The times. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1890-1903, 1891-08-15

REPUBLICANS AND FREE siL'n"'
One of tho most amusing features con-
nected with the present political SITUATION 10
the attempt of the Eastern Republicans 70
overshadow the issue Of tarih reform Win
the silver question and. by charging the Demo
Gratis with being advocates Of cheap money
TO bring that to the front as the main SUBJECT
OF warfare in the next presidential contest
We all know that Of course the Republicans
would be delighted 10 see anything over
shadow the great and supreme question OF
tariff reform. for they have had Already
one very feeling and memorable lesson as 70
the sentiment Of the people on that SUBJECT
Never while they live will the he
publican leaders and managers forget
the cyclone of 1890 when the Radical pohcy
in general. and the McKinly bill in particular,
were overwhelmed by such an avalanche OF
public disspprobation as no political party
since the formation of this republic ever be-
fore experienced. H. therefore. tariff re-
form-that terrible and dreaded menace 20
the future existence of the Republican
party-could be removed, or made secondary
to something else, it would be Il tremendous.
perhaps vital, point in their favor.
But the attempt of the Republican press
and leaders 10 make free silver an issue Is
not simply amusing, it is sublimely impudent.
In the first place il is notorious that the agta-
ton of the free and unlimited coinage OF
Bland dollars originated with the silver mine
owners Of the West. nearly every one OF
whom is q Republican. They 1t was VINO
compelled their party TO insert the silver
plank in tho Chicago platform of 1888; not
that they cared for the country at large, but
only because they wanted their already
colossal individual fortunes to be still further
augmented by the increased demand for their
product, which would result if such free
silver law Us they asked for were enacted
In the next place the Republican party is
about as much divided on the silver question as
is the Democratic. There are an equal number
of men in both parties who think they can
foresee in the free and unlimited coinage OF
Bland dollars, not only bad financial Iegisla-
ton, but positive distress. They believe that
the unrestraned coinage Of all the silver
which can be brought TO the minis into dol
lars worth intrinsically less than the gold
dollar can only mean sending gold to
premium They further believe, what IS as
plain as that two and two are four, that when
this is done, and the moment that the gold dol
lar becomes worth. as currency, the humid
redth part Of cent more than the silver dol
lar. gold will disappear as if by magic
from circulation. either by being
boarded, or by being driven from the
country. They believe further that this
would mean a contraction of the currency to
the extent of the $7OOO0O,OOO Of gold now
available. and that, as the capacity OF the
United States minis is limited TO about
S55, 600, 600 per annum, this would mean, for
some years, a monetary stringency, and the
worst kind of Is stringency at that since we
would then have only a limited circulation OF
cheap dollars. the purchasing power OF
which would be decidedly lessened from
what 1t is at present And even If this
scarcity of coined Bland dollars could be par
TALLY relieved by at once issuing notes based
upon all the silver bullion that might be de-
posted in the Treasury, all that could still
be QOpeO lot WOulu DO u CuIItuCy ucDdocu
and degraded in the eyes of the commercial
world. and the imposition Of Ill the embar-
easements which come from trading i'll tiuc-
tuating and uncertain standard of value, such
as is now felt by India, where it is conceded
that the loss falls all the time upon the de-
based mon ey country
Democrats and Republicans alike holdthese
yiows, and we therefore contend that the sill
yer question cannot be made al issue in the
next presidential campaign, for it will either
be settled by Congress before that time or
there will be compromise upon it. As far as
the Democrats are concerned they would be
foolish in tho extreme to permit that or any
other new issue to be forced upon them.
They already have an excellent one, palpably
defined and clearly understood, in tariff re-
form, on which they have swept the country
once. and can continue 10 do so until. by
means Of Democratic President and Con-
gress, such reform is accomplished.