The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1895-07-10


/ Mr.. Patterson said:
Fellow Citizens: Last winter when con-
I gress was In session movement was Or
I ganized principally By the states Interested
I m silver mining, for the purpose Of con-
| Quoting a campaign in behalf Of the free
coinage Of silver. The idea occurred to
me that IL would be very wise TO iuaugu-
rate movement in the southern states in
| favor OF sound money. ] spoke of this 70
some Of my friends who were Of the same
I mind, and the result was the sound money
convention held at Memphis. The state
OF Georgia sent a good delegation TO that
I convention, and promised them to come
70 Georgia aEd 10 come among you.
4 was born in the south, and have no
interest except to serve these southern
people. The nearest thing to my heart is
IN Prosperity Of these southern states. 1
COME among you as a democrat and I ex-
nect TO live and TO die a democrat.
l am here to speak in opposition to the
free, unlimited and independent coinage of
silver.
I oppose It because it cannot, in the ma
ture OF things, result in the establishment
Of the bimetallic standard. I oppose It be-
cause it would inevitably result in silver
recommendation. 1 oppose IL because it
would bring disaster and distress to the
whole country. ] oppose IL because it
would have the effect to discredit the peo-
lAA u tllt SOuLlls anu DllAill their prospects
of happiness and prosperity; and 1 oppose
IL because IL means dissension and rup-
ture among democrats, and the loss Of DEM
Ocratic prestige and control in this gov
eminent
Preliminary to the discussion, permit me
to say that this is purely a business and
economic question, affecting alike the peo-
pie in all the vocations and relations Of life.
Difficult Of comprehension, its proper solu-
ton requires on the part of the people,
investigation and reflection. 1t is not a
theme for passion or partisan rancor, but
for thought and research. The attempt of
declamatory writer's and orators to idealize
gold and silver. and to represent them as
living actors in drama In which one ap-
pears as a tyrant and the other as bleed
ing victim is absurd. Silver has no greater
claims on our sensibilities than pewter,
and gold no greater claims on our affec-
lions or aversions than pig iron. To what
use can we put each so as best to promote
our prosperity is the only question for our
consideration and neither is entitled to any
more sympathy at our hands than If II
were horse radish.
Again, it is extremely unfortunate that
a question purely scientific and economic
In its nature and yet so vital in its impor-
lance, should have become involved in par
tisan politics, where men seeking official
selves for or against the proposition. with
out regard to any previously acquired
knowledge on the subject. The selfshly
and alphabetically occupy the public at
tention by either discoursing on their own
cOnsistencies, or aniWadverting on the
inconsistencies of others rather than by
truthful and honest discussion of a great
economic problem, directly affecting the
welfare of all the people. They forget that
the march Of progress, through all the ages
has been strewn with the discarded opin-
ions Of wise men. The pathway of civili-
cation, as 1t goes onward and upward from
darkness to light. is everywhere marked by
errors abandoned and truths espoused by
the honest and courageous thinkers of the
world.
A man is moral coward who, through
love Of consistency, and pride of opinion.
continues to embrace an error when the
God who made him has given him light to
see it.
1t is with pride that / say to this audience
that after research and investigation my
intellect and conscience commanded me to
sacrlfc, on the altar of truth, preconceived
opinions in respect to the difficult, but VI
tally important question on which / am
about to address you? Should 1 have yield
ed, or persisted in the conscious error?
Let every man answer for himself. Am I
subject to attack? l answer yes. But my
adversary cannot admit the error and as
sail it's abandonment without placing him
self beyond the pale of reason and common
sense. An honest man and an honest
thinker may properly assail the reasons
which I give for a change of opinion, but
he cannot permit my reasons TO go unan-
swered and assail my nsistency, and
maintain his reputation.
am here to combat the preconceived
opinions Of those who may differ with me
and all ask at your hands is an attentive
hearing and a true verdict. / beg of YOU
TO have the courage of your convictions,
and not to be frightened by the hobgoblin
of consistency.
Lying at the root of this discussion are
certain truths which the people should
understand. For our convenience we have
certain standards by which we measure
time, distances, quantities and weights.
These standards are arbitrarily fixed by
law or by immemorial usage, and we con-
form to them.
Money is the standard by which we
measure values. 1t is the medium by which
we exchange commodities. If you have
one hundred bushels of wheat which you
wish to exchange for dry goods. you do
not take your wheat to a dry goods store
but you sell it for money and with the
money you buy the goods In
this way money is the medium
by which the exchange is eff
fected, and this simple illustration shows
how important it is that the standard of
value should be fixed safe and uniform.
If you, the owner of the wheat, or the
man to whom you wish to sell the wheat,
or the man from whom you wish to buy
the goods, have any doubt as to the sound
ness or purchasing power of the money,
then it would not perform its function per-
fectly, and the transaction would probably
fail Of contamination.
In all the ramillcations of commerce, bus
mess will be paralyzed wherever there is
an absence of confidence in the char
acter of the money by which 1t Is con-
Quoted. You can see at once that money,
or the standard of value, differs from all
other standards, in this, that it must it.
self be a thing of value. We have three
kinds of money in the United States-gold,
silver and paper money-but gold is the
standard money. Paper money
has equal purchasing power with
| gold because the citizen who
holds It knows that it is the obligation
of the government to pay standard money.
and that, on presentation, it viii be re-
deemed in gold.
Our silver dollars are equal in purchas-
| ing power to gold, simply for the reason
| that they are receivable, under the law,
in payment of all public and private obli-
| cations and as long as they are limited in
I 90 M