The Scranton tribune. [volume] (Scranton, Pa.) 1891-1910, 1895-04-13
The Recent Silver Debate.

Our respect for the adroitnesS of Hon.
Charles Emory Smith has been measur-
ably increased by the perusal Of what
is generally called his strong plea for
honest" money. delivered in the hall
of the Pennsylvania house of represen-
tatives last Wednesday night. Mr..
Charles Heber Clark, who had, the
evening before, spoken in behalf of the
restoration of silver to its long-held
place as money metal, had presented
figures in proof that the unprecedented
fall in values throughout the world,
during the past decade, had been due
to silver's debasement as a coinage
metal, whereby. as silver fell, gold had
greatly appreciated, until the longer
yardstick naturally measured fewer
yards, or the appreciated gold dollar
fewer units of value. After noting the
fact that by the striking down OF silver,
which had, until 1873, been the almost
universal check upon the fluctuation Of
gold, the gold unit had grown so valu-
able that debts. contracted when gold
and silver were upon a parity. had, un-
der the gold standard, multiplied sew
eral fold, thus directly multiplying the
burdens of the masses-since the
masses, in the final analysis, pay off all
debts-Mr. Clark had declared it TO be
the duty Of the United States to move
at once for silver's rehabilitation, by in
ternational agreement if possible, with
out it If necessary.
The arguments of Mr.. Clark were
well-massed and formidable. They
could not easily be overthrown in fair
attack, because for every statement
made he supplied the proof, not only
certified to by official statistics but also
apparently identified by many men
within the circle Of their own expert
ence. Therefore, Mr.. Smith seems to
have decided to encounter not Mr.
Clark, but an ingenlously fabricated
man of straw, labeled silver mono
metallism-which was doubtless as far
from Mr.. Clark's purpose as the antip-
odes-and he buffets that convenient
dummy figure about with such vigor OF
rhetoric and ingenuity Of statistical
manoeuvering that to the unthinking
It appears almost as If Mr.. Clark him
self were the victim. For example, Mr.
Smith says: Go to silver basis, and
you will have fifty-cent dollars" But
Mr.. Clark does not propose to go to a
silver basis. Why, then, that assertion2
And again: adopt unlimited silver
coinage and all Europe will dump its
reserve silver upon you, and you will be
swamped; chaos and panic will result"
But neither Mr.. Clark. as we interpret
his address, nor many other sensible
Americans seriously believe that we,
alone, can sustain the unlimited free
coinage of silver Hence the elaborate
argument of Mr.. Smith on that supposi-
tion, while interesting as showing what
he can do. is, in real fact, somewhat
aside from the immediate point at Is
sue.
Although political exigency has ap-
parently forced Mr.. Smith into assum-
ing vastly different attitude from that
assumed by Mr.. Clark, the fact is that
when, In serious strain, toward the
close of his brilliant address Mr.. Smith
declared that the restoration of BIZ
metallism throughout the civilized
world was absolutely essential to the
recovery Of depressed values. he planted
himself fairly and squarely on Mr..
Clark's own platform and at the same
time upon the platform of Senator
Cameron, ex-Speaker Reed. Senator AL
lison and dozens Of other leading Re-
ubllcan statesmen and financiers. Mr..
Smith affects to believe, however. that
the gold standard countries will be