The Seattle post-intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, Wash. Terr. [Wash.]) 1888-1914, 1891-12-14
GOVERNOR HILLS SPEECH.

Inc speech delivered Dy Governor Hill
at Elmira, n. Y, December 5, is an at
tempt TO furnish the Democratic party
with policy and a platform upon which
victory can be obtained in 1892. If the
party accepts this policy and platform Of
Governor Hill it will doubtless place Hill
upon the platform as Its candidate. With
characteristic audacity and cunning Gov
ernor Hill declines to accept the views Of
Mills, Carlisle, Vest, Cleveland & Co., and
relegate the silver coinage question to
the background for the present and bring
the tariff issue to the front. He argues
that the free coinage element in the Dem
ocratic party is too strong at the South
and West to permit the silver question to
be put aside, if not strong enough to force
declaration in favor of free coinage next
year, so he boldly declares in favor of
making the campaign of 1892 on the issues
of the tariff and the currency.
On the silver question he attempts to
satisfy both the free coinage Democrats of
the South and West. and the New York
and Massachusetts, Democracy that as
sumed strong ground against free silver
coinage. Governor Hill would have free
coinage of both gold and silver, and he
would have the silver dollar equal in "in.
trinsic value" to the gold dollar. His test
of intrinsic value" is bullion value, and
he would have gold dollars worth of
bullion in every silver dollar. Every
friend of honest money in the country is
with Governor Hill up to this point, but
| every friend Of honest money must part
company with him when he defines how
he would bring this about, for Governor
Hill holds with the ultra free coinage ad-
vocates that free coinage would at once adj
vance the price of silver to par with gold,
that is to $1.29, or over an ounce.
| His words are that Stree bimetallic
coinage will of itself re-establish the an
Gent and unvarying equality" of gold and
silver. This assumption of Governor Hill
has already been disproved.
Under the law of July IA, 1890, the secre-
tary of the treasury has purchased since
August Is. during the fiscal year. As, $685. 113
ounces of silver bullion, at an average cost
| of Sl.0i5per ounce. The highest price paid
| during the year was s1.2O25 and the lowest
0.9636. The lowest price of silver reached
during the fiscal year was O.9636, on April
| 2, 1891, but on November the market
price was only 0.96 which would give to
| the silver dollar bullion value of 74I.
cents. Before the influence of the pros
pective silver legislation was felt in the
market silver was worth in New York
about 0.975 per ounce
President Harrison in his message re.
cites these facts and says:
The ablest advocates of free coinage in the
last congress were most confident in their pre-.
diciions that the purchases by the government
required by the law, would at once bring tina
price OF silver 10 sl2929 per ounce, which would
make the bullion value of dollar 100 cents and
hold ii there The friends OF free silver are not
agreed, think as to the causes that brought
their hopeful predictions to naught. Some facts
are known. The exports of silver 10 and from
London TO India during the FIRST nine months OF
the calendar year fell off over 50 per cent, or
sl7l, 30, $50, compared with the same months
OF the preceding year. The export OF domestic
silver bullion from this country, which has
averaged for the last ten years over $1,000 600
In the last fiscal year was SIS 797,79l while for
the FIRST time in recent years the imports of sill
yer into this country exceeded the exports by
the sum of s2,7l5,l6a In the previous year the
StafGs
amounted to sS,545,55a The production OF the
United states increased from 100000 ounces
in 1899 10 55,5o0ooo. The government is now
buying and putting aside annually 1900 900
ounces which, allowing 10000 ounces of net
bullion used in the arts, is $4,000 more than
our domestic product available for coinage
These facts make il perfectly plain that
the moment silver began to rise under the
increased purchases and retirement from
the market of silver by the government
Europe commenced to dump silver upon
us and broke the attempted corner" of
the free silver coinage theorists So Gov
ernor Hills plan to equalize the gold dol
lar and the silver dollar under free coinage
rests on the fog bank of the ultra silver
coinage men. which has already been
burnt out under the fierce light of expert
ence.
Governor Hill clearly believes in free
| coinage of silver, but he throws . sop to
the Eastern Democrats, who are not only
utterly opposed to free silver coinage,
but 10 any further coinage of silver with
out an international agreement as 10 the
ratio between gold and silver, by advising
| that free silver coinage be approached
slowly; lie would not advise its
immediate enactment; He advises the
Democrats in congress not to pass any
free silver coinage bill this winter because
the president would veto il, but urges the