Pine Bluff daily graphic., 1895-11-05
ANOTHER CONVERT.
GOVERNOR o'FsRRALL DECIDES IN
 FAVOR OF SOUND MONEY.
All the Commercial Nations of the World Are on Gold Basis-The Free Coinage of Silver Would Cause stagnation of Trade In the United States.

Governor O'Ferrall of Virginia adds another name 10 the already long list of prominent men who have changed their position on the silver question aft CT long and careful study His recent four column open letter in the Rich mond Dispatch will give cold comfort to the friends of silver We reprint the following extracts from it:
 .. am opposed to the free coinage of silver iii the United States except through an international agreement with the great commercial countries of the world.
 T do not believe this country alone can maintain parity between gold and silver at any fixed ratio.
 We are strong in resources and in all the clements that go to make na- tion powerful, but we are not strong enough to live within ourselves, trade only with ourselves, raise and manufac- ture all we need, consume and use all we produce and make, import nothing, ex- port nothing and have no commercial re- lations with other countries. To deal, then, with other countries our money must be measured by their standard when we are i'll their markets and the principal countries whose markets we seek and with which we must deal in selling and buying have gold standard.
 It may be surprising to some to know it, yet it is an ineontroyertible fact that gold standard countries furnish S711a per cent of the international com merce of the world, and that abont 94 per cent of the exports of the United States are to countries having gold standard, and about 80 per cent of our imports are from countries having the same standard.
 Shall we cut loose in our monetary system from these countries of snch commercial power and attach ourselves to the small and weak nationalities to which we sell scarcely anything, and from which our purchases are absolute iy insignificant2
 There is no country that has dou- ble monetary standard. Wherever there is free silver coinage, silver monometal- lism prevails. Alleountries with gold standard utilize silver as far as it can be kept at a parity with gold That is, gold countries use both metals as mon ey; silver countries only silver. The in dependent free coinage of silver in the United States would place her on & sil- yer standard and in direct antagonism to the standard of the countries with which she does nearly all of her busi- ness.
 Will the United States lower her crest, withdraw from the strong sister hood of nations which whitens the seas with the sails of commerce and unite her monetary fortunes with the weak combination whose craft are scarcely ever seen and whose products and fruits constitute so small percentage ill the grand total?
 Will she continue to stand with Germany, Austria, France and England, or link her destiny with China, Japan and Mexico?
 These are my views, stated briefly and concisely as possible.
 For the reasons given I am opposed to the doctrine of free and unlimited silver coinage without international
 
 cial countries of the world. We cannot adopt monetary system different from these great nationalities and force them to recognize it. We cannot float a 50 cent silver dollar as sound dollar ill this country, much less i'll the markets of Germany, France, Austria or Eng land, with whom our interests are close ly identified. There are many things we can do regardless of the opinions or wishes of other lands We can amend or change our system of government, manage our internal affairs and enact Jaws to govern our own people without let OF hlndrance from any foreign source, but there is one thing we cannot do. We cannot coerce other peoples and lands to recognize any money we may see proper to engraye or coin as me- dium of exchange between them and us. As well might we attempt to change the laws of grayitation or make water run up hill.
 am for a sound dollar, and what 1 mean by sound dollar is one that will pass for 100 cents and be as good as any other dollar anywhere within the limits of the civilized world. Gold is that dol lar now. Silver may also be if kept on parity with gold. But this can only be done by international agreement. What l mean by q sound dollar is one that the farmer, the mechanic and the la boring man can use with purchasing power of 100 cents and buy as much with 1t as any other dollar What | mean by a sound dollar is one that it's holder may lay away to buy home, save for rainy day or provide for himself in old age with absolute certainty that it will be as good as any other dollar when he wants to use it. Gold is that dollar. Silver cannot be unless by inter national agreement it is made equiva- lent to a gold dollar
 ssI am for sound dollar for the poor man as well as for the rich man. 1 shall never consent to 8 monetary system s.l.x .11o < l. <.f