The Irish standard., 1895-06-01
ARCHBISHOP OF ST. PAUL
flis Grace Thinks Free Silver Is a
Menace to the Country's
Prosperity.
He Sees a Serious Obstacle in the
Way of the Revival of
Business.
The Great TEeologian Talks on the
Evil Effects of Labor
Troubles.

Troubles.
The Chicago Times-Herald Of last Sun
day contained an interview with Arch
bishop Ireland on the money question
from which the following is taken:
Archbishop Ireland is as Orthodox in
financial matters as he is in the doctrines
Of the church. Heresy is no part of his
mental makeup. His clear and logical
bran leads him to express his convic-
tions earnestly and fearlessly and to sup
port them with forcible arguments,
To a. man OF such extensive observa-
tion and keen insight into social and reli-
gious problellts the present agitation
in favor of free coinage appears rs mo-
Inantary delusion, which cannot deceive
the people when they examine it care
fully and descern its absurdity.
Archbishop Ireland is opposed to the
free coinage Of silver. He regards the
proposition to have silver restored as a
menace to. all present and future pros
perlty of the country. He said so yester-
day while in Chicago in the course of q
general Interview On the returning good
| times. He had just returned from an ex-
| tensiye trip through the large cities of
| the Atlantic coast, and had come in con-
| tact with many prominent business
| men.
! lie placed the silver craze as the first
| serious obstacle in the way of the revival
| OF business. Secondary to that he placed
labor troubles. Archbishop Ireland is
! popularity supposed to be Republican.
| His diocese is the granary of the United
States. Minnesota, where he comes from,
is overwhelmingly Republican, He was
| reared there, and his great eminence
has been won in St. Paul. He is in
touch with all the prominent men of
! both parties in his state as we'll as at
| Washington. There is probably not a
| public man in Minnesota more in har-
mony with all classes OF people or that
state than the archbishop.
| His priesthood began with them, he
was soldier with their troops in the
rebellion, he became a bishop among
! them, and then attained his present
rank. In the legislation of the state,
where laws were to be passed intimately
! erecting the people themselves, he has
! always taken an important part. His
voice, Therefore, raised for the mainte-
nance of the gold standard or bimetal-
lism, when all the nations Of the world
nave agreed to a double standard, is a
| powerful one. 1t comes with double
torce because it is the first utterance in
public OF the archbishop ON the silver
| question. He takes no middle ground,
but unQuaifiedly condemns the present
| ic, -.
! brought forth from it,
| The archbishop Was asked what might
| prevent the tide CT prosperity, evidently
| just now setting in, from reaching it's
greatest height, and in his reply to the
| question he fully defined his position on
| the silver question. The answer will be
| received with interest and authority all
! over the country. It is the voice of the
| first archbishop in the United States, as
! every western man believes, and Ger
! tainly one of the hroadest thinkers of the
| nation. He said:
| The present silver agitation might
check the period prosperity which it
seems is about setting in for us. I speak
| a>'Tisedly, after study and reflection and
| iGeiing that l may be criticised for what
say. But it is the truth, and what does
it matter whether say it now or later?
without entering into the merits of
! the difficult and intricate questions in
! '5olved in a discussion of the silver phase
| o. craze, / would say that, so long as
there is no international agreement be-
| tween the great governments of the
| world-the commercial nations-.an at
tempt on the part Of the United States to
| return to the free coinage of silver would
| be fatal to our business prosperity.
"The United States is largely bor-
| rowing nation. A new country. undeyel-
oped, is necessarily a borrower from the
older nations, and that must positively
| be taken In consideration when we light
| ly speak of changing the form Of our
| financial basis. 1t is out Of the question
that we by ourselves can create a silver
basis to be accepted by the balance OF the
world, willy nilly. We are an integral
tending over every continent, and what
| we propose or what is proposed by those
| who favor silver is only feasible on the
supposition that the whole commercial
world agrees with us to accept bimetal-
| lie standard.
What we borrow we must receive
| from abroad, and the foreign capitalists
will not invest in our millions of securi-
ties if they are to be paid back for their
| advances in silver when they can buy
| the~bullion of that metal at so cents
they simply will not do it and it is an alb
surd folly to imagine that we can compel
| them to do SO. I have said that we are
| necessarily one part of the general COM
mercial world, and whether we like it or
not we must harmonic with the other
parts of that world, far outnumbering
| us, and if we do not, we alone must bear
the consequences. We can only hope to
maintain our prosperity by maintaining
with them a cordial and honorable en-
tente. This to me is the simplest phase
of the silver question. 1t is the easiest
way of considering what we should and
should not do. The way is very plain
and clear. We are in no position to
stand aloof nor to restore confidence in
cur business institutions except by
agreeing as we have in the past as to our
| financial basis in the marts of the world,
where we meet all thatit is in competi-
ton with us and all which will positively
refuse to accept our proposed silver basis
| as that Of the whole world . Isd do not5see
how there can be any question of the: g