The Democratic advocate. [volume] (Westminster, Md.) 1865-1972, 1894-08-11

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Secretary that | should be expected 10 say
something tonight said. Don't call upon
me, because like anyone who comes from the
other side of the Mississippi River there is
only one subject that we deem OF great i'm
portance, and am told that on that | shall
be in the minority and that there is only one
man who will agee with me and that is Moses
Newton, of Holyoke.' Loud laughter and
cheers. As you know, gentlemen, we have
been having hard times for the past two
years. | don't know who has the money,
but do know that most of us have had a lot
of experieHce [iaughterl !, and this experience
is worth a good deal. Laughter. 1t is a
big kind of experience. We almost regard 1t
with the same kind of feeling as the fellow
whose wife presented him with twins. He
was much gratiied with them. He talked
and thought great deal about them. He
used to say that he wouldn't take thousand
dollars for those twins, but he added that he d
be darned if he wanted any more. Loud
laughter. So it is with the experience we
have had.
At the banquet of this association two
years ago we were honored by the presence
of distinguished gentleman from Massa-
chusetts now United States Senator from
that State None of you who were present
on that occasion can fail to remember his
eloquent and forcible argument in favor OF
"A single gold standard and the earnest plea
he made that we, the members OF this in
huential organization, and all other business
men should at once arise in our power and
demand from Congress the Immediate IN
conditional repeal of the Sherman law. de
told us that this law was the source OF all our
woes and that its repeal would bring prosperity
to our people, keep our gold from being
shipped to foreign shores-ln short, cure all
existing financial and business ills, make
money plenty and cheap, furnish labor to the
unemployed, markets for our surplus pro.
ducts, renewed and increased activity and
better prices to all manufacturing and pro-
ducing interests. There were then, and
there are now two sides to the question so
ably discussed on that occasion by the distin.
ghished Senator from Massachusetts. And
regret that some equally distinguished and able
gentleman has not been requested by our
executive committee to present that other
side at our banquet tonight, for the most
lamentabe thing in our present situation is
the fact that this question of such momentous
importance to all our interests is so little un
derstood and studied by our business men.
At our meeting two years ago after the ban
ouet | went into the main Office of this hotel.
A number of our members and some OF our
guests who had Just listened to Senator Lodge,
and who knew how thoroughly dissented
from the arguments and conclusions OF his
speech, approached me on the silver ques'
ton.
One gentleman, not a paper maker, but a
successful business man, who in the prosper
ons past had acquired a fortune as dealer IN
paper makers supplies. said to me; -,
"Why, colonel, you Western men are wild
no uou think the
people of this country will ever consent that
silver shall be equal to gold? Such thing
is preposterous Why, only day or two be-
fore left home a manufacturer of jewelry
showed me some sleeve buttons. he had
made them in both gold and silver exactly
the same pattern and size. but he sold the
silver ones at rs cents per pair and the gold
ones at 81. 25 per pair. Now, do you mean
10 saw that he should sell them both Mt the
same price?'
.'Not at all, SIR | replied, ''and such
question as you have asked discloses an
ignorance on this question which would dis
grace school boy in Colorado. You ought
10 know that all the silver men ask or ever
asked is that l6 ounces of silver should equal
in value ounce of gold. On that basis your
friend should sell his gold sleeve buttons at
81 per pair, if he sold silver ones of the same
weight for IS cents. At % cents and $l.25
he is selling his gold aud silver product on a
ratio of to instead of l6 to l.
In the circle surrounding us while this dia-
logue was in progress there were at least
twenty intelligent and successful business
men, and it was disclosed that not one oil
them understood what ratio meant as applied
to gold and silver, and they learned, APP
parently for the first time, that lG TO ! meant
IL. oil SI
coinage was on the basis of IL to l; that is,
that il took sixteen times the weight in silver
that it did in gold to express the same value,
and that in all European countries the basis
was 49, toll. will give one other illustra-
ton of the little attention which has been
given to this subject by intelligent men even
one year ago; and the incident really oc-
Cured as shall state it.
The wife of one of Denver's leading busi-
ness men and influential citizens was at Rye
Beach. and, like most of our ladies'. she is
we'll posted on the silver question. One
evening in the hotel parlor Il reference was
made to the debate then going on in Congress
over the repeal of the Sherman law, and the
lady from Denver and the Eastern ladies be-
came engaged in an argument on the silver
question. The argument became somewhat
animated. Among the guests was we'll
known professor of Harvard. The question
of ratio was being discussed; something had
been said in Congress and in the press about
changing the ratio from l6 to to 20 to /,
and the ladies had been discussing the pro-
position. Disagreeing widely, 1t was pro-
posed to submit the difference to the de-
cision of the professor. He was called, the
question at issue was stated to him. and !, ne
was asked to decide which was correct. de
replied: "Wen, ladies, that is simple
matter. We have been coming sixteen dol
lars in silver to one in gold ever since the
Revolutionary war, and now these Western
silver lunatics want us to coin twenty dollars
in silver for every one in gold. 1t would
never do, never! The idea is preposterous !;
we have too much silver money now"
The events of the past year have, however,
caused thousands of men to study this great
question for themselves, and the result is
seen in the wonderful change in sentiment
and in favor of bimetallism, which is mani
Testing itself in every State.
Senator Lodge himself has had change
of heart since he was with US two years ago,
and has offered in the Senate an amend
ment to the tariff bill, providing that any
country which refused to join the United
States in the reconciliation of silver should
nav double duty on all its products coming
into the United States. The Governor OF
Massachusetts, Chas. Francis Adams, Brooks
Adams, and thousands of others among the
best and most intelligent men in Massaehu'
sets, have openly declared for bimetallism.
Gen. Francis A. Walker, always distinguish
ed and eloquent advocate of silver, was
few weeks ago invited by the President and
Faculty of Yale to deliver an address on the
subject in New Haven, and was enthusiast
caliy received by an audience of over 5000
people. President Andrews, of Brown
University, has organized a silver league,
having in its membership hundreds OF the
brightest and ablest men Of Massachusetts
and Rhode Island.
In England the movement is gaining with
wonderful rapidity. Within the last year
almost every man of prominence who was
with the Salisbury Government has
either by speech or published letter advocated
n return to the double standard by England,
and so all over Europe. No great movement
in modern times has grown so rapidly as the
sentiment for the restoration Of the double
standard. Our statesmen are studying the
subject for themselves, and the result is APP
parent in recent utterances.
- .1....,,r,,, With oil manufacturers and