Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1895-05-02
TIMELY TOPICS.
BY PuBLICOLA.

| BY PuBLICOLA.
The intensity of the present free sill
agitation in some of the Western States
is good illustration of the effects
which always follow a denial of reas
enable reforms or measures which the
people come to feel are wise and nee
essary. In other words, if reasonable
and just concessions are not made re.
sponsive to any generally felt need,
unreasonable demands are likely soon
er or later to be pressed with irresist-
ible force.
Whatever force there may be in the
minds of the gold standard advocates
to the policy of the "free unlimited
coinage of silver at Is to /, it can fur
nish no excuse, so far as I can see, to
the failure to coin liberal amount OF
silver.
The President, and generally the
others who are of his way of thinking.
insist that they are bimetalists-in
favor of both silver ard gold-and yet
Congress after Congress passes with
out any effort being made to formulate
a measure on the;. lines of policy.
Their force seems to be all spent in
simply resisting the free silver agita-
tors, but not in enacting a measure to
pu: in operation their own pretended
policy.
Now. to one ..looking on in Verice, p"
it does seem that this is not stateman-
ship, but at best mere obstruction, and
it does certainly furnish strong pre-
sumption that they are either insincere
in their professions of friendship for
silver, or they are devoid Of construc-
tive craftsmanship. 1t would seem to
an unbiased thinker that those who
profess to be friends of silver, and yet
are opposed to free coinage, should be
able and willing to formulate some law
to put in operation such measure of re-
lief as they profess to favor. II they
really favor silver money. why do they
not step to the front with q measure
providing for the coinage Of say TWEEN
ty. twenty-five or thirty millions of sill
yer annually? This would not suit
tba ..,nl;m;tad,, advocates IL 10 trne
but it would show sincerity, and
willingness to advance In the right di-
rection.
Then, too, why do those who honest
ly believe (as the President does), that
16 to does not make an honest silver
dollar-while the metal In 1t is only
worth so cents in the market-why do
they no. undertake to fix some differ
ent ratio-1S or 20 to il you please,
and thus again secure such liberal
coinage of silver as the needs of the
country seem to demand?
or course, these thoughts are mere
and not in any sense con-
1t does seems to me that the hour
demands something more than mere |
1egdtion: it demands constructive |
Another feature OF our government
ii affairs has seemed very strange to
ne.
The unwonted drainage OF gold from
he U. S. Treasury In the redemption
If the silver certificates in gold coin
las been the source of the distress TO
he u. S. Treasury. Although these
are redeemable in silver
,oin as well as gold. the Treasury de-
,artment has redeemed them In gold /
;oin-even selling bonds at great
sacrifice to borrow gold to do it. Al
.hough there has been wide dissatis-
action at this policy, and vehement
against it, especially by
rec silver people, yet l have never
leard that any member of Congress in
any measure to put stop to
he practice and require the Treasury
to use part of the silver in
he Treasury in such redemption.
If this policy had been followed-if
t had been forced upon the Treasury
by Congressional action
,art of every redemption paid in silver
would it not have operated in large
Y stopping the raids on the gold in
he Treasury?
But no friend of silver ever put forth
finger in the interest Of silver in this
Erection, but contended himself with
he general agitation of free unlimited
oinage. It seems to me that the
curse here suggested would result in
immediate relief to the q. S. Treasury
nd hence to the whole country. while
t would require several years of freel
oinage to be felt very generally
, a.. Il +.