The Southern Mercury. (Dallas, Tex.), Vol. 12, No. 13, Ed. 1 Thursday, March 30, 1893 Page: 4 of 16
This newspaper is part of the collection entitled: Texas Digital Newspaper Program and was provided to The Portal to Texas History by the UNT Libraries.
- Highlighting
- Highlighting On/Off
- Color:
- Adjust Image
- Rotate Left
- Rotate Right
- Brightness, Contrast, etc. (Experimental)
- Cropping Tool
- Download Sizes
- Preview all sizes/dimensions or...
- Download Thumbnail
- Download Small
- Download Medium
- Download Large
- High Resolution Files
- IIIF Image JSON
- IIIF Image URL
- Accessibility
- View Extracted Text
Extracted Text
The following text was automatically extracted from the image on this page using optical character recognition software:
SOÜTttÉKN MEllCUttY.
Maboh 30^1808
THE DALLAS NEWS OFF ITS BASE.
H. C. Cook, of Meridian, Tozas,
asks the Dallas News "why would
not the free and unlimited coinage
of silver at the old ratio of 16 to 1,
and the enactment by congress of
a law making it a fall legal tender
for all debts, public and private,
bring a parity of value in the two
metals?"
The News editorially makes the
astounding declaration that "silver
is not demonetized by law, funda-
mentally or otherwise; it is not
without equality before the law
with gold at present. All that the
law can do has been done. The
full credit of the government has
been expended in behalf of sil-
ver."
The News certainly is aware of
the fact that congress demone-
tised silver in 1873 through the in-
trigue of England and Germany;
and so sly were the tools of these
foreigners that even such great
men as Garfield, Voorhees and
Grant did not know it, though the
two first named were in congress
when the bill passed, and the last
named signed it as president of the
United States.
Again, the News must know that
since that date the government
never has given silver bullion at
the mint the same credit, or privi-
leges that it has gold, and does not
to this day. This is precisely what
congress is now quarreling over.
The president, and his wing of the
democratic party, and a small ma-
jority of the republicans, are in
favor of demonetizing silver, to-
day.
Again the News certainly knows
that prior to 1873 silver bullion
at 16 to 1 was always on a parity
with gold, nor can the News point
to the year, month, day, or hour,
when silver had the same protec-
tion extended it that was extended
to gold that it ever depreciated.
The Mercury has time and again
shown the reason why England
wanted silver bullion cheap.
India is the only competitor the
United States has in the produc-
tion of wheat and cotton. During
the war between the states, cotton
and wheat went up to enormous
figures. England seized the op-
portunity and developed the culti-
vation of wheat and cotton to a
considerable extent in India.
When the war ended, Americans
returned to their farms; their pro-
ducts soon appeared in large quan-
tities in all the markets, and a
rapid decline resulted. Then Eng-
land learned that the half-clothed,
half-fed Indian could not compete
with the American farmer. The
agricultural interests in India lan-
guished under the sledge hammer
blows of the sturdy American far-
mer.
England, to retrieve her waning
fortunes in India, and to lay the
Americans under tribute at the
same time, induced the United
States congress to demonetize sil-
ver; silver bullion being outlawed,
of course declined. Englishmen
bought it up, carried it to England,
coined it at the ratio of 15v¿ to 1.
sent it to India; offered the Indians
a royalty on these products, re-
vived these industries, >nd India
became again a competitor of the
United States, through the depre-
ion of American silver.
To such an extent have they
hammered down the price oí sil
ver, England can pay India a roy-
alty of 25 per cent on her cotton
and wheat, and still retain a profit
of 25 per cent themselves.
Nor is this the worst of it.
Through the demonetization of sil-
ver and the resultant contraction
of the volume of money, Ameri-
cans were compelled to go else-
where to obtain money to supply
their rapidly growing demand.
The wily Englishman foreseeing
this, filled this country with loan
agencies, which partially supplied
the demand, took mortgages on
everything at a high rate of inter-
est. When pay day came the
American borrowers found the In-
dian wheat and cotton in competi-
tion with their products, with a
great advantage in favor of the In-
dian products.
England, through the demoneti-
zation of silver, and the low price
of bullion, was enabled to force
down the price of American prod-
ucts in the Liverpool markets, to
a figure that gave the products of
India an advantage of 35 io 50 per
cent.
It is evident that the News has
not given this question the honest
thought and investigation it merits.
Had it examined the late reports
of the director of the mint, and
tbe report of the secretary of the
treasury it would have learned that
during the past year our mines
produced in round numbers $33,-
000,000 gold, and $74,000,000 sil-
ver; that all the gold was coined,
while only $6,333,240 of silver was
made into money. (ThiB is a sam-
ple of the equality ^the News ad-
mits.)
These reports also show that we
exported from New York alone
during the past year, $90,728,839
more gold than we impoted; and
$6,090,333 more silver. (Some
more of the News' idea oi propor-
tion.) Had these precious metals
been exported or coined in propor-
tion to the amount produced—as
the News affirms, the disparity
above would not exist. The dif-
ference between the exports and
the imports of gold during the past
year amounts to $58,570,536, as
shown by the reports referred to
above.
It should be remembered that
the United States exported consid-
erably over $100,000,000 worth of
other products in excess of im-
orts. The $31,450,968 silver
ullion imported to this country
came from Mexico in payment for
machinery, provisions and other
sums due the citizens of this coun-
try.
Now, when we add all the excess
of exports over imports, we find
the United States has exported con-
siderably over $200,000,000 for
which we never have received a
visible cent. It's a little strange
that the leading statesmen and big
dailies don't explain this matter to
the people.
All this twaddle about the 50 or
65 cent dollar is the thinnest kind
of gold-bug rot. It oannot be de-
nied that we need $30 to $40 per
capita more in circulation than we
have, and that all the gold and all
the silver produced by all the
mines on the continent could not
supply this deficiency in 30 years
if the people did not increase a
particle or civilisation advance.
SOME FRAUD SUSPECTED!
Rockpobt, March, 22, '93.
Southern Mercury:—In your
issue of the 16th of last month,
you re-publish a communication
from me to the Galveston News,
refering to the proposed appoint-
ment of an agent at Chicago to sell
ouf school lands, and the frauds
perpetrated upon the state by the
sale and purchase of some of these
lands under what is known as the
seven section act, and on the 7th of
this month I received the follow-
ing letter from Mr. J. W. Sivells,
of Grayson county, to which I re-
plied expressing my regret at not
being able to be of any service to
him in the premises, as the state
authorities to whom he had the
right to look for aid had either
failed or refused to give it, and
asked for the privilege of publish-
ing his letter for the information of
the public, and with the view of
bringing public opinion to bear
upon the state authorities to a suf-
ficient extent to get them to pay
some little attention to the require-
ments of a certain class of actual
settlers, and at the same time try
to reclaim some of our school
lands that now, I think, are fraud-
ulently held, and as he has con-
sented to its publication, I hand it
to you herewith for that purpose,
and request you to publish that
portion of it which refers to these
seven section purchases and the
conduct of the state authorities to-
wards him and others similarly
situated:
Bells, Tex., Mar. 4, 1893.
Gen. H. E. McCulloch, Rock-
port, Tex.—My Dear Sir: In your
article in the Mercury of Feb. 16,
1893, 1 note what is said in regard
to the seven section land act, in
which I am interested, together
with many other Coke county citi-
zens. The case is like this: The
county seat, Robert Lee, Coke
county, is situated in the pasture
of the Austin and Northern Land
and Cattle Co., 44 sections of said
pasture being of the seven section
order. The parties in whose names
they were bought or located, are a
myth, and were never in the
county, and perhaps never in exist-
ence.
Now, we, some ten or more citi-
zens, located or squatted on some
cf the seven sections, I, on section
440, one mile from the courthouse,
in January, 1891, on which no set-
tler had ever been; so it was with
others, I made application for file
or purchase, was notified that the
law had been complied with by the
cattle company. By sequestra-
tion, by threats and force, we
were all removed from ofl* the
company's lands. We were re-
ierred to the local courts by the
land office; to prove that we could
not get justice before them,we had
tho president of the company ar-
rested for perjury, proved it, but
the officers, county attorney and
sheriff, ignored the law which was
all in vindication of our plea. With
this, and a large volume of other
testimony, properly certified, we
sent an attorney to Austin, who
saw Gov. Hogg, the attorney gen-
eral, and the commissioner of the
land office, all of whom appeared
anxious to unearth tho fraud,
which they seemed to think exist-
ed, and promised to give it their
attention at an early date. They
have been importuned many times
since, but they claim press of bus-
iness,as the cause of delay, and all
the time anxious to help the poor
settler.
Justice should prevail and this
fraud unearthed.
Should you want further or
more of details, I will be able to
furnish same on short notice. By
reference to' G. A. Ball, Robert
Lee, we will know where to find
all the proof necessary, already on
file in the land office, the style of
which I have forgotten.
Yours fraternally,
J. W. Sivells.
It seems from this letter that the
principle excuse given for failure
of action on the part of the au-
thorities wvs "press of business"
which will hardly be sufficient to
satisfy the people of Texas when
they remember that some, if not
all, these officers spent weeks, if
not months, away from their offices
last year in electioneering with the
people for re-election to offices
which they had not filled, it seems
with that faithfulness and efficiency
in some instances which their
oaths of office required. £
Henry E. McCulloch.
The idea that robbery loses part
of its heniou8ness by changing the
instrument from tb e bludgeon to
the law, is a mistake. The legis-
lator, congressman or judge, who
levies one cent, not imperatively
demanded for the well being of so-
ciety, is as much a robber as Mur-
rell or Capt Kidd ever was, in
fact, more so, because they never
pretended to be anything but rob-
bers. To deceive is to give sem-
blance of honesty to the substance
of roguery; to administer poison to
friend when he asks you for medi-
cine, to steal the livery of heaven
to serve the devil in.
D-PRICE'S
Powder.
>#3
The only Pure Cream of Tartar Powder.—No Ammonia; Nr Mum.
Used in Millions of'Homes—40 Years the Standard
Upcoming Pages
Here’s what’s next.
Search Inside
This issue can be searched. Note: Results may vary based on the legibility of text within the document.
Matching Search Results
View five places within this issue that match your search.Tools / Downloads
Get a copy of this page or view the extracted text.
Citing and Sharing
Basic information for referencing this web page. We also provide extended guidance on usage rights, references, copying or embedding.
Reference the current page of this Newspaper.
Park, Milton. The Southern Mercury. (Dallas, Tex.), Vol. 12, No. 13, Ed. 1 Thursday, March 30, 1893, newspaper, March 30, 1893; Dallas, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth185510/m1/4/?q=food+rule+for+unt+students: accessed July 18, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; .