Birmingham age-herald., 1895-05-12

culate as money. CTwo or three voices 'Never'). The people of this country should be the creditors of this country and not the people of Europe. When you put the rate as low as 2 per cent the people of Europe will not have them and their circulation among the people of this country will do away with the silver and gold, for the bonds will be as good as either. I will go step further than anybody in Alabama has ever gone. Gold has at all times been the standard of money. 1 said a while ago there should be as many silver dol lars as gold dollars. That was on the theory that a standard was needed. I say no standard is needed. (Feeble ap- plause) The government has fixed the weight in grains of gold and silver dol lars. If a man has loaned gold let him receive gold in payment, if silver let sil- yer be returned. There is no way under heaven by which you can equalize gold and silver. The law of supply and de- mand will regulate their values. The discovery of gold in Africa and other places may change the value of gold and the Is to l ratio may then be too great. As the two, silver and gold, are so en- tirely different they can never be kept on parity. Let the debt of the country be the currency of the country and all this is remedied. 1.-the people of the country become the creditors of the country the government lS GStfiDllSItu lbGtNeT.
 MT W. H. Skaggs was called on for a speech. He said: Tt is unnecessary for me to assure the people of Jefferson county my hearty indorsement of the purpose of this meeting. 1 am in full accord with the theories of Captain Ward, but not with his methods. We want to discuss the free and unlimited coinage of both gold and silver by the hints of the United States. I was brought up in Alabama and in democ- racy, but the views presented by Colonel Patterson a few days ago are not in ae- cord with my theories of democracy"
 MT. Skaggs said he would answer some of Colonel Patterson's arguments.
 He said: Colonel Patterson knew he was uttering a falsehood when he said the administration was for bimetallism. The Cleveland administration is bitterly opposed to silver, and Colonel Patterson presumed on your ignorance when he made such a statement. It is to protest against the financial policy of the ad- ministration that we have met here to- day"
 The speaker said the financial policy of the administration was under the dic- tation of foreign moneyholders. From that statement he launched a tirade against democracy and said if that pol icy was democratic then better would it be if democracy was forever wiped out. This remark was applauded by a uOZeH men. lie Sdlu IL was IalSe to say business was improving, or the condi- tion of the country getting better. He took the Age- Heralds editorial of yes terday for text and said the city was gone to the bad and the country bursted. The cause, he said. was that the people had been forced to idleness.
 Colonel Shepard didn't think this good time for talking. It was evident to his mind that the country friends would not quit their work and come to town if they were not in earnest. In speaking of the Adams-Jackson contest, he said Jackson was nominated by the silver, or hard money men, and Adams by the United States bank men. There being three candidates, neither received a majority, and the election was thrown into congress and Adams was elected.
 That, he said was thirty-six years af- ter the foundation of the government Thirty-siX years later was the triangu- lar fight and the election of Lincoln