The news & observer. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1894-current, 1895-10-17
FARMERS FAVOR FREE COINAGE

The real action of the Farmers Ma
tional Congress, which has been IN ses-
sion in Atlanta this week, has been
grossly misrepresented.
The congress did not declare against
the free coinage of silver at the ratio OF
Is to 1, as was reported in the dispatches
of Tuesday morning. 1t did exactly the
opposite. 1t adopted resolutions declar-
ing emphatically for the free and I'M
limited coinage of silver at the ratio OF
| Is to /, foreign bullion to pay a duty
which will bring it up to the coinage
value of domestic bullion. Not satisfied
with this, apparently the congress went
further aud strengthened its declaration
by resolution in favor of double
standard.
1t is true that another resolution was
adopted petitioning Congress to enact
laws preserving the parity of gold and
silver, and providing for an international
Congress. The resolution was as fol-
lows:
Resolved. That the Farmers Nat
ional Congress is emphatically in favor
of the equal use of both gold and silver
as money of Ultimate redemption and
equally as standards of value, and to
secure this object we favor;
"A conference to be called by the
United States of those nations ready to
accept bi metallism with the unlimited
coinage of both gold and silver on
ratio to be aged on,
"A law requiring duties on oommodi-
ties the product of or imported from
mono-gold nations TO be paid in fore gn
gold coin.
"A law imposing duties on silver i'm
ported from gold nations and denying it
coinage privileges at our minis. "
This resolution precipitated warm
debate and an attempt was made to
amend the action favoring an interna-
tional conference by inserting at a ratio
of IS to l." But the farmers being, as
always, consei vative, and believing that
If an international conference were call
ed at all it should have unlimited power,
did not see fit to adopt the amendment,
but instead made the following emphatic
announcement for double standard at
the ratio of 16 to l.
Resolved, That we favor the free
and unlimited coinage of both silver and
gold at the present ratio OF 16 to l,
guarded by an import duty upon foreign
bullion and foreign coin equal to the
difference between the bullion value and
the coinage value of the metal at the
date of importation, whenever the bull
lion value of the metal is less than its
coin value"
No intelligent reader would for mo-
ment stultify himself BY asserting that
the above resolution is anything but an
earnest declaration for free coinage and
a double standard at Is to 1, and it is
hard to see how the action of the con-
gress could ever have been construed as
hard hit at the silver cause by the
farmers.
The farmers are the true friends OF
silver, and they would be the last persons
in the world to give it black eye. No
one realizes better than they that the
weakest legislation in the history of the
farming interest began with the crime
of 1873, when silver was demonetized.
The Congress in Atlanta took no step
backward, but, as representatives OF the
great agricultural class of this country,
they demanded that the white metal be re-
stored to it's rightful place in our none
tsry system.