Hopkinsville Kentuckian. [volume] (Hopkinsville, Ky.) 1889-1918, 1895-06-14

neither one, but both. Applause.
Men tell you in the discussion OF thi
question that one side favored the de
monetization of silver and the othei
favored remonetization of silver Le'
us understand those terms in oroei
tsat we may intelligently pass upon
Anis question. The decentralization OIL
silver means that silver was once rec
ognized as lawful money OF the
American people. Somebody saw MT,
fSs purposes doubtless satisfactory to
themselves, to change that relation
and struck it down by passing law
declaring that silver should no longer
be a primary money for the payment
of debts That is demonstration Re-
monetizaticn means simply to restore
silver to the position it held years gone
Ibv. Surely we can all understand
that.
Again, they tell you about the ratio
that one metal is to bear to the other.
That means nothing except the num-
Der of grains of silver that shall be
equal to one grain of gold. The coun-
try is familiar with that expression,
which is upon every lip-l6 to /. Six
teen to one simply means that sixteen
grains of silver shall be considered
equal in value to ne grain of gold.
They tell about the parity between
these two metals. Translate that into
plain English and it simply means an
equality of the value of metals. The
metals are at a parity when gold dol
lar of so many grains is equal in value
30 a s;1yar dollar oonnosaJ nf c;vtaap
times that many grains. These are
the elementary propositions, it is nee
"essary that we shall understand before
beginning to discuss this que stion, and
I trust and believe there is no room
for a failure to comprehend it. No
matter how young the child, it is easy
for him to take in these postulates
r which are Indispensable to an intelli-
, gent consideration of this question.
The Issue Stated.
Now let me begin by saying that
there never were but two monetary sys-
TENS in this country. When you es-
tablished your independence none
tary system was esta blished by the
! American people. Up to that time we
lived under the English system of
pounds, shillings and pence. But it
was thought by the founders of this
government that nation of people
who had been able to achieve it's own
Independence from British power ought
to be able to establish and maintain it's
own financial or money system. Con-
sequently an American citizen of that
date, the ablest thinker, the brightest
statesman, the truest citizen and pa
triot, whose name stands out brightest
among that shining list of immortals
that blaze upon the imperishable pages
of your history, the author of the dec
1aration of national independence, the
craftsman of the first platform that
was ever adopted by a national dem o.
cratic observation-disclosures Jefferson
was the author of the law of 1892,
passed by congress, that kicked the Eng
.1ish monetary system into the Atlantic
ocean, discarded it, spurned it and sent
1T back to that despotic shore whose
-driveling clutches our forefathers had
just loosened from our Threats. The
act of 1899 constituted the first Amer
sican monetary system we had. That
was the system given to you by Thomas
jefferson.
There never has to this blessed hour
been but one other system esta blished
upon this continent, and that was the
system established in 1878 by Senator
Sherman, of Ohio, and that is, the sys-
tenn under which we live to-day. JEFF
ferson's system gave you what is called
the double standard. Translated into
English that means that it was based
upon both gold and silver as the money
of the American people. The system
of Senator Sherman gives you what is
called single standard. Translated
into English that means that the Sher-
man system leaves you gold as the
only primary money for this people,
and struck down silver from the list of
precious metals.
That is the issue and that is all the
issue. 1t is for you to determine which
of the two you like best, whether the
jefferson or the sherman system 1t
matters not to me who agrees with me
or who opposes me. / am fair. No man
can deny my fairness when / say
stand here to-day the humble apostle
of the Jeffersonian original demo-
cratic system of money in this coun-
try and opposing the recent-day dis
covery of John sherman, of Ohio, and
the system that he substituted Zap
plause. Between those two you
choose. / admit that those whose views
differ from mine are to-day filing this
country with their loud clamorings,
appealing to the nallowed and we'll
nigh sainted names of Jefferson and
jackson in support of the heresy
they preach. Protect us. Heaves, from
such dissertation! Jefferson's name
conjured up to support Senator Sher-
mans system as substitute for his
own. Jefferson's memory outraged
and his shadow subpenaed as wit
ness to appear before the bar of public
opinion in support of the theory and
the monetary system of the man who
proposes and who insists upon turning