The true northerner. [volume] (Paw Paw, Mich.) 1855-1920, 1895-04-19
As to Currency.

IOlu anu silver as SldnudIu ulouty Will
such restrictions and under such provis'
ions, to be determined by legislation, as
will secure the maintenance of the
parity of values of the two metals, SO
that the purchasing and debt paying
power of the dollar, whether of silver,
gold or paper shall be At all times equal.
The interests of the producers of the
country, its farmers and its working
men, demand that every dollar, paper
or coin, issued by its government, shall
be as good as any other. "-Rcpu6ttcdn
National Platform, 1892.
The above is the broad and statesman
like position taken by the republican
party in 1892, and upon that platform
the NoRTHERNER is squarely planted
to-day. During the years of marvellous
prosperity the country enjoyed during
the quarter of century preceding the
advent of the present democratic ma
tional administration, it is true that the
republican party, in common with the
people of the country generally, paid
TOO little attention to the question of
our national currency, and the tendency
has all along been in the direction of a
contraction of the basic money, until
we to day find ourselves fairly and
squarely upon Il gold standard. This
condition is, we believe, Il most un-
desirable one and responsible to II con
siderable degree for the present low
prices and general depression, and
especially for the scarcity of money IN
agricultural communities.
What is the remedy?
One set of statesmen, many of them
men of great experience and financial
knowledge, say ''Stick To the gold stand
ard and maintain our hold on the
markets of the world" This sounds very
pretty, but when we come To careful
investigation of the subject, we find that
the volume of our foreign trade is too
small to warrant its being secured at
the expense of our internal prosperity.
Indeed, il either interest must he sacri-
feed the foreign trade could be much
better spared. But we do not believe "a
full carrying out of the republican
party's declaration for true bimetallism
will endanger either our home indus.
tries or our foreign commerce.
Another class of public men proclaim
free coinage of silver ut a ratio of IL to
rs panacea for all our national ills.
But in this matter, rs in all radical
changes in monetary and economic
policies, it will DE found wise To make
haste slowly" and see that the return to
the use of silver as standard money is
surrounded 10y the restrictions and pro-
visions the keynote of which is sounded
in the republican platform. The United
!StateS cd3 no more dt0rd q mOnOnetdi-
Ism Of Sjicer than IL caN q6ord q mono
paetaliism Of goid
4 True bimetallism is and must continue
to be the standard of the republican
y party.
4 return to the use of silver rs money
of ultimate redemption in the United
States upon some basis is assured. The
people demand it, Business interests
demand it. Legislators cannot fail ia
see the drift of public sentiment, ard
they dare not refuse the legislation the
peoplsdemand.
The greatquestion To be decided before
we can safely return silver 20 real
money uses, is whether the credit OF
the United States, the powerful fiat OF
this government, is strong enough t.
prevent gold from going to premium
in the event of our minis being freely
opened for the coinage ID all silver
bullion offered, at the ratio of IL to
Coin" that energetic iinancier whom
free coinage advocates blindly follow
says:
with both metals as primary money
property advances To bimetallic values
,Chetter g0id goes 10 premium or not
GOld may go ont of circulation"
Such a danger is what the republican
platform declares against, when it de
mands some legislative provisions fol
silver coinage. IL is possible free coindg'
at 10 TO 1 UouM not driUe gold 10 Z
PREMIUM Ii after careful investigation
of the probabilities of the case, oul
national lawmakers and iinancier,
should decide such to be the fact, ther
the passage of such coinage law would
give sharp upward tendency TO al
commercial values and would accom-
plish a marked improvement in business
conditions.
On the other hand, if such parity o
value at the old ratio could not be main
tanned, in order to give us sound hi
metallic currency one of the two plan
must be adopted, viz:
FirSt-The ratio might be changed :,
as to leave less arduous task for on
national credit TO perform in makiH;
the amount of silver coined into silvc
dollar equal in bullion value to tn
amount of gold coined into gold dollar
and at the same time insure our bust
ness interests against either gold o
silver recommendation by the exporta
t;on of tho u,ora voluo,lo coin srbi