Birmingham age-herald., 1895-08-25
HE'S FOR 4 SOUND DOLLAR Governor 0'Ferrall Writes a Very
 Strong Letter. CAN'T CARRY SILVER ALONE He Is for the Write Metal If Kept on Parity With GoId-A Very trank
 Avowal

morrow morning Governor ( Ferrall sets forth his position upon the silver ques- tion. He says the letter has been evoked by requests O. his views upon the sub ject since the publication of a recent brief interview in the Dispatch, which several papers have criticised as dodg- ing" or .straddling" the question.
 q am opposed" says the governor. "to the free coinage of silver in the United States except through an international agreement with the great commercial countries of the world.
 "I 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 elements that go to make a nation 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, export nothing. and have no commercial reia ations with other countries.
 Tt may be surprising to some to know it, yet it is an uncontrovertible fact that gold countries furnish S7H per cent or the international commerce Of the World, and that about 94 per cent of the exports of the United States are to countries nav Ing BOlQ SIanudTu, dllu dpoul oV PSi cent of our imports are from countries having the same standard.
 Shall we cut loose in our monetary system from these countries Of such commercial power, and with which we have such close, important and exten- Sive relations, to which we sell nearly all the surplus products of our farms and factories and of which we buy nearly all We want, and attach ourselves to the small and weak nationalities to which we sell scarcely anything and from which our purchases are absolutely ln- significant?
 Free coinage advocates, however, ln- sist that our exports and imports are so small that we can afford. for the sake of free coinage, to build wall around our selves and have no commercial dealings with other countries.
 After discussing the free coinage ques- tion at length, setting forth his views as to it's effect upon the country and giv- ing statistics in support of his argument, the governor concludes:
 For the reason given, l am opposed to the doctrine of free and unlimited coin- age of silver without international agree ment of the principal countries of the world We cannot adopt monetary sys- tenn different from these great national itieS and force them to recognize 1t. We cannot float a 50 cent dollar as sound dollar in this country, much less in the markets of Germany, France, Austria or England, with whom our interests are closely identified.
 q am for a sound dollar, and what I mean by a 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 be also if kept on a parity with gold. But this can only be done by international agreement. What I mean by a sound dollar Is one that the farmer, the mechanic and the laboring man can use with a purchasing power of 100 cents and buy as much with it as any other dollar What I mean by a sound dollar is one that its holders may lay away to buy home, save for rainy day or provide for himself in old age with ab- solute certainty that it will be IS good as any other dollar when he wants to use it. Gold is that dollar; silver cannot be, un- less by international agreement it is made equivalent to a gold dollar.
 T am for sound dollar for the poor man as we'll as for the rich man. I shall never consent to a monetary system which will place 1t in the power of the rich man to hoard his gold and pay his poor creditor in depreciated dollar.
 Tt may be said that my views have un- dergone a change. To the superficial ob- server and reader this may appear to be the case, but in fact my position while in congress was one of doubt as to the policy of independent free coinage and it was so regarded. I never attended and was never invited to attend free coinage or anti-free coinage conference. During my congressional service I was on impor- tant mtteeS where my duties were onerous and expressing, and not con nected with the currency question, and I had very little time to maturely consid- CT the silver problem.
 Lately I have given the subject as careful study as possible, reading the ar guments and literature on both sides, with an earnest desire to reach correct conclusion, and the opinions I now ex- press are the result of deliberate exam ination.
 "If, however, I had been warm and avowed independent free coinage advo- cate I should not hesitate to give utter ance to my present views. I trust that the day will never come when I will be found adhering to any party I know to be erroneous for the sake of consistency, or continuing in a course which I am convinced is wrong because too cowardly to face the charge of inconsistency.
 An obstinate consistency is the hob goblin of little minds, adored by little statesmen, philosophers and divines
 Consistency would have kept Paul in the role of a disbeliever; consistency would have kept Washington loyal to the king; consistency would have kept the hundreds of thousands. in republican ranks who have come over to democracy and brought victory for tariff reform. local self-government and democratic principles
 No; if I had been ever so strong a supporter of independent free coinage I would now, after being satisfied by care ful and diligent study that I was on the wrong track, admit my error. for it is human to err, and retrace my steps and seek to undo any injury may have done in misleading the people.
 twill the independent free silver move ment succeed?
 'I am not a profit, but I predict that it will meet the fate of 'greenbackism' which a few years since was for time so formidable. The agrculturalists of this country will never consent to lose a foreign market for their surplus prod ucts nor receive in the home market a depreciated silver dollar simply to en-