The San Francisco call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1895-1913, 1895-05-03

fomented civil strife by undertaking 10 force
upon them copper copeks ofthe same form and
value as substitute for silver ones.
1t is the theory of the socialist and Populist
applied to monetary science. 1t is based upon
the belief in what has been aptly termed ''The
ali-powerfulness" of the State, and is in utter
disregard of that great fact in financial his
tory that mediums of exchange and standards
of value did not find their origin in law, but
were born of the needs of trade and commerce.
They came into use through no legislative ac-
ton save that which was wrought in the great
parliament of commerce, and from then until
now the enacted laws of counsels and con-
gresses/in violation of the principles underly-
ing them have failed to control and regulate
them. The end always sought by commerce.
the great arbiter of every mon etary system
since the dawn of civilization, has been to
have in every metallic money such intrinsic
value as makes the unstamped coin OF the same
value as a commodity of merchandise as the
stamped. 1t has with equal rigor insisted that
in bank currency there shall be immediate re-
demption upon presentation in sound me-
tallic currency. 1t invokes in behalf of
the money which it sanctions and
accepts no alchemist and believes in no phil
osophers stone. 1t has, throughout all the
centuries stood defiant against the errors OF
legislative bodies and the wrongful ediets of
kings and acting upon the principle, "That
value knows its own laws and follows them in
spite OF DEGREES and penalties" has taken the
coins of every country for what they are in
trisically worth and not for what the legal
stamp represents them to be worth. The COM
merciRl world has, with unvarying precision.
drawn the true distinction which exists be-
tween true value in a nations currency and
the sign of value affixed to it, and standing
upon that line of demarkation it has been as
Indifferent to the laws of great nations as to
those of small
Those who represent in this splendid city the
interests of commerce cannot afford to be IN
mindful of the condition which confronts
them. If the standard of value upon which all
commercial transactions are based be made un-
certain by any experimental legislation, If
capital become alarmed and credit once more
restricted, the magnificent temple which has
been here dedicated to the use of commerce
will be of little avail, for there is no commerce
where faith is wanting in country's medium
OF exchange and trade reduced to mere bet
ting.
The question to which the friends of the
maintenance of medium of exchange of I'M
questioned and unquestionable value must
address themselves is not how TO temporarily
defeat the advocates of free coinage of silver as
they now present it, but how to permanently
would flow from crystallizing into law any
monetary suggestion which is based in whole
or in part upon the doctrine of fatism. Such
result cannot be attained either by scoffing at
their leaders or Understanding the sources
of strength of those who range themselves
under their banners. AS long as they have the
enthusiasm which springs from the belief in
their lessening the woes of the debt-burdened
classes to urge them to effort and the encour-
agement of the timorous and compromising in
the ranks of those who oppose them, they will
continue an active force in monetary agitation
and an element in American politics that war
rants recognition and sturdy opposition. The
forces OF fiat silver currency of irredeemable
paper and their populistic allies can be
permanently eradicated as factors worthy of
consideration and sources of discomfort and
financial loss in but one way, and that lies
through the gateway of sound monetary educa-
ton. To this work the individual and the
Nations good demands that in season and out
there be such labor performed as shall at no
distant day result in their being beaten
squarely upon the issues for which they stand
and the country rid of the disasters attendant
upon their hope OF ultimate success.
Chauncey NJ. Depew was then intro
duced. In opening, Mr.. Depew said that
while business men might differ politically,
the various chambers of commerce con-
sidered only the questions affecting COM
merce upon the recognized principles Of
commercial prosperity, the immutable
laws of trade, saying:
Thus it was that the commerce of the United
States is the ever strengthening bond of union
of the commonwealth which constitute the
republic.
He referred to the necessity for the asso-
citation of interests and capital, and said:
There is no more beneficent form of associa-
ton than these boards Of trade and chambers
of commerce which are now established all
over the country. There viii be a central
chamber of commerce in Washington, in
which each of these bodies will have repre-
sentation.
When business man becomes member of
Congress the effort to spread himself over this
great country seems to so thin his gray matter
as to make him incapable of bringing to the
business of the Nation the same common-sense
which made him successful at home. The
most remarkable illustra ton of this is the Con-
gress that has just adjourned. Instead OF re-
lief, we had a babel of propositions which only
added to the general confusion and made the
day of adjournment OF Congress a day OF Ma
tional thanksgiving. The National chamber OF
commerce would be a kindergarten of eeonom-
ical and financial questions for the instruction
OF members of Congress.
The speaker went into details on the
freight rates of the world, showing that in
this country the rate per ton was only one
third OF that of Europe. Continuing, he
said:
The internal commerce of the United States
makes our country the most wonderful market
ever known. Our internal commerce is so vast
that the sum of the tariff of Rome when she
commanded the world, of Genoa when she was
Queen OF the Mediterranean, of Venice when
she commanded the seas, are but as rivulets to
the Father of Waters" We viii always avoid
com plicahons in European and Asiatic poll
ties, but no foreign power can exercise hos
tile authority in Hawaii, or Central America
or in Mexico, or in any OF the sister republics
of the Western hemisphere without meeting
with protest and resistance.
How are we to preserve our prosperity?
With confidence a business of incalculable
magnitude can get along with very little cur
rency. Without confidence there is not enough
money in the world to conduct the business
of the United States. We have been atsthe
bottom, and we are on the upgrade of pros
perity. We should have revenue system sc
well defined that it could not be disturbed
except in minor details, for a generation
While not discussing the tariff or free trade
we should have q revenue system which will