The times. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1890-1903, 1893-08-23

bodv Of those disposed to find common
ground OF compromise. But Secretary
cariisies letter TO Senator Voor-
hees showing that It would cost the gov
o~nrent between 1l2 and 1l3 millions OF
dollars TO recon the silver we now have
Mt that ratio ought to, and
probably will, lay the twenty to one pro-
nos,tion entirely at rest. With the ratio
AZ twenty 10 one silver would have
10 sell at si.03 per ounce for the silver
dollar and the gold dollar TO have equal
purchasing power. Silver is now worth
about seventy-three cents an ounce. Free
coinage would therefore have to raise IL
thirty cents an ounce for the establish
ment OF the new ratio to produce any sort
OF practical effect. For. II 1t did not
raise the silver dollar TO point that
would restore parity In value between the
| two. all the work would be entirely
thrown away. We should have spent liz
| millions of dollars with absolutely no
| result.
| There is not the remotest probability
/ that making coinage free II it would
spasmodically produce this immense rise
| in the value of silver could maintain 1t.
! That 1t would produce rise Temporal
| rily In silver is certain. But 1t is pre-
| posterous 10 suppose that II would pro-
duce and sustain rise Of nearly fifty per
cent in its gold value. We, therefore,
look upon Secretary Carlisle's letter as
a fact which gives the coup de grace TO
the twenty to one proposition. and that
being out of the way. 1t seems certain
that the repeating act will pass the
House.
VIII IL pass the Senate?
II seems clear that there Is a majority
of from six to eight Senators who now de-
clare that they viii vote against its pas
sage, but this majority numbers in It's
ranks some six to eight Senators who are
largely owners Of silver mines When.
therefore, they vote to continue the
United States Government as an enforced
monthly buyer Of silver they are voting
10 continue a forced market for what
their mines produce. They are. therefore,
compelling all the other people of the
United States to endure what a contin-
uance of the Sherman act means to
them, in order that public money may
find its way into their own pockets.
viii they dare make this defiance Of
all decency. morality. justice and pub
lie veal? We do not believe that they will
Il 70 To- 81. oetf . h,t ,,r6 4tlD
their part will arouse.
In his american Commonwealth" Mr..
James Bryce says
'In no country in this world is public
opinion so powerful as in the United
States. '''' Towering over presidents
and State governors, over Congress and
State legislatures, over conventions and
the vast machinery of party, public
opinion stands out in the United
States as the great source of power, the
master of servants who tremble before 1t.
In America, opinion is not
made, but grows, 'does not origi-
nate in particular class. but grows up
in a nation at large"
Most happily for the people Of the
United States, this is true. An indepen-
dent press keeps the public directly
abreast Of everything that is going ON
in the halls of their legislatures. and the
popular judgment may always be
trusted to go right when the people are
correctly informed concerning the
facts. When that judgment is formed II is
the King Of the United States. No po-
tentate. ancient or modern, ever pos
sessed one 1.-THE of the power Of an en-
lightened public opinion in the United
States when II has once made sure that
1t knows the case This is what an en-
lightened Dmocracy means. This is the
glory of free institutions where each nan
may freely. and without fear, declare
his preference at frequently recurring cleo
lions
We do not pretend 10 know how It will
come about. but we predict that King
Public Opinion will never allow six United
States Senators TO disgrace the commits
sions they hold by continuing the appall-
ing state now before the country that
public money may be diverted into their
own pockets