Capital journal. (Salem, Or.) 1893-1895, 1895-01-04
SOME HARD QUESTIONS.

that do lot understand your position
on the silver question, judge that you
do not believe in the free coinage Of Sill
yer on the basis Of l6 to !.
II silver and golt is to stand side by
side as the basis Of our circulation
would not the silver dollar have TO
have the same intrinsic value as the
gold dollar, or do you believe that a
IOO-cent gold dollar and a 55.cent silver
dollar can be used for final redemption
and both gold and silver remain in cir
c1lation, or would not gold go imme-
diately out of circulation? Do you not
believe that If the government should
refuse to redeem silver and paper
money, that they would Immediately
shrink IN value and gold go to prem
iunl?
DO you not think that this cry for
free coinage Of silver az Is to !, is sim
oily "A blind for the thoughtiess, anG
that no one would be benefited but tht
owners Of silver or silver mines? And
10 YOU believe that they would receive
any benefit from free coinage, II the
government should refuse to redeem
hem in gold?
Don't you believe that the reasol
Why our paper aud silver money If
worth 100 cents to the dollar, is because
they are now redeemable In gold that Il
worth 100 cent?? You certaiuly do no
believe that It Is the fiat Of the govern
nent that makes them equal VIII
gold?
Don't you think that it is more i'm
Jortant that the hundreds Of mlllioDt
# silver dollars now in the vaults al
Washington, should be put INTO clrcu
don, than that there should be hun
lreds of millions more coined, anC
causing the expense Of having more
vaults to hold them?
How do you propose to increase The
circulation Of silver? People viii not
take 1t willingly. All prefer paper OF
gold, being less heavy. Would you
force the people to do what they don'l
wont to do, by withdrawing from
circulation all bills and gold Of less
amount than $40? 1t would load down
Us poor countrymen, but all who had q
bank account would use their individ.
ual check in preference.
s. w. BARD.
We must confess Mr.. Bard asks some
hard questions. He is asking the ques-
tions that confront the thinking men
Of two continents. A member of the
lower house Of the Oregon legislature,
or even United States senator yet to
be chosen, has very little to say as to
the future financial policy of the new
world, and the Cleveland administra-
tion Is responsible for the financial sys-
tenn of our country for two years more.
Most men agree that our present syE-
tenn Is unsatisfactory. We will not re
peat any Of the stock arguments on
either side Of the silver or gold contrc-
versy. Mr. Bard knows them all. We
believe the national Republican party,
free from banking and Wall street it,
iluences, can and will give us q better
finance system than We now have.
Some Of the leading men In the Repub-
Iican party are going strongly toward
free coinage Of silver, We confess TO
strong desire to see silver restored to
full intrinsic parity with gold. That
may be- only II personal notion. III
may be foolish notion. But our heart
Is that way. We cannot see why a
inance system should be prepared for
,ur country by the Baltimore bankers,
,r any other bankers. We canuot see
why the produce OF labor in the form
n gold should be any more sacredly
ledged about for monetary purposes
~ state aud national legislation than
he product Of labor In the form Of sll.
'er, when both are named as metals
or coinage Ia the constitution. But Il
5 useless 10 go over all this. The sub
ecl Is too far out Of reach.