Fort Worth gazette. [volume] (Fort Worth, Tex.) 1891-1898, 1895-09-11

slant fluctuations. Two-thirds OF all
our cotton must be exported and sold
by gold value. The price OF the whole
crop. at home and abroad, will be nxcd
by the gold standard. but every pound
OF II VIII be sold by American farmers
by the silver standard. when the
American farmer secs cotton quoted
at so many cents or pence per pound
in Liverpool. he knows that II Is so
much In gold, but he does not know
now much the silver will be worth
with which he will be paid for his cot
ton. No one can tell from the fiuctua-
lions in silver what cotton Will be
worth In silver or what silver will he
worth In gold. instead OF legitimate
business exchange. where every one
knows with what value he parts and
what he receives. our products will be
sold by a system OF commercial gam
bling with fiuctuating standard BY
which the producer must In every In
stance be defraudcd II Il cotton spin
ner In Europe should send a hundred
thousand dollars In gold to the United
states To buy cotton. the buyer would
ilrst have to convert his gold into sill
YER. He would look at the market
prices OF silver. and II he should lind
at the time that one dollar Ia gold
was worth tho In silver, he would buy
two hundred thousand silver dollars.
u before he purcased the cotton silver
should fall ten per cent, some one
would have TO hear that loss. The cot
ton buyer must answer TO his principals
for one hundred thousand dollors worth
| OF cotton on the gold valuation. lie
must either lose the ten per cent or
make the cotton producer lose It. He
cannot carry Oh his business by ASSUME
| ing such risks himself. Every buyer
| VIII have to insure himself against
loss by such fluctuations, and every
one Will insure himself out OF the pock-
| cts of the producer The cotton buyer
| lp4a 4 IL kpasttI hu al
every day In his business. The bus-
ness would have to stop under such
conditions, The farmer must lose II
! because the crops must be grown, and
II must be sold FOR whatever It will
| bring In the market. The farmer must
| pay all cost of producing his crop and
all cost in and about ite transporta-
tion to market, and then sell at the
! market price. Insurance against loss
caused by the fluctuations in silver will
be a part OF the costs he must pay.
Believing that the silver standard
WOULD PROVE INJURIOUS
To the people OF the United States,
and especially to that part or thom en-
gagged In growing cotton, am I'M
willing TO take any steps In legislation
calculated TO imperll that great in
dustry upon which the welfare OF my
| constituency so greatly depends
Some OF my Democratic friends say
that In their advocacy OF l6 TO 1 they
are with jefferson. lie was both gold
ard silver but he was not FOR 10 to I.
He was not for any legal ratio because
II was the established tatlc OF any
government He utterly discarded
legal ratios and refused TO consider
them In establishing the relative value
of the two metals In 1892 lie was for
both metals and on any ratio that
would have kept both In circulation.
He specially discarded the legal ratios
Of other countries from consideration
because they could not control the
movements Of the metals, He laid
down the principle that In adopting a
ratio Tor ourselves we must discard
legal ratios altogether. He said Just
principles viii lead us to disregard
legal proportions altogether; to inquire
into the market prices of gold In the
several countries with which we shall
principally be connected In commerce
and to take an average from them"
At the time he wrote he said, The
legal proportion In Spain Is 10 to l. In
England IS 1-2 TO In France 10 to l."
lie said II would be "lnnccurnte" to
fix the proportions of gold to silver
by the coinage laws OF these countries
because, as he says, ut Is mercantile
problem altogether" II " II problem
I of markets, not of mints, When his
1 attention was called to this statement
which he had made on former oc-
caslon, he repeated and emphasized II
and again said, THE true proportion
of value between gold ana silver is u
mercantile problem altogether" And
to show how he arrived at the true
proportion TO be fixed for our coinage
he quotes the market prices OF gold
and silver In England, France, Ger
many, Russia. Holland. Spain and
Savoy. no open our mints at the legal
proportion OF l6 TO ! would be to re-
verse the principle announced by Mr..
jefferson and 10 discard the market
value altogether and take legal ratio
that was erroneous by about two per
cent when adopted and Is now errone-
Gus by forty-elght per cent II i6 to
failed to secure blmetalllsm at two per
cent variation, Is II not much more
likely TO fail at forty-eight per cent? |
am always willing to stand In the foot
steps OF the great founder of our party
and to follow wherever he leads In
defining the principles and policies Of
government. / am willing now to Join
my Democratic friends In amy effort TO
ascertain the market value OF silver
and gold and open the minis to the un.
limited coinage of both metals at that
relative value, The experiment may be
n success or It may not. If II should
not, the undervalued metal would leave
our circulation, but the margin OF
difference would be no small when the
change occurred that little injury
would result. Cannot all Democrats
agree that this IL Ia fact
A MERCANTILE PROBLEM
altogether Can we not agree that we
win Inquire into the market price OF
gold IN the several countries with
which We shall principally be connected
in commerce and take an average
from them? That average would now
be found somewhere between ~ 10 !
and 32 TO l. II we can agree on the
principle II will be very easy TO ar
range the details.
| will dismiss this part OF the sub
ject with this statement. ! am n pub
: lie servant and representative Of the
. people OF Texas I'm the senate. re-
cognize the obligation Of representa-
tive to reflect the Will OF his constitu-
, ents or resign his trust. In the last
, state convention a proposition TO coin
silver without limit at 10 to was
negatlyed Until u different deliver
: an,e Is made by the Democracy OF
Texas. l shall vote against the ratio OF
, 10 TO I. II the state convention OF my
party. which assemblies next year
should declare In favor OF that PROPOSE
i tion. my vote shall reflect thelr Will.
. not mine. ! stand always upon the
foundation stone Of free popular gov
eminent as declared by Its great foun-
der In this country. Absolute ac-
, quiescenee in the decisions OF the ma
tority the vital principle OF republics.
from which there IL no appeal but to