The times. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1890-1903, 1895-02-16

Now Iet me ask. In all candor, are not
the "forty-eight" senators "honI ,u
describe as the representatives. Oh tue
bankrupt South and the toppers iroiil
the silver States" as capaDie Oh ioohih5
at this question in all us Dearinss a
you arc? DO they rot falr iepicSen' We
conservative elements OF the south
Isn'r n ssfe IN affirm that nlnc-tenths
OF tho voters Of the South are in favor
of tho coinage of both metals at the ola
ratio? TO-,
We need not close our eyes to the fact
that there has been campaign vi GU
cation on this financial question gems o'
in tho south and il l. well understooi
now that the great buik OF our sur III
were obtained, not with the pun Cia .''S..I,.
gold. but in deprecated money, II. ~,
made so during the war W p,hsa,,,ont-
execution clause upon 1t, ana supsep"o
Iv ordered through the contracting act
IN he called in and gold interest,Dearhs
bonds substituted. These were hhe"lse
nurchasad with the same depreclate
paper at their face value anu me l''si
ast navahIe In coin. which has been IN
terpreted to mean gold. against the laws
and Constitution OF the county -.
Under the. legislation OF the idsI W.
t. years they have seen the hOltoi -
these securities growing richer eNeIy uas,
and have seen their farihiis Ili,nu' 81
Ali rhev nroduce shrinking In value untll
~. t,s,,,.,,-,c,, that YOU charge as the
result OF the war is staring them IN 'he
cor easilv .raceable TO the STEADY de-
cIipo e., nrices and resulting from contrac-
tion-not from overproduction, as you
vouId have Thorn think, but from under
consumption, as they wei Know
And thew know. too. that the great
crime NJ accommodating silver in 1888 was
stearhilv accomplished. when silver, as
compared with gold, was AT q premium
and for what purpose and for whose
benefit ii was done.
n Sc people OF the south, MT E'dltoI'
whose opinions are voiced by Danlel,
Human coke Ransom, McLaurin and all
of the Forty-eight are men who respect
tho law and property rights and cannot
no c,assed with Socialist and Communist.
You have slandered and msrepresented
these men. with whom you marched I'M
der the tattered banners OF the Lost
Cause" You should rather help them
shake off the yoke of Wall street ana
the money changers instead OF charging
them with evil deeds and desire to ron
those who have something OF what they
have"
/ agree with you that the lines between
the two forces will be distinctly drawn
I'm 1896" and those men whom you charge
with making a horrible showing for the
South" will be leaders Of the determined
hosts Of the South and West. who VIII
save this Government from the desola-
ton and ruin that will surely follow
should the theories Of the monOmetalhst
prevail.
These people Of tho South. whom you
characterize as bankrupt ana consortlnS
with robbers. exported for 1894 more than
10 Of 40
United States. aggregating In round num-
bors $2S5 10000 (See report Of Bureau OF
StatisticsJ II Is true the South was
nearly bankrupt by the war in 1860 her
wealth is given al 81. 800 O00.0 O0, in 1870 five
years after the war, 81, 400 000,00 In 1890
the farm products of the South were
worth $i13, 10000 gain Of $l0LOWOO0O. or
Is per cent, while the gain in all the
other States was only Slil.oO0 go. or . per
cont.--a very good showing for bankrupt
people who consOrt with robbers. When
! the Government returns to the money Of
the Constitution, and retraces its steps
on the bank question, and heeds the
warning of Jackson. and follows the adj
vice Of jefferson, the South will enter
upon an era of prosperity unequaled in
her history. PETER +. WEAVER
We publish the above. not that we agree
with 1t. or that we think there is a
single point made by our correspondent
that has not been fully and repeatedly
answered in these columns. but the writer
seems very much in earnest; is evidently
intelligent: indeed, too intelligent to be so
far wrong especially as he reads The
Times, and We wish to give his side a
fair show.
We do not think harsh names prove
anything, but we do believe in calling
a spade a spade" That gold has been
the one standard Of value Of this country
certainly for more than fifty years
is historical fact which no man
can successfully deny. That silver
was for that period, until the
Bland act of 1878. theoretical and not
practical legal tender Except where sub
sidiary coins less than dollar were
usedD is also fact. 1t is also fact
that there was an actual suspension OF
the coinage of silver dollars from lS0j to
1885 mot one was coined in those thi,ty
years., and the practical susrens ion, or
very limited coinage from 1885 10 1873.
What. then, is the ground for talking
about the money of the Constitution and
Of Jackson, etc. as II silver was the
great money, when not one silver dollar
was coined i'm all JacksOn's adm nistra-
ton. The United States was, during all
that time of which our correspondent
speaks. on a gold basis; is now on a gold
basis. and, for our part, we will as deter
mnedly resist this country going off that
firm and just foundation, as We would
resist an attempt to make us build dwell
ing houses upon a quagmire or quick
sand.
When the question comes 10 be tried
before the people, as It will be in 1856.
many who are now dallying with the delu-
siye phantoms Of free silver will come
to their senses, while those who already
believe that the financial methods of the
great civilized commercial and minuiac'
turing nations of the world are prefera-
HE TO those of the semi-civilized nations.
will fight the harder to preserve this
great people from the calamity OF free
silver.