Mexico weekly ledger., 1895-04-18
NOT AN ENEMY or SILVER,
Governor Stone OF Mississippi Says he
Is rhe White Metals Friend, but
Not an Extremist

atorNl campaign 10 waxing WaFlii ana
the predominant issue is that OF silver
coinage, Governor j, Nj, Stone 10 a
eand date and his opponents have
taken up the 10 to ratio proposition
and are lighting him on the ground
that he is all enemy 70 silver because
he has not indorsed their extreme the
ory, This reused the Governors
friends, and j, ii, kedhead, Of Center
vile wrote and asked him to state
his views 80 that the people could not
be misled as to his position. Ills re-
ply follows;
EXECUTIVE OFFICE, JACKSON, Miss,
April Is. Hon, John IL. kedhead,
Centeryille, Wilkinson County, Miss
Deas' Sir have Your letter of the 9Th
to others have received since, an
noncing for the seat in the United
States Senate now filled by Senator
George. | recognize its relevancy to
my candidacy and the right OF the
voters OF Mississippi to the declaration
for which you ask, and shall endeavor
To comply with your request for an
expression of my views accordingly.
My simple announcement of the
Democratic platform of 1892 is literal
| disproof of any charge that am an
enemy of silver, for the party law de-
clares for the restoration of silver as
standard money and for its equal coin
age with gold as a principle of party
| faith.
The convention which framed and
adopted that instrument, however,
| recognized that silver had become a
deprecated metal, and that existing
laws forbade its unrestricted coinage.
Hence, to preserve the unbroken con
| fidence of the business interests i'll the
stability and soundness of the currency
| in the event of Democratic victory, the
declaration of silver was qualified by
a proviso that ''the dollar unit must be
of intrinsic and exchangeable value,
or be adjusted by international agree
ment or by such safeguards of legisla-
ton as shall insure the maintenance OF
| the parity of the two metals and the
equal power of every dollar at al
times and in all markets in the pay
ment of debts"
We are not left in the dark as to the
motive of this careful and guarded
phraseology, which, much as it has
been characterized of late as strad-
ding, no intelligent and close reading
can misunderstood. 1t was explained
in this sentence: "We insist upon thi.
policy as especially necessary for the
protection of the farming and laboring
classes, the first and most defenseles.
victims of unstable money"
After mature and full deliberatioI
this resolution was agreed upon i'll :
committee composed of Democrats
from every state in the Union as ont
on which all could stand, and after
debate i'll the convention it was adopt
ed with practical unanimity. Pending
it's adoption substitute providing fol
the free coinage of silver exactly a:
low favored by my opponents wa
voted down almost without dissent
ing vote. have thus quoted from oul
party law, Interchangeable until party
again meets in national convention.
was indorsed by the Democratic press
all over the country, and under it {
lgreat victory was won. think l have
thus proved that | am no E'enemy o
silver" further than the Democratic
platform is its enemy, and that an
aot an unsound Democrat by opposing
the free coinage of silver.
Iwould preface what have to sa!
on the currency question by disclaim'
ing all pretentions to mastery of The
monetary science, but | have, / think
reached a right understanding OF
some simple principles which have
been so abundantly verified that they
are in truth facts. These have led mG
to distrust and reject the proposition
that this country can effect the ful
restoration of silver, independent o
the great nations with which we trade
/ maintain that this belief is entirely
consistent with bimetallism, and tha
entertaining it | am less a monometal-
| list in fact than those who favor ma,
tional free silver coinage. 1t is moi
rational to consider the panacea with
out being impressed by the fact thai
| the condition of silver is not due tC
the acts of this country alone. 1t has
been produced by the combined action
| of the United States, Germany, France
| Holland, Austria and the lesser Euro
pean Powers and India, all of which
have closed their mints to silver since
1875. / cannot believe that the wrong
| thus brought on can be cured by this
country alone, nor that any party OF
power can any more disregard the
| difficulties of the case than the Demo
cratic Convention of 1892 did, and
( which led it to refuse to declare for
( free coinage of silver. Had our party
acted otherwise, and succeeded in
passing a free coinage law, believe
the result would have been silver mo-
n0metallism and not bimetallism BIZ
metallism means the use of both gold
and silver as legal tender standard
money. 1t is conceded by all that if
| the mints coined silver free at the
present ratio, 16 to /, the gold would
| cease 10 circulate, unless the silver
| bullion of the world would be raised iii
value to S1.29 per ounce, so that it
would be equivalent to gold coinage al
the ratio of Is to /.
| 1t is fact which the experience of
| this and other countries have demon
strated that if silver is coined free at a
valuation over its market price, even
by cent an ounce, gold will not cir
culate with it, and monometallism is
certain. This is the proof of the nat
ural law that prohibits the concurrent
circulation of moneys of different
value. So, if free silver at 1Gto fail
ed to raise the price of silver as stated
to the gold equivalent, the country
would inevitably lose its gold. AS we
have about $500, 900, 900 of gold money,
certainly no man ought to commit
himself to free coinage of silver unless