The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1894-10-05
Address Before the National Farmers
Congress, in Which the Plan Of In-
diana Republicans Is Endorsed.
ARGUMENT FOR BIMETALLISM
Discriminating Duties Against
MOnO-GOld Countries Favored.
Scheme Which the OhiOan Believes
Would Soon Whip England Into Line
with the American Republics.

PARKERSBURG. w. Va, Oct. 4.-To-
days session of the Farmers National
Congress was held on Blennerhassett island,
two miles below Parkersburg. where a din
ner was served, free. to all the delegates,
by citizens of Parkersburg. A big crowd
was present, including prominent farmers
from this State, besides delegates from
twenty-five other States. Resolutions ia
voring free mail delivery, Sunday rest for
railroad employees and government control
of railroads were introduced and referred.
A committee was appointed to investigate
charges against millers taking excessive
tolls. A resolution favoring a law to COM
pei railroads TO carry live stock through TO
its destination without stop of more than
an hour was adopted. Messrs. oliver. of
Pennsylvania; Rogers, of Maryland; Wells
and Cowden, of Ohio; Smith, Of Pennsyl-
vania; Potter, of New York, and Moore.
of Pennsylvania, spoke OH taxation. John
A Hutchinson, of Parkersburg. delivered
an historical address relating to Blenner-
hassett island and Aaron Burr. Col. Dan
Needham, of Massachusetts, spoke on
farmer and finance, and Senator Hender-
son. of West Virginia, on stock and the
farm.
Judge Lnwrence's Address.
An address that attracted a great deal of
attention was one on the silver question,
delivered by Judge William Lawrence, of
Ohio. 1t follows:
By common consent of nations gold and
silver have been used as coin money from
the earliest ages. When our Republic was
founded the coinage act of Congress of
April 2, 1892, made gold and silver money
a full legal tender in m of debts.
with silver a g tho a,nff and Sfopdar1 Of
value on a ratio of fifteen of silver to one
of gold, and sauthorized the unrestricted
coinage Of both metals. subsequently the
commercial value OF an ounce of gold be-
came equal to that. of about sixteen ounces
of silver, when the act of Congress OF
June 2S,lSS4. made the ratio / to 1902, which
was changed by the act of Jan. is, 1887, to
l of gold for 1888 of silver, which has
continued ever since to be the ratio. The
the pure silver is 371.25 grains. From 1884
to 1878 gold was substantially our only
coin money. because. until 1874, the COM
mercial value of the silver in a dollar was
greater than either the commercial or
coinage value of the gold in a dollar. Sill
yer bullion and the small amount of coined
dollars, almost as rapidly as produced,
were exported, because they commanded
a premium i'm Europe. In order to prevent
the export of subsidiary. coins Congress
provided by law for a reduction of nearly
one-tenth of the amount of silver therein.
And here is a fundamental principle to
which / call your special attention. proved
by reason and experience-that whenever
the commercial value in the worlds msr-
kets Of either gold or silver is greater than
leave that country for the foreign market.
The silver in an American dollar during
the year 1893 was of the average CONNER
cial value in gold of only .625 cents; il is
now of the value of 63% cents.
If a law should now be made for the free
and coinage of silver in the
without any similar law in at least some
other nations the effect would be that our
silver coin would remain with us, our gold
coin would speedily leave the country and
be exchanged either for foreign commodi-
ties or silver bullion, or both, and the bull
lion would come here to be coined into dol
lars: then Europe. instead of sending gold
to buy our products, would send her idle
bullion to depreciate silver coin; the result
would be that this would cease to be a BIZ
metallic Nation; we would cease to have
~gold-ours would be a mono-silver country.
On Jan. 1. 1894. the gold coin in the United
States was 1854, 366, 99S and silver S4l9. 332, M
in dollars and 1856 $50 in subsidiary coin.
Free coinage would enlarge the volume of
silver coin money by selling gold abroad
add to the commercial or intrinsic value of
the total amount of our money: it would
impair our credit at home and abroad; we
would be without the gold means to buy
commodities in foreign nations having a
gold standard, and our silver would be sold
at a discount for gold to be used in max
ing purchases in Europe. n system which
would thus deprive us of bimetallic money
would be ruinous to our credit. our trade
ana u commerce.. we neeu DOC1 sOlu ana
silver. A resort to free, unlimited coinage
should not be adopted at least until all just
means to secure bimetallism in many ma,
fail. There is a better mode of dealing with
the subject.
DEMONETIzING ACT OF 1873.
The act of Feb. IL. 1873, demonetized sill
yer, repealed the law for its coinage in dol
lars, and made gold the unit and standard
of value. 1t was voted for by men of all
parties in Congress- it was opposed by
none. II attracted no attention or COM
ment, because silver. as fast as mined,
was exported and sold at a premium, and
substantially there was not and could not
be any coinage OF dollars. 1t is idle and
useless now to inquire as to the RESPONSE
bility for the law. The bullion value in
| gold Of a silver dollar was, in 1893, s1.OO4;
in 1874 it declined TO .9S9 cents. Silver could
be no longer exported for a permium, and
it became important to make a market for
it here.
Congress passed the coinage act of Feb.
g, 1878, which remonetized silver, made il
a full legal tender, except where otherwise
specified IN the contract, and provided for
the purchase of bullion and coinage by the
| government of not less than two nor more
| than four million dollars worth Of silver
per month. The maximum; If coined. would
silver mines. In practice the minimum
amount was coined. The gold standard of
the act of 1873 still remained.
The causes of the decline in the CONNER
cial value of silver are we'll known. In
| 1870 Great Britain was the only gold-stand-
ard, mono-gold money ration of the world
by law. In 1871 Germany adopted the gold
j standard, and substantially demonetized
/ silver; Holland followed in 1873. the Latin
Union in 1876. Spain in 1878, and later Aus
| tria-Hungary. There are now sixteen BIZ
metallic nations, fourteen silver nations, six
mono-gold nations, but seven more gold
standard nations having srme-a limited
amount, as in the United States, of full
legal tender-silver money-making thirteen
go~ld-standard nations. including the United
States. For twenty years past the princi-
pal nations OF Europe have been engaged
in demonet.zing silver, and thus its COM
mercial value has been deprecated and
the supply OF silver coin reduced. The ef-
feet Of the process has been TO depreciate
silver, to appreciate the value of gold. and
as its purchasing power was thus increased
the price OF all other property has been
reduced. Under this process there has been
a general decline all over the world in the
selling value of property. This has been
one cause of the decline in the value of
farms, of farm products and other COM
modities in this and other countries. This
decline practically increased the burden of
debts. The conspiracy against silver was
put in operation by the great creditor ma
against debtors and against the owners az
land and other property, all following the
lead of Great Britain, the great creditor
nation of the world, whose interest il is 70
destroy the silver money OF the world to
thereby double the value of the gold and
to increase the value Of her credits. her
honds- her stocks or moro accnra.el,