The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1895-06-14
WHAT THEY WANT.
Bimetallists Demand the Re-
stOration of Silver.
Declare for It's Coinage at 16 to
l With Gold.
A NATIONAL MEETING.
Committee Appointed to Call
One if Necessary.

MEMPHIS, 1enQ.s JuuS 14--AH 1AO
second day of the silver convention
here Senator Stewart. of Nevada, and
other speakers addressed the delegates
in the morning. Immediately after
the convention was called to order for
the afternoon session Senator j. K
Jones' as chairman, presented the re-
port of the committee on resolutions,
which he read as follows:
Silver and gold coin have In all ages cOnsti-
tuted the money of the world were the money
Of the fathers of the republic; the money Of
history and Of the constitution. The universal
experience of mankind has demonstrated that
the Joint use of both silver and gold coin as
one money constitutes the most stable stand
ard of values; that the full amount OF
both metals is necessary as a medium
of exchange The demonetization Of
ais means an appreciation from the
value of money, a fall in the prices
OF commodities, diminution of the profits
of legitimate business, continu ing increase
in the burden Of debts, a withdrawal OF
money from the channels of trade and in
dustry, where 1t no longer yields safe and
sure return, and its idle accumulation in
the banks and in the great money centers
of the country. There is no health or sound
ness in a financial system under which a
boarded dollar yields q constantly diminishing
return, and under which fortunes are made by
the accretions of idle capital destroyed by
and a persistent dWindling in the margin Of
profits in almost every branch of useful indus
try. Such a system is premium upon sloth
and a penalty upon industry, and such sys-
TEN is that which the criminal legislation OF
1873 has imposed upon this country.
The bimetallists' standard of silver and gold
has behind it the experience of ages, and has
been tested and approved by the enlightened
and deliberate judgment of mankind. The
gold standard is a departure from the estab-
nshed policy of the civilized world with moth
ing to commend it but twenty-five years of
depression and disaster to the people and ex-
traordinary accumulation of wealth in the
hands OF the few.
There are some facts bearing upon this ques-
ton recognized and admitted by all candid
men, whether advocates of bimetapism Of
the single gold standard. Among these is the
fact that the very year that marked the change
from the bimetallic to the single gold standard
is the very year that marked the change from
condition of rising prices, large profits, gen.
eral contentment and great prosperity, to
condition of an increased demand, falling
prices, diminishing profits, insecurity of in
vestments, unemployed labor and heavy de-
preston in all branches of trade and industry.
It is not matter OF dispute, even among the
honest advocates of the gold standard, that
general prosperity came to an end with the
destruction of the bimetallie system, and that
hard times, falling prices, idle workingmen
and widespread depression came in with the
gold standard and prevails to-day wherever the
gold standard has been adopted Every inter-
national monetary conference called, every
demand in this country and in Europe for
an international agreement to re-esta blish the
bimetaIlic standard is a confession that the
decentralization OF silver blunder, If not
crime, that its consequences have been dtSas-
trous and that the conditions that it has
wrought are full of menace and OF peril The
logic of facts establishes beyond in
teiligent question that the destruction
of silver as primary money by
spiracy of selfish interests is the cause
0f 40 XII
that began with the gold standard. There can
be no restoration of prosperity, permanent
relief from prevailing conditions until the
great cause has been removed by a complete
restoration of silver to its proper place as a
money metal equal with gold.
ave believe in a money of stable value. We
believe, least OF all in an approaching stand
ard 1t is only through the practical operation
of binetallism that a stable standard Of value
can be secured. A standard constituted of
money constantly increasing the value is not
sound, a single, stable standard, but a
constantly changing standard. The effect OF
gold monometallism is to establish one stand
ard for the creditor and another for the debtor
and there can be no more dishonest monetary
system than that which gives short measure
to the borrower and long measure to the
lender.
Under the policy prevailing prior to 1878
there can be no violent change in the relative
value Of the two metals for a rise in value of
one metal is eounteracted by a decreased de-
mand and fall in value. Under the opera
tions of this benehcent law stable relation
was maintained between them in spite Of the
most extreme changes in relative pro-
auctions. From the earliest period of
history up to 1873 the right of
the debtor to choose whether he should pay his
debts in silver or gold coin always recog-
nized. The subsequent policy has been to
transfer this right to the creditor, thus tend
t&8 TO constantly increase the value of the
Gearer metal and destroy the parity between
them. Believing that It is absolutely neces-
sary to reverse this ubiquitous and ruinous
policy, We, therefore, resolve:
That we favor the immediate restoration of
silver TO its former place full legal tender
standard money equal with gold, and the free
and unlimited coinage of both silver and gold
at the ratio of 10 to l, and upon terms Of exact
equality; that while we should welcome the
cooperation of other nations, we believe that
the United States should not wait upon the
pleasure of foreign governments, or the con-
sent Of foreign creditors. but should them
selves proceed to reverse the grinding pro-
cess" that is destroying the prosperity of the
people and should lead by their own example
the nations of the earth.
That the rights Of the American people the
interests Of American labor ana the prosperity
OF American industry have a higher claim to
the consideration of the peoples lawmakers
than the greed of foreign creditors or the
aVariciOus demands made by idle holders of
idle capital" The right to regulate its own
monetary system in the interests OF its own
people is a right which no free governments
OtAA D@A SOAt sci VI S0AActiOC4- Inns reserved
right is part OF every bond, of every contract
and every obligation. No creditor or cIaimant
set up right that can take precedence
over nations obligations to promote the well
fare Of the masses OF it's own people. This is a
debt higher and more binding than all other
debts, and one which is not only dishonest
but reasonable, to ignore.
Under the hnanc ial policy that now prevails
we see the land filled with idle ana discon-
tented Workingmen and an ever growing
army of traInPsi men whom lack Of work
and opportunity have made outcasts and
beggars At the other end we dnd that
few thousand families own one-half
the wealth Of the country. The centralf-
cation of wealth has gone hand in hand
with the spread of poverty. The pauper and
the plutocrat are twin children of the same
vicious and unholy system. The situation is
full of menace to the liberties OF the people
and the life of the republic. The issue is en-
fraAchisement or hopeless servitude- What