Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1895-05-02
Connecticut Democrats Favor the
Presidents Views.
SO OSAYSEI-REPRESENTATIVED De FOREST
How He States the Case of Sound
Money Men.
EFFECT OF FREE COINAGE

exception indorse the views of President
| Cleveland as recently expressed upon the
| currency question" said ex-Representative
| DeForest of Connecticut to a Star reporter
| today. Il was about to say that 1 did not
| believe that there is a man in the state
| both honest and intelligent who would
| favor free coinage of silver at the ratio Of
| sixteen to one but 1 must qualify this.
| however, by remarking that l did have
| conversation with a gentleman who is
| both honest and intelligent and who SEEM
| ed to adhere to that singular heresy So
| far as I know he is the only man among
my constituents who answers that descrip-
ton. There are, of course, good many
| intelligent men who are knaves and there
| are good many honest men who are
very ignorant and from these two classes
| there may be, probably would be, very
| few who would go in for the sixteen to
one free coinage notion.
| Generally speaking, however, it is safe to
say that Connecticut democracy and all
| New England democracy stands on the an
| cient democratic doctrine-sound currency.
| By that we mean that every dollar used by
the people in commerce. or for any other
purpose which requires circulating me-
dium of exchange and a measure of value,
| that every dollar, l say, SO used should be
| worth dollar We favor the use of both
metals, of course, nobody ever questioned
| that, but we insist, as the democratic plat
| form in the last national campaign in
| sisted, as the democratic party has always
| insisted, that If gold and silver dollars are
issued to be used side by side in the cur
| rency of the people that they should be of
| equal, interchangeable and intrinsic value.
Now. everybody knows that upon the pres
| ent ratio of coinage, sixteen to one, they
are not of equal intrinsic value, that the
! silver dollar is only worth intrinsically
| about one-half as much as the gold dollar.
| And the only thing that keeps the silver
dollar
| in actual use is the construction placed
| upon our currency laws by the Treasury
| Department. to the effect that the govern
ment stands pledged to the redemption of
| the silver currency in gold. That is the
| policy which has heretofore been MAIN
| tanned. And with the repeal of the silver
purchasing clause of the Sherman act and
| in the absence of any further provision for
unlimited coinage of silver at the present
| ratio, it is feasible for the treasury to
| maintain that position. The moment how
| ever. free and unlimited coinage of these
| deprecated ffty-cent silver dollars is
adopted by our government the country
would be flooded with them and the gold
supply would be inadequate for their re-
demption. They would, therefore, sink to
their actual level of value; would be worth
| in exchange only about one-half what they
now command. And We would then have
deprecated silver currency, which would
drive gold entirely out of circulation and
entail upon the country the endless train
of losses, uncertainties, arrangements, in
justices and general ruin in business af-
fairs which always result from such a
condition of the circulating medium and
from arbitrary and sudden changes in the
standard of value.
The Real BimetaIIists.
THE truth therefore, is, as you see, that
we are bimetallists. We are silver men in
the true and honest sense of the word We
| believe in such policy of coinage as will
keep the silver end the gold dollars oircu-
| lating side by side. While these other gen.
| tlemen are making such loud professions
of their bimetallism, they are not bimetal-
| lists at all. They are monometallists; silver
monometallists; deprecated silver mono
metallisls. They are made up of two
| classes: First, the men who have silver to
| sell and want to create a market for it, by
| governmental interference at price Tar
| in excess of what 1t is actually worth. The
| second, those who have contracted obliga-
| tions upon the gold basis and who want an
| opportunity to liquidate them on the basis
| of a deprecated silver currency, and thus
| cheat their creditors out of so per cent of
all that they owe. They will, of course,
| deny that these are their motives, but the
| test is found in the fact that they insist
upon the ratio of sixteen to one. If they
were bimetallsts, in the proper sense of
| that word; if they desire to secure the CO.
equal and co-incident use of both metals in
| our money; that and nothing more, as they
profess, then they would not ask for
| coinage on the ratio of sixteen to one, but
rather on the ratio of thirty-two to one,
| which is about what would be needed in or
| der to secure that kind of bimetalliSm.
| But that would not answer their purpose at
all. For then the silver-producing gentle
man when he brought his money to the
| government market. would not obtain for it
| any more than it was really worth. And
| then the gentleman who was owing debts
| contracted upon the gold basis, when he
| brought his silver dollars to his creditor to
| discharge the obligation, would be obliged
to pay just what he honestly owed. For
| that reason they want no ratio of thirty
two to one-an honest ratio-but ratio OF
| sixteen to one-a dishonest ratio; ratio
the very last effect of which would be to
bring about genuine bimetallism, but the
first and principal and only desired effect
| of which would be an unjust advantage to
| the silver producers and dishonest debtors
The Standard of Value.
at is a little amusing to listen to the ar
| guments which these 16 to 1 patriots are
accustomed to use. In the first place. they
| always go back to the act of 1873, by
which, they say, silver was demonetized
and the standard of value changed. This,
for the most part is a groundless assump-
ton. The standard Of value was not, and
the relative value Of silver was not SO
| much changed by that act as they were
by other changes in the use of silver in
other countries and entirely beyond our
control The act of 1873 undoubtedly had
some effect in that direction, and when
these gentlemen denounce that act for
that reason there is some little justice in
the Indignation which they express. But
| tile amusing feature of the argument is
| that they Immediately turn around and de-
mand. that the government shall perpe-
trate another wrong of precisely the same
character as that which they are denounc-
ing so vocferously. only one of far greater
magnitude. To put it in another way, if
the act of 1873 had a tendency to change
the standard of valuesso far as it affected
the money obligations which had been pre-
viously contracted to, il you please, COM
pei the debtor class to discharge those OBJ
legations in currency intrinscally more
valuable than that in use at the time that
the obligation was contracted, then so far
the act of 1873 was unjust. And for pre-
cisely the same reason change of the
standard now to the deprecated silver
dollar compelling every creditor to
ceive in payment a currency worth only
about one-half intrinsically the value of
that which prevailed when the debt was
contracted, would be still more unjust. 1
do not suppose that any silver philosopher
will be found who will say that 1t is any
| more laudable to cheat creditor than it
is to cheat debtor.
The Creditor Class.
Another singular thing about these ar
u