The Opelousas courier. [volume] (Opelousas, La.) 1852-1910, 1895-05-04
The Silver Question.

tha aol several years the question as +
in n ~ IH.ent OF the use of silver as none
IA tnis country has been ono ~ o.t .s
most important matters hefnra ron ~,
gress and the nation. Ii has orowo Uoi !
Importance during this time nntii nn,
~ rs undoubtedly tue foremost nnas1;o
VI the day, and the political narties 'sU ~
ounu;eaV9flng o,n; to find plan of actinn h
wnicn the problems of this great ism
oan oan oe soived and their party placed !,
onttlol OF the government. Bnt th
uoe.,euient oeo. % OF the question is ali th
oie ulncuit and uncertain because y
AZ iact that the two great poitica
can"aro ne Democratlc and RepubIi
caT-are ~. hopeiessiy divided on it. vi
;,tn n1 Wnoie proposition resolves itsel
saeu.. aeo .n,s the silver men are trying t,
secure tue passage of law which will
give free coinage" to silyer-ti.e~;a
unlimited" coinage-at the ratio nf u
10 l, which means that the silver dnIla,
snail only contain Is times as much s;I
vef as there Is gold ia "a gold dollar
Which Is the present basis, The anti.
! silVer people oppose this because thev
say, the silver IN Il silver dollar. as -,
present, (and as the opposition pronose
to continue to an unlimited ententt e';s ;s
only worth 81 cents, while the gold 'n :. =,
gold dollar Is worth about one dollar
This fact is due to several causes ,I,a
principal of which are the demone,iz,o =
ton OF silver Chat is discontinninr f.,
use it as money! by England and u,her
important countries, and its deprecia-
tion In value as commodity. due To an
overproduction of the metal.
Now the adherents of silver in this
country say we are able to maintain the
Tree coinage OF silver at the present
ratio, notwithstanding the above facts.
ana we insist upon the passage of such
law independent OF what other powers
may 90. Ihey argue that it will bring
more money into the hands OF the mass
es aud that they can pay their debts and
relieve the country of the hard times
from which it has been suffering for the
past two years or more.
The opposition say we cannot aiona
maintain silver at a parity witt, gold
and to attempt to do so would overturn
our entire financial system and tIerei,v
throw this country into panic and ruin.
That the people would not be benefited
thereby III any locality, as dollar then
would only have half the purchasing
power that 1t has now, or if they would
be benefited, it would be at the expense
of the other portion of the people who
would be paid in dollars which were
worth only half as much as they should
be; in other words, creditors would be
forced TO take 81 cents on the dollar and
debtors get rid of their debts at the
same rate, which they contend is
wrong.
1t is generally stated that the East
represents tue anti-silver advocates,
while the West and South are the ad-
herents Of the free silver proposition.
While it is probably true that the
voters of the East are principally
against free coinage, irrespective Of
party, and that the West is equally
strong iD the opposite opinion, it is
rather doubtful that the South is in
anything like the same proportion in
favor of " free coinage"
But the question bids fair to be the
most important in the election of 1896,
when Congress aud President will be
and there is tine for thorough
of the subject.