The Scranton tribune. [volume] (Scranton, Pa.) 1891-1910, 1895-05-24
Carlisle ON CURRENCY
An Address on Sound Money" Be-
fore Memphis Capitalists.
OLD ARGUMENTS ARE REVIVED
Ancient BuGaboos Decorated with the
Red Paint of EIoguence - iianky.
pnnky Logic for the Unsophisticat.
cd-Wild Cat Money advocated.

Memphis Tenn, May 2S-Under a
| banner with the inscription. Sound
! Currency and Better Banking Faclli.
| ties" between 200 ana 500 representa-,
| tive men of the southern states assem-
| bled ut the Auditorium this afternoon
| to express their opposition to the doe
/ trine of the free and unlimited coinage
| of silver and To declare In favor of the
I continuance of present monetary condi-
| tions.
The appearance on the platform of
| Secretary Carlisle, escorted by the exc
| cutive committee. was the signal for the
| first enthusiasm of the day, Secretary
| Carlisle's address was given as follows:
Secretary Cnriisle's Address
| Mr.. President, do not think the impor-
| tance of the questions YOU are called upon
/ TO consider can be over-est,mated. or that
! the gravity of the situation can be over
stated. The proposition to revolution.2e
/ our monetary system and thus destroy
| the credit of the government and the pCo-
pie at home and abroad, violate the obli-
cations of all contracts, unsettle all eN
Changeable values. reduce the wages Of
labor. expel capital from our country.
and seriously obstruct the trade of our
| people among themselves and with the
peoples of other nations, is one which chal-
lenges the intelligence. patriotism. and
commercial honor of every man TO whom
1t is addressed. No matter what may he
| the real purposes and motives of those who
make the proposition to legal!ze the free
| and unlimited coinage of silver at the
| ratio of 10 to /. these are the consequences
| involved in their scheme, and, in my
| opinion, they cannot be avoided if it
should be adopted. In no part of the
country will the consequences of such a
policy prove more injurious to the mate
rial interests OF the people than in the
undeveloped and progressive South. When'
the great civil war closed. your industrial
| system was destroyed, your commercial
relations were all broken up. your cur
rency was worthless, your farms We're
devastated. your mines were closed, your
forests We're untouched, your water power
was useless, and your railways were un-
| safe and Inadequate, even for the limited
service they had to perform; but your
great natural resources were still unim
paired, and upon that foundation you have
! constructed, and are still constructing, y
system of diversified industries and inter-
state and International commerce which,
| If not disturbed by unwise experiments in
financial legislation, must attract to
your section of the country all the active
| capital and skilled labor necessary to
| make it the most prosperous part of the
| continent. Your magnificent deposits of
| coal and iron, your fertile soil, adapted to
I the growth of cotton, sugar, and many
other products which no other part of the
country will yield, your unrivalled facll-
| tiles for the manufacture of iron and
steel, cotton goods, lumber, OIL furniture,
and almost innumerable other articles
| nj oh ha OH yIy tbe
: raw materials within your limits, con-
| stitute the elements of a marvellous
growth and prosperity which nothing can
| prevent If the people of the south will
| continue to exhibit in the future the same
spirit of conservatism and the same devo-
| ton to principle that have always char
acterized them in the past. The world
has never Witnessed a grander exhibition
| of courage and fortitude than was pre-
sented here when a defeated and impover-
| ished people, without money or credit
and almost destitute of the tools and i'm
| plements necessary to the performance of
manual labor, went uncomplainingly to
work to Te-establish their social order,
| renew their commercial relations, and
| reconstruct their Industrial system; and
| am unwilling to believe that the same peo-
pie can now be 50 discouraged by tenn
porary business depression, or so moved
by appeals to their prejudices, that they
will hastily resort to new and hazardous
experiments with the currency in which
all their transactions must be conducted.
Results Would BE Disastrous.
| I do not charge that our fellow-citizens
VINO propose to revolutionize our monetary
system by a sudden change in the stand
ard of value really desire to see the busi-
ness. of the country ruined, or even in
jured. or that they believe any injurious
consequences would follow the adoption
of their policy, but, in my judgment, the
results would be most disastrous to the
material interests of all the people in
every part of the country and, therefore,
] shall appeal to them carefully to review
! the grounds upon which their opinions
| have been formed before II is too late to
| correct a possible mistake upon a subject
! of such supreme Importance to themselves
and to their posterity. 1t is not necessary
| to impeach their motives in order to
| answer their arguments, nor would 1t be
wise or proper to underestimate the in
tellectual and material forces behind this
| great popular movement In the South and
| West, movement whic' now seriously
| threatens to disrupt existing political or
ganizatlons and reform party lines: but
no matter what may be the motives or
the present numerical strength of orr
| opponents in this controversy the merits
of the policy they propose to inauSurate
must be subjected to the tests of reason
and experience, and If 1t Is shown to be
| impracticable, or fundamentally wrong
in principle, we may be confident that il
win not finally command the support Of
a majority of our people.
Before proceeding TO the discussion of
the main question presented, II may he
| In1vnntnnpnnq g. In ar at nu hrt ou a..
"a few admitted or well-established facts
having an important bearing upon It,.
| From the earliest times gold and silver
have been used as money, not because
clarlng them to be money any law de-
claring them to be money, but because.
b. reason of Their limited and regular
supply their great value as compared
with other things in proportion TO weight
and bulk and their durability, they were
more stable and convenient than any other
commodity as measures of Value In maxi
ing exchanges. Consequently. these met
ais were used as money by common con-
sent of the people for centuries before
there was any law upon the subject or
any coins In existence; they passed by
weight, ard their values in eflect,np ex-
changes were determined by the quantity
OF pure metal contained in each piece.
Each metal had a distinct value of its
own, and when II was used In trade
neither the buyer nor seller troubled him
self about the ratio between II and the
other metal. Tho laws of trade fixed
and regulated the actual and relative
values of both metals in the purchase and
sale of other commodities, just as they do
now. They had been used as money sew
eral centuries before any government un-
6crtook, by royal proclamation or statute
laA, to establish ratio between them
and, when this character Of legislation was
bogui., the public authorities did not at.