The Yale expositor., 1895-06-28
SILVER MUST RETURN.
ESSENTIAL POINTS IN DEBATE
CLEARLY STATED.
@. s. Collins OF Little Rock, Ark, n
Leading Lawyer Sets Fortn His Views
ON the Great Question of the
Day.

believe l am able, as an outsider
from the rural districts, disassociated
from the confusion that is being inter-
jected into the debate, to say how the
controversy is going and how 1t must
end If the American people are true to
themselves.
Blanche, Tray and Sweetheart"
Just now, are raising a great noise rela-
tive to a variety of conundrums
which have no relation whatever to the
questions in which the American peo-
pie have so profound an interest. IL
1t be true, upon principle, and as an
economic pOstulate, that the money OF
ultimate redemption exercises an ag-
gressive influence upon the price level
OF commodities and upon the values OF
all forms Of property, the product OF
labor; and If it be true that the strik-
ing down of one-half of the money OF
ultimate redemption has created an APP
preciating standard of value in gold,
which is unstable land hence unsound),
then the bimetallists, who are strug-
Cling to restore silver to the same re-
lations it occupied prior to 1873, are
right, and our modern economists, who
are endeavoring to challenge the ak
IONS of the centuries, are wrong.
If they are right at all they are aw-
fully right. 1t then becomes a ques-
ton Of such vital importance as to
involve, as an economic principle, the
liberties of mankind and the peril OF
reducing our people to the condition OF
the European peasantry by a law as
Irresistible as a problem in mathe-
MATES.
If this question is determined in the
affirmative then the only other ques-
ton to discuss will be how can the
American people escape the dire results
of system fastened upon them, 1t
matters not how; whether information
al action rs probable or even possible,
and whether "a new declaration of in
dependence" is not only the duty, but
the necessity of the hour, are the ques-
tions that should and will absorb the
intellectualities of the people. 1t serves
no purpose, as the custom of some Is,
to attack Mr.. Harvey and the "Finan-
cial School" as to fancied inaccuracies
in non-essential details. Prof. Laugh
lin and others, l observe, are very Bit
ter because they imagine that Coin Is
inaccurate in his Interpretation OF the
act OF 1892 in declaring that the unit
of value was placed at 37A grains OF
of1xfav. md that OnlA fhnnOh hqV-
ing equal privileges and redemption
power, was required to correlate with
and conform to the silver unit, and not
the silver to 1t, for the reasons stated
in the book. It has no bearing what
ever upon the momentous question at
issue. It matters not which is right.
At last both agree that from 1892 to
1873, under laws powerful enough to
make themselves dominant throughout
the world, both gold and silver were
money of final payment, and whether in
circulation or not constituted jointly
a measure of value in the markets of
the world.
Since 1873, as we contend, gold alone
has formed that measure. That it is
an approaching standard rapidly being
cornered in the war chests and treas
uries of the nations and regardless OF
other influences .dwelt upon by the
new school (Which in all proper cases
are admitted by us) the single stan
dard in gold Is hammering down the
values of our property ard placing
prosperity, in so far as the masses are
concerned, beyond the reach Of hope.
Admit that other influences have CO.
operated and are now cooperating,
both in accelerating and retarding the
downward tendency. At last the ques-
ton must be whether or not there is
such an economic principle as the one
proposed and this old world has waited
through the centuries for "our wise
men of the east" to doubt it. Neither
does II matter whether the act of 1873
was nassed by stealth or not. In the
sense Coin" states it, whether 1t was
done designedly or not, the country will
believe 1t. The American people were
not conscious of the far-reaching sig
nifcance of what was being done. Con-
gressmen and senator's were equally at
fault. 1t did not appear in the dis
matches. nor was it mentioned or dis
cussed by newspaper anywhere,
though the same question that is now
shaking the nation. A year or two
ago Prof. Gilmore at st. Louis went
to his room, ate banana and drank
glass of champagne and lay down and
died. The chemical affinities between
the wine and fruit formed rank pois-
on in his stomach. He was unconscious
of what he was doing, but 1t was ne ger
theless poison and cost him his life.
A chemist might have known and dis
cussed the subject, but If he failed to
caution Gilmore as to what would be
the result he was none the less de-
ceived. 1t serves no vital purpose now
to determine how the act was passed.
1t was passed and we are now wrestling
with the results.
The spirit of the fathers is awake In
their sons. They are going to solve
this problem for themselves. This time
-. ,.,;co rnan will mt find IL eaev IN