Morris tribune., 1895-07-17

facts, and shall attempt to prove tina
the entire theory set forth by it's author
if adopted by the people of this country
would lead only to business disaster
and financial ruin. do not remember
ever to have examined book carefully
in which l found so few statements
that I consider worthy of belief, and
certainly never saw SO many absolu te
errors crammed into SO few pages
Not Opposed to Bimetalism.
am not here as an opponent of bi'
metalism. l believe in the use of gold
and silver as money to the fullest eK-
tent that can be done on sound busi-
ness principles. My position upon this
question has been too frequently stated
derstood by anyone. believe that both
gold and silver are the natural money
of the world; that in all the larger
transactions gold is better adapted to
the necessities of the people than silver;
that oil the smaller business transac-
tions of the human family for many
years have been and always should be
conducted with silver. | also believe
that in all transactions of the nations
of the world, between themselves, the
two metals should be used in the set
tling of business balances, but only at
their commercial va,ue, [ also believe
that in the business Of our nation the
people should never attempt to use
either metal, except that it be at equal
value, only in cases where one metal
may be used as token money, and may
be made redeemab.e in metal at its coin
value.
Hopes for International Agreement.
have always entertained the hope
that the business men of the world
would yet come together in an inter-
national convention and agree upon
some basis whereby gold and silver can
both be used as the money of final set
tlement among the people of the entire
world. am very Gear in my idea
that until some such arrangement shall
be made, it would be simply suicide for
this nation to adopt a system of the free
coinage of silver upon the old ratio, a
ratio which all the civilized nations OF
the world have long since discarded. l
do not believe that any one government
can fix the value Of any two metals,
and name ratio which will be ac-
cepted by the people of the world, or of
the country itself, SO that the two met
ais would be used side by side. Con-
sequently if our nation alone should at
tempt any such action, it would sim
ply place our country upon silver
basis, and the attempt
Would End in Recommendation.
If we are compelled to decide between
gold monometallism and silver mono
metal4ism, then I am decidedly in favor
OF adopting the standard used by the
civilized nations of the world. [ do
not believe that silver has ever been de-
monetized anywhere in the word. I
believe that the law of 1878, which Mr..
Harvey's book denounces as "crime'
was honestly conceived, openly advo-
Gated and passed by the American con-
gress after full elaboration and because
the people at that time who held seats in
the American congress believed
that such law ought to be
enacted do not believe in the teach
ings of this book, that this nation is on
the verge of financial ruin, or that
starvation is staring our people in the
face. I believe ii our nation should
adopt the course advocated in this
book, we would seriously injure the en-.
tire wage earners of the United States
I believe we would destroy the conf
dence of the busines men of the world
in our integrity as nation, and that
we would
Precipit tie Such Financial Panic
as our country has never before seen.
I shall deny most emphaticully that the
great majority of the people of this
are in debt, and shall insist
that three-fourths of the American
people are today creditors and not debt
ors, and that consequently the system
which Mr.. Harvey advocates would
work great injury to the vast majority
of American citizens.
I will state still further that if this
book, about which we are going to de.
bate, is true, then am all wrong, 1t
seems to me devoid Of business sense
rom beginning to end, and I shall
enter upon the work of attempting to
prove that and hope to be able to do it
n language that shall be so plain and
explicit that my fellow citizens will be
satisfied that have accomplished my
ask. Understand me in few words:
I believe that the American nation
hould have just as good money as any
lation uses on the face of the earth; I
believe that every doll paid to a poor
nan for his daily toll should be worth
IS much as the dollars paid to men wao
re rich I would have the moAey
which measures values the
Most Stable That Can BE Devised,
md would insist that buyers and SELL
RS, lenders and debtors shall. as near
IS possible, be required to use the same
MEASURE of values, and shall insist that
epudiation in all forms is disgraceful
md dishonorable in the case Of nations.
corporations or individuals.
What our people need is good credit:
,ood money; good principles and
ound business sense. Visionary schemes
nd debased money never yet made q
lation prosperous. The quality OF the
money used in any country is far more
,,,rartant than tha nuantitv lowe