Eagle River Democrat. [volume] (Eagle River, Vilas County, Wis.) 1893-1896, 1895-12-09

by the fiat Of law and without compensation
an amount of property and volume of rights
and interests almost incalculable. Those who
advocates a blind and headlong plunge to free
coinage in the name of bimetallism and pro-
Tossing to belief contrary to all experience
that we should thus establish double stand
ard and concurrent circulation of both
metals in our coinage are certainly reckoning
from cloudy standpoint. Our present stan
dard of value is the standard of the civilized
world and permits the only bimetallism now
possible, or at least that is within the IN
dependent reach of any single nation, now
ever powerful that nation may be- While
the value of gold as a standard is stead1ed
by almost universal commercial and business
use, it does not despise silver nor seek It's
maintained there is at its side In free and
unquestioned circulation volume of silver
currency sometimes equaling and sometimes
even exceeding it in amount both maintain
ed at parity Notwithstanding a dreprecia-
ton ductuation in the intrinsic value of
silver.
Theory VS.. Practice.
There is vast difference between a stand
ard of value and a currency for monetary use.
The standard must necessarily be fixed and
certain. The currency may be in divers forms
and of various kinds No silver standard
country has a gold currency in circulation,
but an enlightened and wise system of finance
secures the benefits of both gold and silver
rs currency and circulating medium by keep
ing the standard stable and all old currency
at par with it. Such system and such
standard also give free scope for the use and
expansion of safe and conservative credit,
so indispensable to broad and growing COM
mercial transactions and so well substituted
for the actual use of money. If fixed and
stable standard is maintained, such as the
magnitude and safety of our commercial
transactions and business require, the use of
money itself is conveniently minimized
J, Every dollar Of fixed and stable value has
through the agency of confident credit an as
tonlshlng capacity Of multiplying itself IN
financial work Every unstable and fuctu-
ating dollar fails as q basis of credit and in
0PQntS gambling
dermines the foundations Of honest enterprise
I have ventured to express myself on this
subject with earnestnesS and plainnesS of
speech because cannot rid myself of the be-
lief that there turks in the proposition for
the free coinage of silver, so strongly ap-
proved and so enthusiastically advocated by
multitude of my countrymen q serious
menace to prosperity and an insidious
temptation of our people to wander from the
allegiance they owe to public and private in
tegrity. 1t is because do not distrust the
good faith and sincerity of those who press
zeal submitted my thoughts upon this mo-
mentous subject. l cannot refrain from
begging them to re6xamine their views and
beliefs in the light Of patriotic reason and
familiar experience and to weigh again and
again the consequences of such legislation
as their efforts have invited. Even the con-
to the difficulties of a dangerous financial
situation already forced upon US.
In conclusion, especially entreat the peo-
pies representatives in the Congress, who
are charged with the responsibility of inau-
gurating measures for the safety and pros
perity of common country, to promptly
and effectively consider the ills of our criti-
cal financial plight. I have suggested a.
remedy which my judgment approves. / de-
sire, however to assure the Congress that
prepared to cooperate with them in per-
fecting any other measure promising thor
ough and practical relief, and that I will
gladly labor with them in every patriotic en-
deavor to further the interests and guard the
welfare of countrymen, whom, in our
respective places of duty we have undertaken
to serve.
E GROVER CLEVELAND.
Executive Mansion, Washington, D. c., Dec.
g. 1895.