Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1892-04-10
Honest B!metallIsm.'


Honest BsmetalIism."
Honest, honest Tago." Honest DE-
metailism" What is honest bimetailism
In the opinion OF men who do not kno"
that the public debt of this country Is more
now, IL expressed in pounds OF cotton or
bushels of wheat. than 1t vas IN 1000
notwithstanding that the government
has paid OF more than one Thousand
millions OF dollars OF that debt, hohes,
bimetallism NAV consist in issuing cart
wheel dollars containing an ounce or more
of silver nine-tenths fine; but III 'ne
opinion Of the men who have studied al
the questions involved in honest bimeta'-
ism, It consists in so legislating as 10
wrong neither gold nor silver-neither 'he
poor man nor the rich man.
Minnesota ia in the far Northwest She
gave in 1888 more than thrty-eight thou-
sand majority for HARRIsos. 1t 10 more
nearly certain that she will vote for HAIR
n1soN again this year than that North caro-
lima or Georgia will vote for the Demo
cratic nominee. Her Democrats need not
consult prudence. or policy, or the
wishes of the people when they undertake
to construct q party platform for they
expect nothing less than an unavold"oie
defeat n. the ballot.box. II used TO be
said ioculnrly in ante-bellum times that
Beast BUTLER las he afterwards came 10
be called) and bis party associates III MAS
sachusetts always took care TO Keep the
Democratic party in that state so smaii
that there were Federal Offices eDough 10
90 round" That same BuTIRs was
member of the convention OF 1851 tnat
nominated JONI c. BREoKINRrDGE tor re
sident of the United States. The lesson
that we would teach is that we must not
RELY too much upon the Democrats OF
States which never vote for Democratic
nominee for President
But what as 20 Minnesota? Nothing
except that her DemocratsiD State conven-
ton assembled recommended the most
unwise silver legislation that any sound
Democrats have ever recommended to the
people. If their proposition were carried
out it would ruin the currency OF the
country They declare that the sole coin
age function Of the government is to ex-
anime the relative values of the metals OF
coinage as established by the world and
If there has been sufficient fuctuation
in either to make the existing ratios un-
equal then TO readiust the ratios so aidf
he number Of grams Of either metal an me
unit of COINAGE (the dollar shall be eqWudsnt
Il H. 10 stl1ff p
slric'ed coinage Of both metals" There Is
honest bimetallsm with q vengeance.
How often is the government to
examine the relative values OF gold
and silverY Once week or once
year? Are we to have q silver
dollar of 4l2l6 grains mine tenths fine) IN
1892. one OF 400 grams in 1893, one OF 44O
grains in 1884, one of $50 grains in 1895. and
one of 500 grams IN 1896? What would re-
snlt? All these full dollars" would de-
cline 10 the market value of the silver IN
them as soon az n new dollar containing
more silver in it was coined and made the
standard dollar. Silver would be banished
from the channels of trade, and as we have
no gold worth speaking OF. the country
would be without any currency. There 49,
We repeat, so little gold in this country
that the people never see 1T. The banks
use but little of II. Silver. bank notes
Treasury notes, silver certificates, &C.
&C., are all that we have Ill the shape OF
currency. Drive silver from these chan
nels and the whole fabric would tumble
down. We ought to add that Mr.. CfEyE'
LAND is. Of course. not in favor of that
sort of honest bimetallism, though some
| of his pretended friends say he is.
We need not apologize for discussing
| honest bimetallism, seeing that the Vir'
ginia delegation in Congress voted unani-
mously (all who were presenD against
| tabling Mr.. BLAND's bill TO restore "hones'
bimetelllsm," and seeing also that Cover
| nor McKIxYEY was elected upon free
coinage platform. and that there are sale
TO be eighty thousand Get US say fifty
thousand) Alliance men in Virginia wh'
| might if they could get it at once conten
| themselves with honest bimetallism,
but who may be sighted until they vii
demand the abolition of the national bank
i anu lSNOI lbt RiOEN'ieiCH ~ '-N~N' 49,
country with irredeemable green
backs. When the Greenbackers deman'
that the National Treasury notes shall
be made full legal tender" they meal
TO say that those notes must not be mad
redeemable in gold or silver, but must b
floated on the strength of the fat of tn
United States Government. They have
theory that this fat of the government cal
make gold and silver as good money a
greenbacks; or. rather, we ought to sa.
that they have seen greenbacks at pa
with coin so long that they have come t
believe that they owe their currency an
their parity with gold solely to that fiat
Is il the part of the statesman to exaspe
rate these honest advocates Of falls
theoriess