Herald and tribune. [volume] (Jonesborough, Tenn.) 1869-current, 1893-08-30

one of the greatest American indus
tries and reduce to starvation rates the
wages of labor everywhere.
Mr.. Hamilton, who will never be
questioned IS an authority in this
country, in his report in 1901 on the es-
Enlistment of a mint, declared that:
To annul the use of either gold or
silver as money is to abridge the guam
tity of the circulating Medium, and is
liable to all the objections which arise
from a comparison of the benefits of a
full circulation with the evils of a
scanty circulation.
Arguing in the same report in favor
of q double standard, Hamilton drew
his conclusions as follows:
On the whole it seems most advisable
not to attach the unit exclusively to
either of the metals, because this can
not be done effectually without destroy
ing the Office and character of one of
them as money, and reducing it to the
situation of mere merchandise.
He who was nearest the heart of the
American people has spoken on this
subject.
The weighty words of Jas. G. Blaine
are as pertinent today as they were
the day they were uttered on the floor
of the Senate, February Z, 1878. Advo-
eating a bimetallic standard with all
the strength and vigor of his great
mind, he said:
l believe the struggle now going on
in this country, and in other countries,
for a single gold standard, would, if
successful, produce disaster in the end
throughout the commercial world.
The destruction of silver as money
and the establishment of gold as the
sole unit of value, must have a ruinous
effect on all forms of property except
those investments which yield a fixed
return in money. Those would be enor.
mously EXCHANGED in value, and would
gain a disproportionate, and therefore,
unfair advantage over every other
species of property.
In the same great speech Mr.. Blaine
declared that
1t is impossible to strike silver out
of existence as money without results
which
would
prove distressing to millions, and utterly
disastrous to tens of thousands.
Mr.. Speaker, I believe the double
standard of gold and silver ought to be
maintained, because the striking down
of silver, as Mr.. Blaine has argued,
would enormously enchance the value
OF gold and destroy a world of wealth
in our own country. Gold is already
EXCHANGED beyond the reach of bust
ness and labor-the bulk of it is hid
away in vaults-it is the natural in
clination of those who have 1t to hoard
it; besides, its volume is not great
enough to make it the sole basis of our
circulation; there is not u sufficient
amount of it in existence, if it were all
coined into money, to meet the demands
of the commercial world. Above all
other people l think the American peo-
pie can least afford to join in the effort
to rob silver of its equality with gold
as a money metal-for America pro-
duces at least one third of the worlds
supply of silver.
If we have millions of bushels of
wheat and millions of pounds of cotton,
let us thank God for the rich fields that
produced them; if we have millions of
bushels of corn and millions of bushels
of oats and rye and barley, let us re-
joi'e that we live in a land that yields
such abundant harvests: if we have
gold mines-let us coin the shining
metal to increase our national prosper
ity and happiness-and if streams of
silver flow from inexhaustible fountains
in the mountains of America, let us
coin it, too, and be thankful that we
can supply the world with the silver
half of the double standard. Applause.
Why should we enact law that will
impoverish the farmer and stop his plow
because he raises more grain than we
can use? Why should we enact law
that will shut down the furnaces and
factories of America because they
produce more goods than we can con-
sumo? Why should we enact law that
will close u silver mines and at a
single blow bring poverty to the doors
of thousands of our people who but
yesterday were contented and happy,
and leave them without bread to eat, be-
cause we have more silver in America
than is compatible with the financial
ideas of England and Germany?
Gentlemen of the House of Represen-
t~atives, we should approach this grave
question with reverential care, since
it involves that which should be most
sacred to every public servant-the
welfare of the American people.
Sir, this Republic is a grand mosaic
work of empires, the last triumph of
the genius and wisdom of the ages.
Every State of this Union itself a superb
MOSAIC, was Joined to every other State
on the straight, smooth lines of one
common and harmonious destiny.
Every block inlaid in this glorious pic.
ture is the embodiment of some Ameri-
can interest. If you destroy one you
disturb the relations of each to each,
and you destroy the harmony of the
whole. If you assume the right to de-
stroy one, you may assume the right to
destroy the whole.
Mr.. Speaker, l have hitherto voted
in the Fifty first and Fifty second Con.
crosses for protective laws which have
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