St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1895-07-24
FREE SILVER EDITORS.
CocISreH Addresses Il Convention
of Missouri Editors.

OF Missouri Editors.
SEDALIA, Mo-, July 23.-The at
tendance at the Democratic free silver
editors state convention has met the
most sanguine expectations of those
who promoted it. Editors were here
today from every section. At 10
o'clock this morning a business meet
ing was held at the Elks club rooms.
Col. William Switzler Of Bonneville,
presided as chairman, and II. J.
Groves, of Lexington, was secretary.
COMMITTEES on permanent organiza-
ton and addresses were appointed and
the meeting adjourned until 1 o'clock
for the election of officers At II
o'clock Hon. Richard p Bland de-
livered an address at Association park.
After Mr.. Bland had concluded the
editors adjourned for dinner At 2
O'Clock they reassembled, and Senator
Cockrell spoke on the financial ISSUE
He said:
What is the pending financial issue?
1t is simply whether the single stand
ard of gold shall be continued or the
true bimetallic system shall be re-
stored. Every possible effort will be
made to conceal, complicate and mys-
tify this vital issue. Let us not be
mistaken nor deceived, nor mislead
The forty-second congress, with a two
thirds majority of Republicans in each
house, passed the coinage law of Feb.
II, 1873, which was approved by a Re
publican president, and established the
single standard of gold-made the gold
dollar the unit of value; denied any
coinage to the standard dollar of 371A
grains pure silver and 41215 grains
nine parts fine: limited the legal tender
value of all silver coins to five dollars,
and thus destroyed the bimetallic sys-
tenn which has existed by our laws
from April 2, 1892, to that date. The
law Of $685. Internationally repeating
the purchasing clause of the Sherman
law of 1850, left the coinage law of
1873 in full force and effect. Today our
laws authorize the free and unlimited
coinage of gold at our minis into full
legal tender money, and thus endow
and clothe the gold metal with the
functions of money and make the
metal equal in value to the coin; but
they do not authorize or permit the
coinage of any standard silver dollars
except the bullion in the treasury
purchased under thu Sherman law,
thus denying to the silver metal any
conference of 1892 Mr.. Alfred de Roth
schild, a delegate from England, said:
Gentlemen, I need hardly remind you
that the stock of silver in the world
is estimated at some thousands of mill
ions, ard if this conference was to
break up without arriving at any defin-
lite result, there would be a deprecia-
ton in the value of that commodity
which it would be frightful to con-
template, and out of which a monetary
panic would ensue the far spreading
effects of which it would be hard to
foretell.' This conference did adjourn
without any definite results, and on
June &c. 1893, India closed her minis
to the free coinage of silver, and the
commercial value of silver measured
in gold at once fell about fifteen per
cent. Our law of November, 1893, re-
pealed the purchasing clause of the
Sherman law, and silver fell still low
err.
"By the undisputed testimony of the
historic record of events Mr.. Carlisle
was right in 1873 in his denunciation
of the act of 1873 as the most gigantic
crime of this or any other age Most
clearly the laws demonetizing silver.
and they alone, have caused the fall
in its commercial value and the rise in
gold, both in its commercial value and
it's purchasing power. Had gold been
demonetized instead of silver, gold
would have fallen in commercial value
as silver has, and bimetallists would
now be urging the restoration of gold
to its old place, and our gold advo-
catss would be silver advocates, call
ing gold the cheap, dishonest, I'M
sound fifty-cent money!
Senator Cockrell then quoted at
length statistics as to the production
of silver, and showing that there had
been no overproduction. He referred
to Secretary Carlisle's Memphis speech,
and to his own SatiSfacti refuted the
statements therein as to bimetallism
being a failure both in this country
and in France. Referring to the atti-
tude of the administration towards sill
yer he said: mo nation on earth, nor
all the nations, can maintain the par
ity, the equal commercial value of
gold and silver, coined into money at
any ratio whatever, when they give
to gold free and unlimited coinage and
deny such coinage to silver, and refuse
| to recognize and treat the silver money
as the gold money, or to use it equally
with gold in paying coin obligations.
With equal propriety and assurance
you might expect parents having two
daughters to maintain them in equal
standing, honor and virtue when they
recognize and treat one only as hons st
and virtuous and refuse to recognize
and treat the other as her equal or to
| introduce her into society and merely
| give her lodging room, and proclaim
her to the world as dishonest, immoral
| and lascivious."