The Louisiana Democrat. [volume] (Alexandria, La.) 1845-1918, 1895-10-09
MILLS FOR SOUND MONEY.

MILLS FOR SOUND MONEY.
He Refuses Ioases to Ds Counted VITA
the 6txeee. 30 Ono r-opie.
Senator Mills Of Texas has heretofore
been Chased as o supporter Of free COIN
ago At l8tol. II he ever believed in this
doctrine. he has been convinced by study
and thought Of Its folly and dangers.
That there may be no misunderstanding
he has just written a letter to the CHAIR
mar Of tho Democratic state committee
of Texas. in which he states his position
clearly and forcihly. Here are some ex-
oerpts from his letter Of Sept. 10:
II object TO the silver standard teing
adopted In lleu Of the existing standard
because 1t will dcfrnud all creditors out
Of onel>alf the value Of their debts Ev-
cry debt contracted since Jan. i. 1879,
was contracted Oh the gold standard.
The debtor honestly owes the value Of
23.aa grains of gold for every dollar
promised, aid the creditor is honestly
entitled to receive it. When it was pro-
posed years ago to demonetizc nil tho
coined silver of tho world and suppress
the further coinage Of that motal, I
joined with other friends of silver in
dcnoumiug the monstrous proposition,
because ii WIS an attempt to double tho
debts Of TIE world, and to bring all
debts IN this country contracted on q pa
per standard. much Of it at less than 90
cents en- tic dollar, 10 par with gold. Is
not the proposition now to substitute tho
silver dollar on the silver standard for
that gold dollar the same that wc all
condemned. except it Is the creditor now
who is 20 be tho victim instead Of the
debtor then?
mo persons would receive tho least
benefit from the change Of standard to
silver except tho man who owes 100
cents and wishes to pay It with 80. Ho
would under the silver standard be able
to discharge his debt by paying ons-half
Of what lie promised. This would be a
scheme to enrich une-half Of o comm
nifty by despoiling the other half. Whc,-
ever there is o debtor there is n credit
or. apd he is entitled to tho same pro-
lection as tho debtor. Congress has tho
power to discharge ilsolvont debtors by
a bankrupt law, but the adoption Of tho
silver standard now would discharge all
solvent debtors from olue-hnlf tho ohli-
Cation Of their contracts, cvon tl.ough
as q class they might be the weather.
part OF tho community.
Il object to the silver standard again
because it il net tie standard Of the
country With which we conduct
largest mn,erc Mr.. jefferson says,
TO trade on equal terms the common
measure Of value should be as yearly ns
possible on a par with that Of its CORE
spending nation, whose medium Is In q
sound state. The reason for ii is. as he
says, being Of universal value, 1t will
keep itself on a general level, flowing
out from where 1t is too high into parts
where It Is lower Gold is the common
measure Of value Of the people with
whom We carry ON nine-tonths Of our
foreign trade. and, according to the
principles enunciateI by him, god
should BE- our standard. al IL has been
since the days Of Jackson, Van Barren,
Polk, Pierce aud Buchanan. except dur.
ing the war period from 1864 TO 1879,
when paper was tho standard. II we
supplant gold with silver, then We have
two standards of vulue for oil the arti-
cles that We export Cotton and wheat
will DO bought III this country by the
silver standard and sold In Europe by
tho gold standard. There must be be.
tween these standards constant fnctua.
lions. Two-thirds Of all our cotton must
be exported and sold By gold value. The
price of the whole crop ut homo and
abroad will be fixed by the gold stand.
ard, but every pound Of It will be sold
by American fs m,ers by the silver
standard. When the American Turner
sees cotton quoted at 50 many cents OF
pence per pound In Liverpool, he knows
that it is so much III gold, but he does
not know how much the silver will
be worth with which he will be paid
for his cotton. Instead Of Legitimate
business exchange, where every one
knows with what value he parts and
what he receives. our products will b<
sold by q system of commercial gam.
bling with a fluctuating standard by
which the producer must In every in.
stance be defrauded.
believing that the silver standard
would prove injurious to the people Of
the United States. and especially te
that part of hem engaged in growing
cotton, l am unwilling to take any
steps i'll legislation calcrlatedto imperil
that great Industry uponwhich the vel.
fare Of my constituency SO greatly de-
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