The Newberry herald and news. (Newberry, S.C.) 1884-1903, 1893-10-11
WHO IS WHoe WHICH rs WHICH?

The Three Kinds Of fMoney-Metallists Diff
ferentiated in Manner to be
Easily Understood.
To the Editor of The News and
Courier: We are hearing very much
in these days of monometallism and OF
bimetallism; Of monometallists and OF
bimetallists. Congressman are talking
on the subject daily by the hour; the
newspapers ali over the country are full
of it, and it is heard continually in
conversation on every rect corner.
Suppose then we look into the subject
somewhat, with view to seeing who
is who and which is which-who are
the real bimetallists and who are, in
reality, the much-abused and much
maligned monometallists. Notevery-
oae who claims to be bimetallist is
by any means such in reality, and not
everyone who is accused of being a
monometallist is such in reality. On
the contrary, as think shall be able
to show conclusively, very many of
those who make the loudest claims to
being bimetallists are in reality the
worst and most dangerous kind of mon
ometallists, and many of those who are
denounced by our silver fanatics as
monometallists are in reality the only
true bimetallists.
I think I may properly divide all
who have studied the question and who
have formed any pronounced views on
the subject into the three following
classes: First, silver monometallists;
second, gold monometallists; third, the
real, sincere bimetallists. Of the first
class I know of but one in this country
who has the intelligence and honesty,
both united in the same person, to con-
fess openly that he is such; that is, the
intelligence to see that the free coinage
of silver at the present ratio must in
evitably lead to silver monometallism:
and the honesty to confess openly and
above board that ne prefers the dapre-
ciated silver standard Of semi-civilized
countries to the full value gold stand
ard of the leading and most enlight-
ened commercial nations.
I need not stop to inform the recent
readers of The News and Courier who
that one self-copfessed silver mono
metallist is, or to endeavor to convince
him of the error of his position. There
are, however, very many in the coun-
try, who, while claiming to be bimetal-
lists, are in reality just as much silver
monometallists as he is. But they
either have not the intelligence to see
that free silver coinage at the present
ratio must certainly drive out gold and
leave US with the silver standard alone,
or they have not the honesty to come
out openly in advocacy of the single
silver standard. They are wanting
either in intelligence or in honesty.
Those who are intelligent enough to
have studied the history and laws of
finance are familiar with the so-called
Gresham law, according to which the
cheaper currency always drives out the
dearest. The financial history of En-
gland, France and presume of all
other countries proves this beyond
question, many noted instances of
which I might cite.
THE GRESHAM LAW IN OUR OWN HIS
| TORY.
But l need refer only to our own
recent history. It is well remembered
by many still living how the cheaper
or deprecated paper currency-''green-
backs"-drove both gold and silver out
of circulation during our "late unpleas-
antness," and how neither could be
had from about 1851 or 1862 up to 1879,
when specie payment was resumed, ex-
cept at a premium. This premium
was at one time as high on the Union
side as $3.50 to So in paper for 81 in
coin. In the Confederate lines it was
far worse, 81 in coin being worth over
800, and I believe even up to $1,000,
in Confederate paper, before the war
closed. And yet this paper money on
both sides bore the Government stamp.
But that stamp did not seem to possess
the magic power Of creating value as
cribed to it few days ago by Senator
VOORHEES, in his grandiloquent but ex-
tremely ridiculous speech on this point
in the United States Senate. Of course
in times of such depreciation Of the
currency of a country prices of all
articles rise according to and very often
even beyond the amount Of deprecia-
ton, and they are not apt to get back
to normal condition until some time
after the currency does.
Or, again, I might refer to the rela-
tions between gold and silver in our
own history as proving the same thing.
Our illustrious forefathers-our "dad-
dies" of whom we hear so much Of late
first provided in 1892 for ratio be-
tween gold and silver Of l to IS. At
this ratio silver was the cheaper metal,
so it drove gold out of circulation. See
| ing this to be the case, Thomas Jefer-
son, the great Father of Democracy, in
1904 or 1905 arbitrarily suspended the
coinage of silver dollars, and it was not
afterwards resumed. In 1884, during
the administration of President Jack
son, sort of second father of Democ-
racy, a Democratic Congress irrever-
emily changed the ratio between gold
and silver to l to 16 This, it was
thought, would finally give US real BIZ
metallisln. But at this ratio silver
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