Vermont phÅ“nix. [volume] (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1834-1955, 1893-08-25

yer here, a burden quite large enough for
the whole world, it may induce France and
other nations also to join the gold mono
metallists of Europe.
1t is well understood that the great him
drance to bimetalsm in our international
conventions has been the fixed opposition
of Great Britain. The leaders, however,
of one of the great British parties have re-
Gently declared themselves ready to respond
favorably to the popular opinion and to the
business petitions in behalf of bimetallism.
The demand for silver i'm India has annual
ly been from $40, 100000 to $4,000, 900.
To all this the mints of India have sudden
ly been closed The British trade with
India is very large, and Great Britain, with
that trade confused if not paralyzed, cannot
there safely abandon large use of silver,
and ii must be used in such manner as will
not subject the Hindus and the Mahome-
tans TO the whole loss on bills of exchange.
Nothing short of bimetallism would there
fore seem possible.
There are some persons who wish to fig
ure as one-string bimetallists by our coun-
try only. / have been told by a distin-
guished astronomer that the coal of the
entire coal fields of Pennsylvania, which
he had labOriously computed, would pro-
duce heat equal TO that of the sun for
the 9O0-millionth part of second. These
one-string fiddlers, 1t may be computed,
would maintain bimetallism for an equal
length of time
1t has been absurdly charged that to re-
peal the law of $780, which requires the
secretary of the treasury to purchase 154
tons of silver bullion every month, would
at once establish here the gold standard
and nothing else; but that is untrue and
comes here as scarecrow that will scare
nobody who does not want to be scared.
Not senator who will vote to repeal that
law will do it as a gold monometalist. The
purpose and effect of the repeal will be to
keep in circulation as much silver as ever,
and to have enough gold keeping company
with it TO maintain the parity of the two
metals. The repeal is the only lever by
which international bimetallsm can be Sc
cured.
| would not be personally offensive to
anybody, but l think it could with more
propriety be said that this charge of gold
monometallism is a subterfuge to conceal
an organized purpose of precipitating sill
yer monometalism upon the American peo-
pie. | think they will not fail to under
stand it. Among all those who will refuse
to discontinue the purchase of silver not
one will consent to any purchase of gold.
The repeal of the silver purchasing parts
of the act of 1890 will at once unlock
millions of gold now boarded, as well as
millions of the old United States notes, to
redeem which gold has long been held in
the treasury, as it would satisfy the public
that Congress, as well as the President,
propose to maintain every dollar of our
currency as good as every other dollar, of
no greater and no lower value, and so just
and sound as to give assurance of being
just and righteous for both the debtor and
creditor today as well as years hence.
We cannot afford to take the risk of a
silver dollar that may curtail the usual re-
ward of wage-earners nearly one-half and
cause an epidemic of strikes. Merchants
might possibly shirk or transfer to others
a large share of their losses from depre-
ciated dollar; but farmers, for what they
have to sell, would be compelled to accept
whatever legal tender might be offered.
Indirectly the duties on all imported dutia-
BILE merchandise, if paid in deprecated sill
yer, would suffer a reduction that would
more than satisfy even the exterminators
of protection.
Thirty-three years ago the yearly produc-
tion of silver in the United States amount
ed to only S150,000; but in 1892 it amount
ed to 5000 times that sum. The silver eX-
tremists now demand that the United
States shall not only take and pay for the
whole of this vast increase, but at the val
uation of 33 years ago, and will not even
aid in opening the way for largely increas-
ing the demand for siver by making it the
interest of many nations to cooperate in a
bimetallic standard for its use.
According to the great Roman orator, "a
commonwealth should be immortal" and
i cannot suppose that any senator would
willingly limit the life of our government
to any briefer period. In all the advan-
tages of power and wealth, of natural and
industrial productions, of coal, iron and
copper, of food products, and of territory
and climate, no other people will dispute
the superiority of the American republic.
Nor will they dispute our primacy as the
producer of gold and silver. They dispute
only our capacity for self government, and
deny the wisdom of universal suffrage.
They believe We are to stumble on silver.
The crucial test is whether we are or are
not to drop from the bimetalic standard of
gold and silver, maintained on parity, to
the dangerously crippled standard of silver
only, and thereby limit TO an inferior cur
rency the foremost business nation of the
world. The grave responsibility rests upon
Democratic administration, now in full
control of both branches of Congress as
well as of the executive department. No
government can be sustained which does
not fulfill its pledges in good faith. The
public debt, national and state, and all
other contracts, by our recorded pledges,
are payable in legal tender on parity with
gold The honor of the country may be in
peril. Whatever policy will relieve the
pubic distress will be my policy. What
ever party favors the public credit will have
my iayor' Whatever measures support
pubic honor will have my support.
A Wan Who is ALWAYS Iis,.n.d ,o