The times. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1890-1903, 1895-06-15
TuE SILVER CONVENTION PLATFORM

The resolutions and platform of the
Memphis silver convention contain hardly
one sound proposition, but the follow
ing is really humorous. The platform
says:
Every international monetary confer
ence that has been called. every demand
in this country and in Europe for an
| international agreement TO re-establish
] the bimetallic standard. is a confession
| that the decentralization of the system
was blunder. If not a crime
But all these things have been at the
demand of the free coiners. What sort
of confession" was that? They have
said nothing from the start but that
demonetization was a b.under and
crime. How was the call for internation-
al discussion confession" any more
than all their other calls and claims
were confessions? They would make
the impression that sound-money men
called for the international conferences,
and thereby confessed their past delin-
quences when the calls for the inter-
national conferences were just as much
part of the free coiners case as the
denunciation Of the miscalled demonetiz-
| ing act.
The platform asserts that 1.-THE gold
| standard is a departure from the estab-
! lished policy Of the civilized world. with
nothing to commend it but twenty-five
years of depression and disaster to the
people" Seventeen Of those twenty
two years were in the thirty years be-
tween 1850 and 1890. The census of 1880
shows that the United States increased
in wealth in the thirty years between
1860 and 1890. forty-one thousand millions
Of dollars. which is one thousand millions
more than all the wealth of Great Brit
ain. We are quite unable to perceive
where the depression ana disaster to
the people" can be found in this fact.
The platform says that amongst facts
admitted by all candid men. is the fact
that 1.-THE very year that marked the
change in the bimetallic 10 the single
gold standard. is the very year that
marked the change from a condition Of
rising prices. large profits. general con-
tentment, and great prosperity, TO a
condition of falling prices. diminishing
profits. insecurity of investment. unem-
ployed labor. and a heavy depression IN
all branches Of trade and industry" The
depression part of the business is suffi-
GENTLY answered by the foregoing state
ment of our increase in wealth. But let us
look a little into the statement about
prices.
Decentralization took place in 1873. when
we were just beginning to work our way
down from the inflated condition of
deprecated paper currency to that of
sound finance. We published yesterday
the average Of prices from 1860, where
100 was taken as par. to 1891 The table
showed that in 1873 the average of prices
was 1878. which about corresponds to
the depreciation of paper money then. and
that in 1891 the average of prices had
scented the average of prices. while in
1891, 92.2 represented them. Is there any
fall here which cannot be accounted for
By the vast improvements in machinery
and methods of production between 1850
and 1891?
But the same table which we published
yesterday showed the comparison between
wages in 1860 and 1871, and 1t showed that
while wages stood at 100 in 1860. they had
risen TO 1907. in 1891. How will these
gentlemen account for this enormous
rise in wages. II decentralization put the
price OF everything DOWN.
Thu nlatform aaxA. The effect Of gold