| Show IGNORANCE MOST ASTOTODIXG In the splendid speech made by Delegate Del-egate Rawlins on silver in the House I of Represntativcs which has appeared I in full in The Herald he showed that silver dollars are money that they are not redeemable in gold they are not redeemable in any olher kind of money We pronounced this sound and sensible The Herald had previously previous-ly used similar arguments in reply to the sophisms of our morning contemporary contem-porary which insists that silver dollars dol-lars are not money but that they are just the same as a greenback or a check We were a little curious to see what the pretended oracle on financial questions ques-tions would have to say as to Mr Rawlins Raw-lins remarks WA had not long to wait It returns to the attack and in its Iknowitall and youknow I nothing style repeats its manifest absurdity and backs it with a statement state-ment which exposes its own utter ignorance ig-norance of the subject That is to Jay it supposes a case as follows We will suppose that our neighbor had imported something from Europe on which the customs were 100 that the package lay in the custom house and our contemporary wanted to pay the charges and get it out and that he had nothing to pay with except one hundred silver dollars How would he manage He would have to go to a bank or a subtreasury get his 100 redeemed re-deemed in gold and take his gold to the custom house He would have to do the same with greenbacks or if he had l some gentlemans cljeck some gentleman gentle-man whose credit was undoubted in New York he could pay with a check The last would not prove that the check was money The other transaction transac-tion would not establish that silver dollars were any different from greenbacks green-backs The mistake our contemporary makes is this It confuses what passes as money among men with money of ultimate redemption The Government Govern-ment has stamped its disapproval of silver as money on its very face It has held out to the world that while it might pass as token coin between people in their business it is not money of ultimate redemption in this country We have no idea that our contemporary contempor-ary can see the difference and expect that it will go on in the future as it has done in the past and say that silver sil-ver dollars are money and stick to it and say that every one who is sane and candid must admit that that is true notwithstanding that it is all baby talk We might have told all that in a third of the space but we wished to give our arrogant neighbor the benefit of its own language that there might I be no further dodging of the issue The foregoing quotation shows that our contemporary has fallen into as bad a hole as it did on the national bank currency question1 when it showed how rich the national banks grew on the burning up of their currency cur-rency or feeding it to the rats The ignorance now displayed is simply astounding as-tounding in one that stands on a self erected pedestal and proclaims I am the silver oracle of the west HA who disputes with me utters only baby talkThe The truth is that those silver dollars which Sir Oracle says are not money would be taken at the custom house for their face and that there would be no need either to go to a bank and get them redeemed in gold or to obtain ob-tain a gentlemans check for the amount As our contemporary does not seem to understand this matter and thinks we will not understand it until probably 150 years from now we will cite the laws of 1878 and ISJl in relation i tion to it repeating what wo have proved for it several times that the repeal act of 1S93 has not changed the money status of the silver dollar in the least degree First the law of ISIS There shall be coined at the several sev-eral minis of the Unlted States silver dollars of the weight of four hundred and twelve and a half grains troy standard silver as provided in the act of January ISth 1837 on which shall be the devices and superscriptions provided pro-vided by said act which coins with all silver dollars heretofore coined by the United States of like weight and nne ness shall be a legal tender at their nominal value for all debts and dues public and private except where otherwise other-wise expressly stipulated in the con tract Now for the law of 1890 commonly known as the Sherman Act That makes no change as to the full legal tender quality of the silver dollars but merely reduces the number that shall be coined and provides for the issue of Treasury notes redeemable in coin in purchase of silver bullion and that Such Treasury notes shall be a legal le-gal tender in payment of all debts public pub-lic and private except where otherwise stipulated in the contract and shall be receivable for customs taxes and all public dues and when so received may be reissued Now what is there left of the case supposed by tour arrogant contemporary contempor-ary Its lack of common understanding understand-ing of the question is only comparable with its assumption and positive falsehood false-hood when it says I The government has stamped its disapproval of silver as money upon its very face The exact opposite is stamped on the face of the silver dollar UNITED I I STATES OF AMERICA ONE DOLLAR DOL-LAR And the assertion that it is I not money jf ultimate redemption in I this country is of the same palpably false and ridiculous character As our delegate declared the silver dollar Is not redeemable in any other kind of money Now for another of the fallacies which our oraculous contemporary foists uponits Dreadersas financial wisdom it gays ofsifveri Congress and the President were d j f to decree that ItTs money or ultimate redemption as good as gold for all debts pUblic and private the instant response would be that it would be as good as gold tomorrow at 12929 per ounce and prices would advance correspondingly cor-respondingly all over the country and the world Why there is no need for a decree of that kind for the law places the silver idollar in that very condition now and we have quoted the law which says so And yet silver continues con-tinues tdgo down and prices do not advance all over the world The dense ignorance of our contemporary Is really ludicrous because of its grand airs of superior wisdom and its contemptuous treatment of those who dispute its absurdities Its numerous blunders come from its partisan attempt to make the public believe that the Democratic party have killed silver which is as false as the foolery that a silver dollar bears the stamp of its disapproval on its very face In looking over the rambling ramb-ling and interminable silver platitudes of our assumptive contemporary we have marveled at their thinness and contradictions s That is now easily understood un-derstood the writer has been trying to pose as a profound financial authority author-ity and does not understand what he has attempted to explain Place the custom house supposition in the same i box of literary curiosities with the r wealth producing scheme of feeding national bank currency to the rats |
