Phillipsburg herald. [volume] (Phillipsburg, Kan.) 1882-1905, 1895-05-30
BLACKBURN ON SILVER.
The Kentucky Senator Favors Bimetalllsm
without Reserve or Qualification.

without Reserve or Qualification.
In n late interview Senator Black
burn, of Kentucky, thus declared him
self unequivocally for bimetallism and
free coinage'
'For twenty years in congress and
on the stump, anywhere and every
where, have earnestly and persist
entlv insisted upon the restoration Of
the silver metal to that place in the
money system of the country which 1T
always held prior to the passage OF
that disastrous act OF decentralization
in 1873 If there is one man in public
life in the whole country whose views
on this subject were entitled to be
known to all men by reason OF his acts
and utterances, had reason to believe
| was that man. If there are still any
uniformed who desire to know my
views | will reiterate them in the
shortest space possible by saying am
in favor Of opening the mints OF this
country TO the unlimited coinage OF
the silver metal on an equality with
the coinage of gold.
II am opposed to gold monometal-
ism and just as much opposed to sill
YER monometallism. Without reserva-
ton am a bimetallist. / want and
mean to continue to insist upon the
use of both metals on even terms as
the redemption money of this country
would be glad to see this result
brought about by the result of an in
ternational conference, provided 1T
could be done without delay. am OPP
posed to this government waiting for
any such conference to act, Our eX-
perience with such agencies has not
been such as to give us either conf
dence or hope of the attainment OF
this purpose. On the contrary, our
participations in such conferences have
in their very barrenness become farcical
and ridiculous
"In 1892 this country with only 1000,
600 people was bold enough to prove
itself able to discard the monetary
system of Great Britain and establish
one of its own, which for nearly hun
dred years met demand and stood
every strain that the growth and de-
velopment of the country made upon
it. / believe the destruction (entailed
upon us by the decentralization policy
of one-half of our redemption money
has contributed more than any cause
to the shrinkage of all values, the de-
probation of all property, the stagna'
tion of trade, the paralysis of industry,
and the financial troubles in which we
now find ourselves. Whilst it may be
true the restoration of silver to its
place Of unrestricted coinage and UNI
limited legal tender functions may not
prove panacea for the ills we now
suffer, am convinced it will do more
and 40 further in that direction than
any one piece of legislation that has
been suggested. | have an abiding
faith in the capacity of this metal to
work out and taai4 tain its permanent
parity with gold, provided the oppress-
i've hand of the law is FSRloved and the
mintS OF the country thrown open to
its coinage, / believe and always did
believe that the act of 1878 was an un-
constitutional measure. believe the
act would have hesp so held by the
supreme court of the United States
had not partisan spirit dominated
the action of that tribunal.
II agree with Daniel Webster, who,
in his day, and even to this day, was
and is still held to be something of an
authority as o constitutional lawyer.
He declared the constitution of the
United States made gold and SILVER the
redemption money of this country, iaatppdl
that neither congress nor any state
had any rightful power to substitute
any other or 10 destroy one or the
other of these metals,
~ am in favor of The TestGration OF
the silver metal at the ratio of ~ 10 ],
believing, in the light of an experiences
that covers century, such FatiQ will
establish end maintain permanently
the parity heNWeen the two metals.
believe we should take this action at
the earliest day possible, independent
,of the policies or views OF Other ma
tions. have an abiding faith Az the
ability of my country to establish .apd
maintain its own monetary system as
that which l cherish in its ability TO
defend its own soil from invasion or
Its institutions from assault.
"The American people are not be
hoodwinked or deceived further. They
are at last thinking, and the result of
their investigation will vindicate the
right. No employment Of catch
phrases will determine the popular
verdict. The people are rapidly COM
ing to know that the issue before them
is not, gold monometalliSm upon the
one side and silver monomctallism
on the other, but it is rather contest
between the advocates of single gold
standard upon the one hand and those
who demand the use of both silver and
gold on the other.
For one to claim that he is BIZ
lmetalist, coupled with the condition
that bimetallism is to be brought
abont only as result of international
conference is mere evasion of the
situation. That is simply the work of
the lawyer who files affidavit for con-
tinuanee."