Hopkinsville Kentuckian. [volume] (Hopkinsville, Ky.) 1889-1918, 1895-03-22
FRIENDS OF SILVER.


Inc American f1lucbdlitC ttttR ue
with headquarters in Washington, re
Gently stated the issues on which ths
new silver party will be organized a'
follows:
The money question IS now indisputably
the dominant issue in the United States ant
will remain so until settled and settled rightly
Other questions, however Important must wait
for this, which, to q greater or less extent, In
wolves all others The issue is between the
gold standard, gold bonds and bank currency
on the one side, and the bimetallic standard, nc
! bonds and government currency on the other
First-On this issue we declare ourselves to
| be unalterably opposed to the single gold stand
ard and demand the immediate return to the
| constitutional standard of gold and silver, by
the restoration by this government, independ-
entity of any foreign ower.of the unrestricted
| coinage Of both silver and gold into standard
money at the ratio OF IS to l. and upon terms of
exact equality the silver coin to be a full legal
| tender equal with gold in payment of all debts
| and dues. public or private.
Second-We hold the power to control and
| regulate paper currency is inseparable from
the power TO coin money: and hence that all
currency intended TO circulate as money should
be issued and its volume controlled by the gem
eral government only, and should be legal
| tender.
Third-We are unalterably opposed to the
| issue by the United States OF interest-bearing
| bonds in time of peace and demand the pay
! ment of all obligations of the United States as
provided by existing laws, In either gold or
! silver coin, at the option of the government,
| and not at the option OF the creditor. On this
| issue we appeal from the dictation of the
money power to the intelligence and patriot
ism of the American people.
| This statement was supplemented
with long address to the people of
the United States which says:
| The monetary reform for which we contend,
| as above set forth, is in our judgment. so vital
. to the c01nmOR welfare and SO necessary to
return to conditions of prosperity in this coun-
! try as to preclude longer delay in the lnaugura-
ton of movement the purpose of which is to
| bring together all who believe in the necessity
of the proposed reform, for this object and this
alone. Those in favor of the gold standard are
and have been united in purpose and action.
Party lines do not divide them when this issue
is raised Differences on other questions are
then laid aside and together they lin we'll be-
seeming ranks march all one way" On the
other hand all those who are for a re-
turn to constitutional standard of
gold and silver are split into as many divisions
as there are parties. Silver republicans from
the west and south. to the great delight of the
leaders of the republican party, insist on con-
tending for their cause only within the lines of
that party; and southern and western demo-
Gratis earnest silver men, equally to the de-
| light of the leaders of the democratic party,
continue the contest on their part-only with
| in the lines Of the democratic party. In other
words, the advocates Of the bimetallic stand
ard, through the unrestricted coinage of silver
as we'll as gold, now contend for their cause
In organizations which are controlled by the
gold party. Hence, however, jealous In the
cause one may be, no results are possible be-
cause his party refuses to carry out his views
or to permit them to be carried out 1t is be-
| lieved there are now and have been for twenty
| years large majority of the voters in the
! United States in favor of restoring free
coinage Of both gold and silver, but the OPP
portunity to vote their convictions has
never been given, them, and their will
has been continually thwarted by party Chi
canery. There has not been congress for
twenty years which, except for the influence
of executive patronage. or the fear of an exc
cutive veto, would not have voted to open the
rnints again to silver on the same terms as to
gold: indeed, each house of codgresS has at diff
| ferent times separately passed free coinage
bills, but this action has as often been frus-
| trated by party manipulation. 1t is as neces-
| sary, therefore, to have o president in SYM
| pathy with the cause as to have a congress in
! favor of II. But enough has been said to show
the impossibility of gaining our cause as long
us we remain divided, or fight only in the ranks
OF the gold party, orin organizations controlled
by the advocates of the gold standard AS well
might our fathers have expected to win the in
dependence OF the colonies if, while contend
ing for the cause of liberty they had refused to
separate from the tories. independence could
never have been won by fighting for liberty in
in British regiments.
After showing at length the futility
of attempting further to accomplish
anything for silver within old party
lines, the address continues:
The purpose Of this movement is not to array
oil
nor to require anybody to give up his
convictions on other questions or to sew
er his party relation for any other
purpose than to unite in common cause,
the cause of justice against injustice; of pros
perity instead of adversely; of continued en-
ployment of labor instead of forced idleness;
in abundance and happiness instead of want
and misery There can be no doubt, moreover
that return to the standard of gold and silver
win promote in the highest degree the business
interests of the entire country. while the one
continuance of political policy must necessarily
| be attended by further fall of price, imperil-
ing business enterprise still more and prolong-
ing indefinitely the present stangnant condi-
ton of trade and industry.
| Better prices under existing conditions can
not be expected A debtor nation cannot
maintain an even list OF prices with creditor
nations. The single gold standard can be
maintained in the United States only by fore
! ing down the price level of commodities enough
below the price level of other countries to turn
| gold this way, or at any rate to induce our
creditors to take commodities of US for what
we owe them, instead of demanding gold. Any
policy. therefore, that tends to raise prices
| necessarily operates to expel gold. This con-
dition of things cannot be overcome by the
tariffs, much less by free trade. In the. pay
ment of annual dues to other countries we
must compete with other debtor countries with
Argentine with Egypt, with India, with all the