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Show 1(0 Years Ag Todlay In the eastern states, all that glitters is gold "Shadows are proofs that the sun is shining." Balderdash! cried the Park Mining Record of September Sep-tember 16, 1883. That optimistic op-timistic proverb may hold true in nature, but not in real life. "It does not prove that the present troublous times portends good times. The proverb quoted is simply without meaning or value with a reasoning being." Park City was in the midst of a depression, and even the Record editors were hard pressed to find a light at the end of the tunnel. Eastern politicians were still pushing to return to the use of gold as the only monetary standard. The bottom had dropped out of the silver market, and men in mining camps in the West, like Park City, were out of work and out of money. According to the Record, when the silver issue first was debated, the nation's banks held only about 10 percent of the cash needed to make good on the deposits. As soon as confidence in silver flagged, depositors rushed to the banks to cash in for paper money, depleting reserves. As far as the Record was concerned, the only way to relieve the problem was through legislation to increase the supply of money. "And the best, surest, easiest and quickest way to enlarge the circulation is to throw our mints open to the free and unlimited coinage I of silver," reported the Record. "The delusion that the importation of gold from Europe will restore confidence con-fidence in the ability of banks to pay the checks of their depositors in cash, when they hold less than 10 percent of cash against their deposits, is misleading." "Who are these men?" demanded a front-page headline. Who are the men behind the New York World newspaper, which reprinted an entire speech made from the Senate floor supporting the use of gold as the standard, stan-dard, while allowing only one paragraph to those who backed silver. "The World in these things well follows the ways and well illustrates the spirit of the money changers whom it serves," admonished the Record. "In its course it is atrociously unfair." , The Record criticized the New York paper for keeping from its readers the "clearly, strongly stated reasons for the enlarging the money use of silver presented presen-ted by its able, thoroughly equipped and skilled champions. cham-pions. "In its words the New York paper shows all the insolence in-solence of wealth, all the scorn of autocracy, all the tyranny of power. It virtually vir-tually says that there is nothing in this country worthy wor-thy of respect except the money power, that there are no persons to be regarded except the eastern money changers and their followers . 1 and servants. It practically declares that the people of the silver producing states have no right to appeal to the nation for justice through their representatives in Congress." The Record summoned the people of the West to pool their strength and clout to save the country from financial finan-cial ruin, to demand their representatives to fight for the rights of the people. The Record predicted that those whose opinions were represented by the New York World "will learn (Western attitudes) in a political revolution which will bring the people into power, which will inaugurate a policy of even justice and equal chances." Despite the depression, the Record tried to find some glimmer of hope that the tides were turning. "All of the banks in Utah that were forced to the wall during the early and most severe days of the panic have resumed with the single exception of the Park City bank, and that will undoubtedly un-doubtedly be reorganized or a new company formed to do business at the old stand as soon as the camp recovers' its old-time form. The fact that all the failed banks have resumed adds strength to the claim that Utah is rapidly becoming the financial stronghold of the Intermountain Intermoun-tain country and is destined to yet be one of the giants of the republic." |