St. Paul daily globe., 1895-06-01
THAT GAINESVILLE SPEECH A
STARTLING DECLARATION
FOR A REPUBLICAN.
MEANS DEBT REPUTATION.
GREENBACK DOLLARS THE
CHIEF OF OUR EXISTING CUR
RENCY WOES.
INTERNATIONAL BIMETALLIsM
At d Ratio of 15 1-2 to 1 Should Be
Given Test Above Every
thing Else.

ALBANY, N. Y, May Ex-senator
Hill today was asked whether he had
read Senator Sherman's speech on the
monetary question. Yes, SAID tne
senator, II have carefully perused Sen
ator Sherman's GAINESVILLE speech on
silver. If an Ohio Democrat had made
the speech there would have been
condemnation all along the Republican
ranks The implication startled me
that there are,e in a prosperous state
like Ohio, Republican voters who wish
to degrade our dollar standard, repu>
diate one-half our public debt, and pay
their debts in cheaper money than
they promised to pay. [ have not met
such voters in New York. 1t is diff
ficult for me to believe that ma
jority in any American state or in
any American congress will vote to
create a new dollar merely in order
that thereby debtors may evade the
payment of one-half or one-quarter
or any percentage of what they owe,
and have promised. That would be
worse and more indefensible than the
creation in 1862, by Senator Sherman's
party, of the full legal-tender green
back dollar. Then the country was
in the agony of civil war, but now
there is profound peace. Reputation
of private contracts mad not been at
tempted in our history till 1862.
Whether our standard dollar was sil-
yer or gold, or both, it was from 1892
to 1862 an honest standard, an unde-
graded standard. Senator Sherman
said at GAINESVILLE, what was news to
me, that for the fourteen years after
the resumption Of specie payments,
while the Republican party was in
power, we had gold, silver and paper
money passing current in all parts Of
the commercial world [ had never
known that from 1880 to 1884, when
Cleveland came, our silver dollars and
GREENBACK DOLLARS
were exportable like our gold dollars.
One of my objections to our present
government making full legal tender
and greenback dollars is that they are
not exportable. I would exterminate
forever the greenback dollars, which,
by the endless redemption chain, make
the chiefest of our existing currency
woes. 1 would by international BIZ
metallism, by free bimetallic coinage
at ratio Of 151s, and not by Senator
Sherman's bastard bimetallism eXem-
plified in his law of 1890, now repealed,
lift our standard silver dollar into a
worldwide parity with our gold dol
lar. I would thereby put an end to
the degradation of any coined dollar
of ours. I would not have, as now,
one ratio, which is 16 for our silver
dollars, and a higher ratio, as now
for our minted silver. 1 object to
Senator Sherman's misdescription of
the bimetallism of 1892, which, on an
international ratio of 151a, I advocate.
We have suspended the compulsory
treasury purchasing of silver and
coinage of silver dollars. I urged it
in the interest of international bimet-
allism. The suspension is steadily
working in Europe to that end. 1t
has persuaded Bismarck. If I could
have my wish, 1 would not have the
treasury purchase another ounce Of
silver, or coin another silver dollar
under existing conditions, till the pos
sibility of international bimetallism
ON a ratio of 151a has been fairly
tested by the whole power of the
United States, exerted earnestly and
in good faith by their congress, their
president and cabinet, their secretary
of state, their diplomatic and con-
sular agents everywhere"