Elmore bulletin. [volume] (Rocky Bar, Idaho) 1889-1906, 1890-03-08
4 GREAT SILVER SPEECH

lish il entire. Here are few ex
tracts.
"l'he financial history ~ every ma
ton On earth since nations were first
horn, including that 81 our own,
shows, without solitary exception,
that as the volume 81 money became
scarce prices obhcd, values declined,
wages became lower, the price Of farms
and farm products went down, busi-
mess streams became staguant, and
the hideoua spocter Of hard times, and
The gaunt. starving wolf Of want stood
grimly grinning and madly snalling
ia tho pathway Of the labogcr, Tho meT
chant, the artisan, the farmer.
The great question Involved in the
discussion Of the silver problem is not
perhaps so much what precise form
legislation ON the subject shall take 10
accomplish the purpose, but rather
whether silver as legal.tender money,
and as one Of the standards OF value,
shall be recrowned and restored to the
position assigned il by the fathers, the
builders, and the preserves Of the Re
public. Shall this be done, OF shall IL
lie continued in its present state Of
subsection, executive, and financial
ostracismY
"Shall silver in the future be re-
gaIded as money or merely as mer-
chandiseY Shall the ban Of repudia-
ton Of tins precious metal, placed UNI
righteously, II not surreptitiously, upon
il by Congress in 1873, and which was
only partially removed in 1878, be
swept away, and the silver dollar Of
the fathers restored TO its former POI
si,ion side by side with gold in its
proper ratio as one Of the measures OF
a dual standard? Shall, in other
words, the double standard DO re-
stored and maintained in this country
as IL existed for over eighty years. or
shall the claim of the monometalists
be made good and gold alone be made
permanently our monetary Standard
Shall We abandon the American idea
upon this subject and adopt that OF
Great Britain?
"Shall We relinquish our right and
duty, as the greatest republic ON earth,
TO march proudly, majes,ically, indie
pendently, and triumphantly in the
front ranks in the grand march Of ma
tions, in respect of our systems Of coin
age aud finance generally, as well as
in respect OF every other great govern
mental function, and say to monarchy,
and especially TO that particular one
whose interests in most respects are
different from our own and in conflict
with ours, we will fall TO the rear; our
iinanciers shall follow where the gold.
bugs OF England lead; our financial
ship shall sail only in the wake OF the
golden craft OF Great BritainY
"Shall we turn our producers o.
wheat, corn, butter, and cheese, oui
farmers, miners, and laborcrs over tC
the tender mercies of our purchasers
in England and elsewhere, virtually
saying 10 them, You may establish
the price OF our products and we will
utter no word Of complaint or shall
we not rather, in the majesty OF ON
Republican and Democratic imperial
ism as a nation, assert, not only on
right in the premises, but our un
questioned power 10 determine for our
selves a financial system suited to oul
own country and its wants and thos'
81 the great masses OF our people
What a commentary on the moral and
political cowardice of our Government
producing as we do in this countr,
over Al per cent of ths annual silver
bullion product of the world, as w
have for years past, that we shonl'
permit England, producing none, o
at least mere fraction Of not exceed
ing @ per cent of the whole, or all + !
rope combined, producing in the az
gregate only about one-twelfth OF th'
worlds annual crop, TO permit cithe
England or all Europe combined 4
fix the value of our bullion without |
protest on our part.
"These are the great fundamental
questions at issue, and whether tin
restoration of silver 10 its prope
status as one OF the precious metals il
brought about by free and unlimited
coinage, or by some other means %
device is not so important, so long a
the great fact is accomplished, SO Ions
as the metal is restored 10 its prope
aud former position, shorn OF It's char
acter OF being mere merchandise, and
clothed again with the unquestioned
attribute Of legal-tender money. There
may be, aud as u matter Of cours'
are, honest differences of opinion as K
the best method of accomplishing this.
Many theories have been brought for
..ari and tar.zaaI nil having oSteusi