The Scranton tribune. [volume] (Scranton, Pa.) 1891-1910, 1895-04-19
Let the Truth BE Presented.

and free discussion of the financial
question--a wish, by the way, which
induces The Tribune to offer its
columns for that purpose to all who
have arguments to present on any side
the Washington Post, a gold single
standard paper, is moved to suggest
that the gold men get down from mere
generalities, which may mean little or
much to details. 1t well says: 1.-The
popular mind requires something more
specific than phrases-something more
tangible than eplgrams. And this is
especially important in view of the
fact that, while the gold men confine
themselves to vague generalities. the
silver men offer direct arguments and
specific illustrations addressed to the
capacity of the average understanding
Take, for example, one proposition ad-
vanced by Mr.. w. II. Harvey, of the
Chicago bimetallic committee:
"A debt for $1,000 that l,O00 bushels of
wheat would have paid ten years ago.
now requires the farmer to give up 1000
bushels of wheat in exchange for these
dollars with which to pay the same debt
The debts now in existence are principally
old debts, or renewed or refunded debts
or new debts contracted to pay old debts
or debts which the people have been forced
to contract by reason of the continued de-
cline in prices. The owners of products
erit. t,,tinn
erty to pay their taxes as in 1873. Seven
teen thousand bushels of wheat would
have paid the presidents salary of $25, 900
in 1873 and 1t now requires 100, 900 bushels
Of wheat to pay your annual salary Of
$4,000 Taxes have been increased as ex-
pressed in dollars, and have been doubled
and quadrupled as measured in the prop
erty which the people surrender with
which to pay IL since 1873"
Here is something that any one can
comprehend, and what gives it special
effect is the circumstance of it's direct
personal application to nine men out of
every ten in the country. The infer
ence is that the eXchangeable value of
the farmers products has decreased in
proportion as the value of the single
standard dollar has appreciated. The
debtor has the same number of dollars
as ever to pay, but his means of paying
have been reduced one-half. Is this a
fallacy? Then, the gold men had bet
ter set about exposing it. For, un-
questionably, if it be not fallacy, but
just and accurate statement Of the
case, the gold men will soon find them
selves in minority so insignificant as
hardly to be worth considering. But
they need to bestir themselves. The
silver men are advancing arguments
Ineligible to the people and they can
not afford to retort with trite maxims
and stereotyped phrases which the peo-
pie do not regard. Let us have, as Mr..
Cleveland puts it, "a plain and simple
presentation of the argument in favor
of sound money prefaced by an ex-
planation of what sound money is, and
why It Is sound, and followed by a few
of the more striking reasons why a cur
rency OF that description Is better for
the masses of the people than the kind
Of currency proposed by the bimetall-
lists"
We can heartily concur In the Posts
request, although, following the Re-
publican national and state platforms,
we believe in bimetalllc rather than
in a single gold standard. The cause
of good money, properly understood, is
the cause of ALL Nobody will be
permanently benefited by poor money;
by money which does not retain a
practically uniform value covering a
long period of years. The only way to
make these facts plain to the people is
to discuss them, and to bring the facts
home to the masses in way that the
masses can understand. At an early
day we hope to print both of the adj
dresses recently delivered at Harris
burg by Mr. Clark, for bimetallism, and
Mr.. Smith for gold monometallism.
Next Saturday we shall print an inter-
esting letter from Colonel r. l.. Hitch
cock, of this city, explaining why he
favors the single gold standard.
Let all sides receive fair hearing.
The sum of all will crystallize as truth.