining value. And this profi t has gone to the credit of the people because with it the government has paid its current expense* and obligations, and all their silver, either of itself or by its paper representatives, is in circulation to-day, bearing the burdens of trade, performing the functions of money, while the gold is locked up in the vaults of the money kings. It is gold that is hoarded, not silver. Great Britain Blamed. “We are filled with a great and Just indignation that our country, of which we are so proud, strong in its credit and wonderful beyond expression in its rich and varied resources, is yet so weak and unsettled in its financial system that England can in a day, by the dishonest manipulation of the currency of far-off India, bring npon the people of free America a panic which, without a moment’s warning, transforms a happy and prosperous people into communities of comparative paupers Such a condition is humiliating beyond words to convey. It is destructive to the pride and faith which as loyal citizens we have so long and dearly cherished in our government. We warn those in this country who are waging this unjustifiable war on silver as money that they are casting a boomerang which will return to crush them. They may destroy the property of a great and growing section of our country and bring poverty and suffering upon some millions of their fellow citizens, but the return tide will carry with it hundreds of millions of securities in the form of railroads, state, county, ana municipal bonds, made worthless by their narrow policy and selfish greed. The signs are not wanting to prove the truth of this assertion, even thus early, and. unless the gold contractionists are defeated in the coming session of congress, we believe that within a year there will not be a railroad west of the Missouri river that will not be in the hands of a receiver. Last Appeal for Silver. “One hundred and seventeen years ago the patriots of the American revolution gave to us our independence. In framing the laws and laying down the principles which were to govern us, they sought no counsel and asked no advice from their enemies. Relying upon their own splendid courage and wise statesmanship they inaugurated a system of finance based upon the world’s previous experience and upon equality and justice. We ask that the present generation of American statesmen follow their example; that they imbibe new courage from a contemplation of the sturdy and broad wisdom exhibited by the'founders of this government; that they will enunciate a second declaration of Independence; that they will restore silver to its time-honored place as a full legal tender money, and thus give to the United States—the grandest and richest in natural resources of all the nations of the earth—a finan cial system which it may call its own free from foreign control Standing to-day ’mid the wreck and ruin of our erstwhile prosperity, a condition wrought By selfish aims, by weak policies, and unjust laws, the people of Montana without regard to class, occupation, or political creed, inspired by a deep ■enw ot injury, and filled with a just

indignation, send forth this appeal to the great masse* of producer* and toilers of the United States. W* ask them to ponder well the statements herein made, and not to be prematurely biased in their judgment by the false utterances of interested classes, and a subsidized press To the tillers of the soil to the growers of wheat and the planters of cotton, we say: ‘ln this matter your interest is our interest; and our interest is your interest' To the workingman of the land we say: 'You. too, have a deep and abiding interest in the cause of free coinage of silver and in the movement for its restoration; for, to throw out. of employment a vast armyof men, and precipitate them upon an already glutted labor market, must work incalculable injury to the cause of labor. ’ “We therefore ask you, one and all to join hands with us and make a common cause in behalf of the white metal—the money of th* masses through all ages and in all lands. We ask you to let your combined voices be heard, and to she to it that those who represent you in congress cast their votes in accordance with your welfare and ours. The people ot Montana are an honest people. They believe in hard money. They scorn all suggestion* of repudiation. They are progressive, energetic, courageous and loyal They have always paid their just obligations, and notwithstanding that at this moment they are overwhelmed by the greatest calamity that has ever befallen them, they will continue to meet all their responsibilities as becomes honorable men.”