The great West. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1889-18??, 1893-11-10
SILVER'S FRIENDS.

s~-~~AS dAAAO ~ Il AOA1lAVAkJo
81 y
MEANING THE FRIENDS OF THE couN-
TRYS PRODUCERS.
8eamrming the Doctrines Of Jefferson,
jackson and Lincoln-Let Us Shake on
the European Octopus-Pulling the Rec
ords on Two Traitors.
Following is the full text of the reso-
lutlons unanimously adopted by the
great convention held in Chicago under
the auspices of the American Bimetallic
league:
Whereas. Bimetallism is as ancient as hu-
man history. for certain more than 5000 years,
and gold and silver came down through the
ages hand In hand, their relations to each 9TH
or having varied but few points in all that
vast period of time, and then almost invari-
ably through legislation; and
whereas. The two metals are named to-
gether and indissolubly united in the constitu-
ton of the United States as the money basis of
this country. placed there by George Washing
ton, Thomas Jefferson, John Adams, Alexan-
DER Hamilton, and subsequently Endorsed and
defended by Andrew jackson and Abraham
Lincoln: and
Whereas, Silver. one Of these ancient metals
was In the year 1873, without any previous de-
mand by any political party and by any part
OF the people. or even by newspapers, and with
out public discussion whatever, stricken down
from the place it had occupied since the DAYS
OF Abraham and the pharaohs under circum-
stances of such secrecy that Allen G. Thurman
James Beck, William H. Stewart, Daniel w.
Voorhees,, James G.. Blaine, then speaker of
Il f1o1A n -
Icy and others present and voting for the BILL
~ senators or representatives, subsequently
repeated and publicly declared that they did
not know until long afterward that so grave
and great a change had been made in the finan-
cial system founded by the fathers of the re-
public: and
Whereas, The debates in congress show that
the parentago of the measure was in part
ascribed by the friends of the bill to one Ernest
Seyd. London banker, who it is claimed was
sent over to Washington by the moneyed
classes OF the old world to secure it's passage
by secret and corrupt means; and
Whereas. President Grant, who signed the
bill. declared long subsequently that he did
not know that it demonetized silver: and
whereas, The purpose of this attack upon
one of the two ancient precious metals of the
world was, by striking down one-half of the
money supply-to wit, silver-to double the pur-
chasing power of the remainder-gold-b MAX
ing it equivalent of everything possessed or pro-
duced by the labor of man, thus reducing the
price of all commodities, arresting enterprise.
mpoverishing the toiler and degrading man
kind. That those results were not only inevita-
Bile, but foreseen, appears by the following lam
guage. used at that time by the then president
OF the Bank of France, who said, IF by q
stroke OF the pen they suppress one of these
metals in the monetary service, they double the
demand for the other metal. to the ruin Of all
debtors:" and
Whereas, The awful consequences thus
prophesied are upon the people of the whole
world, we stand in the midst of unparalleled
distress and in the shadow of impending ca
hmities which are beyond estimate. The pub
lie industry of the people who inhabit one
third of the area of this republic has been
stricken down, property values destroyed and
the workmen compelled to fly as from pesti-
1once. Everywhere over this broad land the
honest toilers, numbering hundreds of thou
sands. have been thrown out of employment
and will have to eat the bitter bread of charity
or starve; the products of industry, the farm
and the workshop have deprecated in price, as
shown by official and published statistics, un-
til production ceases to be profitable; the mon
ey of the country, inadequate for the business
Of the land, has gravitated to the banks, while
the people. distressing the banks, have de.
manded their deposits to hoard or hide them;
mercantile houses are going to the wall by
means to buy even the necessities Of life;
to supply the lack of currency the
banks of the great cities have is
sued a substitute for money, unknown to
the laws, called clearing house certificates:
the movement of the great crops now being
gathered demands vast amount of currency,
which the banks are unable to furnish, and in
the midst of these conditions the daily press
are clamOring for the repeal of the act of July
IA, 1880. called the Sherman act. although the
repeal of that act means the stoppage Of the
issue Of more than $3.OOO.OOO of money every
month. thus shutting off the supply of funds
for the business of the country in the midst of
the terrible conditions which surround US and
ignoring the fact that to hold the balance
level between debtor and creditor classes the
supply of currency must increase side by side
with the increase Of population and business,
and in this nation the growth of population is
at the rate Of about 80 per cent every 10 years.
while the increase OF business is much greater.
Whereas, The great expounder Of the con-
stitution, Daniel Webster, said, "Gold and sill
yer at rates fixed by congress constitute the
legal standard Of value in this country, and
neither congress nor any state has authority to
establish any other standard or to displace
that Standard" and
Whereas, The Hon. James g. Blaine, quoting
this utterance, adds: ION the much vexed and
long mooted question as to q bimetallic stand
ard my own views are sufficiently indicated in
the remarks have made. believe the strug-
gle now going on in this country and in other
countries for q single gold standard would. II
successful, produce widespread disaster in and
throughout tho commercial world. The de-
structiOn Of silver As money and establishing
gold as the sole unit of value must have ruin
GUS effect on all forms of property except those
Investments which yield fixed return in
money. These would be enormously enhanced
In value and would gain disproportionate
and unfair advantage over every other species
Of property. It. a. tho most reliable statistics
affirm, there are nearly ,000, 10000 of coin or
bullion in the world, very unequally divided
between gold and silver, it Is impossible to
strike silver out of existence as money without
results which will prove distressing to millions
and utterly disastrous to tens Of thousands"
Again he said: II believe gold and silver coin
to b tho money Of the constitution-indeed
the money Of the American people, anterior to
the constitution. which the great organic Law
recognized as quite Independent of its own e.
istence. No power was conferred on consress
70 declare that either metal should no3 Is
money. Congress has therefore, in my fude.
ment, no power to demonetize both. II fhGuD-
fore silver has been demonetised, ] am q 49,
q remonetisingit. II its coinage has - -.
1dbited, am in favor Of ordering IL = ba9o.
Sumed. an in favor Of having It on1as
and
Whereas, The present secretary = ~ 49,
my, the Hon. John q. Carlisle, On - 4ou3cf
che house Of representatives, EehE e. - 1{aas
II know that the worlds st1ok q 49,
metals u mono too largo, and t. - ~ u -
Apprehend that IL viii ever booono q. 4 -
hind win b fortunate indse4 = G =