Marshall County independent. (Plymouth, Marshall County, Ind.) 1894-1895, 1895-06-21
BRYAN TALKS SILVER
SPEAKS AT THE ILLINOIS FREE
SILVER CONVENTION.
The Restoration of Silver Is Ir1pera-
tive and the Means Are pOrtant-
Demands the Old Ratio of I6 to 1
No Room for a Compromise.
Must BE on Equal Footing.


In an address before the Illinois free
silver convention, said in part:
When / came here picked up paper and
1t said the flood subsding. and when IL
was entirely gone the shores would be strewn
with some of the most picturesque wrecks
ever seen. Flood subsding, That was what
some of them said in the days Of Noah, but
they subsidized before the Hood did The Hood
is just rising Why, ten years ago the Hood
had got up high enough until 1t covered all
the agricultural sections of this country, and
it went on rising until it covered the labor
ing classes. who only short time ago sent
petition TO Congress demanding the reSt0r-
alton Of silver at IL to l: 1t went on rising
until now it has reached the great business
classes of our community who, having read
''Coins Financial School," are learning some
thing about this great question. Inc Hood
is rising and il will continue 10 rise until
the time will come when il we send out
dove il cannot find anything green enough
To believe in the gold standard.
Mr.. EckelS whom you have heard OF since
lie was appointed TO atiice, talks about nat,
and says the government cannot by law do
anything. A government which by law con-
verified brass into craftsmanship Ill his case,
can certainly do something. He said this
craze which going To blow over.
That makes me think of Il story. Out in the
Northwest where the wind is high, the fences
are sometimes blown down and sometimes
the houses are blown over. a man was go
ing along one day and found another man
building Il fence. He was putting IL up
solidly-with mortar and stone. The man
said. You putting good deal of time
on that fence; don't you think IL Will blow
over and the man who was building the
fence replied, THAT is just the way l am
building it, q. 1t is five feet wide ana four
feet high. and when it blows over 1t Will be
foot higher than it is now" That is the
way they building this silver craze. 1t
is wider than Ii is high. and when ii does
blow over it will be higher than it is now.
In 1896 the people of the United States will
be called upon To decide whether the in
nuence Of this nation shall be cast on the
side of bmetallism or in favor of a universal
gold standard All admit that the question
Is the greatest economic question which has
come before the people of the United States
during the present generation, If not in fact
during the present century. This question
cannot be settled by the fiat or bank preSi-
dents or money loaners or Federal officials.
1t will not be finally settled until the great
common people OF the United States sit iii
judgment upon il and apply to ii those pTn-
ciples OF justice by which alone public ques-
tons can be measured: There are those
among us who would fasten upon us the
English system of finance just as there were
those among our revolutionary fathers who
sought TO continue the political supremacy
of Great Britain. These gentlemen, having
suspended the coinage of silver and estab
lished the gold standard, are urging us not
To disturb party harmony by demandintl Il
restoration of the gold and silver coinage
of the Constitution. just as the tories cried
peace, peace" when Patrick Henry and his
cOmpatriots sought Il restoration of the rights
III the colonists, but there Is no peace.
There can be 10 compromise upon this
question; there can be no political fellow
ship between the advocate of a silver stand
ard and friend of bimetalliSm. Ii the gold
standard universally adopted is the best
standard. then we do not want either indie
pendent bimetallism or international bimetal-
ism. If. on the other hand. the world ) COM
merce requires the use of both gold and
silver as the standard money of equal priv
ilegc, then single gold standard IS not To
be considered ut all. IL a single gold stand
ard will furnish too much and would be an
unmitigated evil. if gold and silver together
do not furnish more standard money than we
need then the attempt TO use gold alone as
a standard money is crime against society.
In 1878 Mr.. Carlisle, then member of Con-
gress, declared there was Il difference be-
tween the idle holders OF capital and 1.-The
struggling masses who produce the wealth
and pay the taxes of the country. Senator
Sherman said in 1863: 1.-The capitalists out
of debt were exempt from the debt and the
disaster attendant upon contraction Of the
currency" Mr.. Blaine said In 1878 that the
destruction OF silver as money would bring
an unfair advantage TO those whose invest
ments yielded fixed return in money. When
the idle holders of idle capital" the cap
italists out of debt" and the holders of fixed
Investments" organize 10 destroy silver as
Il standard money, they may expect to find
arrayed against them 1.-The struggling mass
cs.'' Silver must be restored to its ancient
place and the United States must do its part
In the work of restoration. We are told that
the gold standard has been adopted and that
even III its adoption worked an injury we
should not correct one wrong by committing
another. While gold has been adopted as
the standard the work of destruction is not
yet completed. AS nation after nation dis
cards silver the struggle for gold becomes
more bitter and the end is not in sight
Even if all the nations in the world should
adopt the gold standard at once and thus
cause the immediate and universal bank
ruptcy, we should not reach stable basis,
because the annual supply of gold would not
keep pace with the need for money. There
is end to the appreciation of money which
universal low standard VIII cause, and we
are compelled to choose between a return
70 the double standard and Il continuation
OF financial distress for an Indefinite period
and to an unlimited extent.
If the restoration of silver is imperative
the means are important If 1T is restored
at all Ii must be restored at the present legal
rate of 16 To l. y change in the ratio Sc
cured by increasing the size of the silver dol
lar would not only contract the currency, but
it would cause n loss In the rec0inage Of the
present silver dollar into large silver dollars,
and this loss would fall either upon the gov
crnment or upon the holders Of the present
silver dollars and present silver certificates.
IL the ratio were changed by international
agreement TO l to "a, for instance. 1t would
Cause decrease of one-third in the amount
OF silver money or one-SiXth of the entire
metallic money in the world. Such con-
traction in the volume of standard money
would decrease the market values of the
property of the world many billions of dol
lars and increase enormously the burden of
debt. Why bring such injury To the debtor
class and to society and such advantage to
the capitalstic class without first attempt
ing the restoration of silver at the present
ratio. I'VE believe that the apparent fall
Ia the gold value in the silver bullion has
been due to legislation, which on the one
hand cut off the demand for silver and on
the other increased the demand for gold
Bimetallsm is founded upon scientific prin-
ciples and recognized natural laws. Legis-
latiOn can increase the price of commodity
Of limited production by increasing the de
mand for that commodity. The production
of gold and silver is limited, and any nation
which Is large enough to offer demand un
limited as compared with the supply can fix
the bullion price at the mint price. The
reason why bimetallism has been difficult In
the past was because OF the different lega
ratios existing In the different countries. II
we should attempt free coinage at - to
we would invite the coin silver of other
countries to come here I'm exchange for gold
but when we offer free coinage at 16 to l oul
gold will not leave, because 1t cannot find q
more favorable ratio where there Is any con
siderable quantity of silver to exchange.
If n change in the ratio Is desirable, We
cannot intelligently chooses new ratio un
til we have put gold and silver upon an equa
footing 1t Is absurd to measure silver by
gold when open the minis to gold and
close them to silver. This country must act
alone because Ii cannot afford to submit thu
interests Of American citizens To the legisla
tive control of foreign nations and also be