The Stark County Democrat. [volume] (Canton, Ohio) 1833-1912, 1891-10-01

| notes or certificates are kept at parity
with gold by being redeemable in gold
The Cincinnati Commercial Gazette
In recent issue said:
| "Under our present system as adopt
ed by the republican party there is a
| market for every ounce of silver that Is
produced at its value in bullion as
measured by the gold standard Upon
these certificates are issued
| These certificates are good because
they are indorsed by the government
and are always redeemable in gold
coin IL that should be demanded"
Mr.. Leach, director of the mint, said
In reply TO a question when before the
coinage committee of the house that
silver dollars were kept at parity with
gold because of the faith that the gov
ernment would always redeem a sill
| yer dollar with gold dollar"
And this Is everywhere understood 10
be the position of the republican party.
On their theory gold alone is the stand.
ard and the only money Of final re-
| demption for every other form of
money. Silver as well as paper must
be kept at parity with gold by being
! limited in quantity, and made redeem
able in gold. On the narrow basis of
| gold, too the whole fabric of bank
| credits Is made to rest This is the
doctrine of the republican party as ex-
pounded by its leaders. They, there
fore, virtually approve the change in
the standard made by the act of 1879
In contrast with this the position
taken by the democratic party at Cleve-
land, and the position always held by
that party, as a party, is that silver is
as much standard money or money OF
final redemption as gold; that silver is no
more to be redeemed in gold than gold
in silver; that gold and silver together
! constitute the constitutional standard
| of money in this country, and that, in
the language of jefferson, the money
unit must stand on both metals" The
| convention at Cleveland declared that
| the demonetization of silver in 1878 was
| an ubiquitous alteration of the money
standard in the interest of creditors
| against debtors, Taxpayers and pro-
| ducers Who can truthfully deny thisf
Was the change from gold and silver to
| gold alone-from q money volume of ST.
Il u
1 for the world-not an iniquitous alter
| alton of the money standard? The only
| thing that removes this act from the
| calendar of the greatest crimes against
| mankind to the calendar of "blunders
| greater than crimes" is that it was done
in ignorance, (f it was not altogether
in ignorance,) or, as Mr., Groesbock said
at the money conference in 1878 'inad-
vertently." At any rate nobody has been
hanged for this act and Mr.. Sherman
still lives and is an issue in this
campaign. The effect of this act has
been to increase so per cent the
value of gold, and, in effect, is precise
| ly the same as If the bushel measure,
the yard stick and the pound weight
had each been increased so per cont,
altering all contracts in that proper
ton. And what is more, as declared
in the democratic platform, the de-
monetization of silver 'by shutting
off Jne of the sources of supply of pri-
mary money operates to continually
increase the value of gold, depress
prices, hamper industry and discour-
age enterprise" Is there any doubt of
this? Can production aud trade be
successfully carried on with money
standard constantly increasing? Are
the people Of this country expected to
submit forever to such injustice2 They
most certainly will not "Oh," say
the advocates of the single gold stand
ard, I'VE want honest money" Oh,
yes, honest money! Is that an honest
yard stick that is constantly growing
longer? Is that an honest pound
weight that is all the time getting
heavier? Is that any moro an honest
dollar that is all the time getting
dearer? With Sherman and Mckinley
the longer the yard-sticlt gets the
"honCster," apparently, it becomes,
atd in like manner the bigger or more
valuable the dollar, the "honoster'
that will be. But with honest men
that, and that only, is an honest dollar
which maintains stable relations TO
commodities, and preserves an even
balance between the debtor and cred
'tnr
Silver ell these years, although de
MED the right of mintage accorded TO
gold, has maintained comparatively
stable relations to commodities, while
gold has increased in value fifty per
cent; and intelligent people under
stand that the change hts been in the
gold and not in the silver or in COM
moditieA The report of the bureau of
statistics, just out, shows that leading
staple commodities are lower now than
any time before in the century; lower
even than in the '40s, before the gold
discoveries Of California and Australia.
The production Of gold has declined
from $3.50, 900, 900 year to about $780,
900, 900, while Its use in the arts and
dentistry has greatly increased-in-
creased, till there is little or no new
gold for money. At the same time the
gold standard has been extended till
moro than t50 millions more people use
gold now as the exclusive money stand
ard than In 1873 No other reasons are
needed to explain the past and con-
tinued increase in the value of gold
In the presence of facts so patent, TO
talk about 'honest money" as II gold
only was honest money, or as II tho
silver dollar, one of the oldest and best
known OF coins, was not an honest dol
lar, Ia simply ridiculous and marks him
who repeats it as knave, or fool
echolng the ory OF knave.
The prototype of our dollar, the Span
ish milled dollar, has been for 400 years
o standard coin. 1t was the money
unit of the colonies and was made the
standard coin by the Continental con-
gress and was adopted as the dollar,
or unit" In our system In 179s and has
never been changed by grain Of pure
metal
The democratic platform demands
the Reinstatement Of the constitu-
tional Rtandard OF both gold and silver