The sun., 1895-05-28
Hill and Cleveland On the Silver
Question.

Hill and Cleveland On the Silver
Question.
Il II evident that the comparisons be
tween the silver coinage portions of tn,
speech addressed by the Hon. DAVID BEN
NETT HILL to the New York Democratic
editors, and the letter read upon the sam.
occasion from the Hon. GROVER CLEvE
LAND, have been made, almost without ex
ception, in the light Of preaxisting preju
dices in regard to either author, and not
according to the merits of the case. An.
alyzed with impartiality, Senator HILl's and
President CLEvELAND's latest views will be
found, 30 far as the coinage question is
concerned, to place them precisely on
the same ground. We give below the sum
of Mr.. HILLS recent expression upon this
now lively topic. He refers to the resolu-
tions adopted by the various State Con-
ventions, Democratic or Republican:
"n any divergence between tho resolutions is to
bo discerned. It is in the positive tono and
temper OF some OF the Western conventions in
respect to absolute parity and equivalence of dol.
lars. do not how any far.minded Euro
pean reading those resolutions, matter by which
State or party convention adopted. can infer that
our voters intend to coin hfty-cent silver dollars
or to make halfdollar to be dollar in paying debts
do not think .ha: majority Of either party any
state advocate coinage laws which the advocates be-
lieve will produce silver dollar Of less value in fact
than the gold dollar. Those who urge an immed
ate opening OF our mints to silver on a ratio
OF 10. really fancy, SO far the majority are
concerned. that the United States can alone and un.
aided do as much for silver bimetallic France
did from 1908 to 1879. think that impossible at
least under present conditions. So probably do
you; but their faith in the power our country may
Do more Intense than Is ours. do believe, and So
probably do you that the concerted the prin.
cipal Governments Of the world combined can on q
ratio OF 10Y. determine and maintain that relative
value Of coined or uncoined silver and gold Upon
that belief shall act until It is overthrown by facts
Senator HILLS conclusions, therefore, are
these: He is not for the free coinage of sill
yer by the United States. He is not for the
reputation of the gold standard, or the gold
dollar, and the substitution therefor of the
silver standard, or the silver dollar. In
more practical terms, he is against permit
ting all debtors to pay fifty cents on the dol
lar. He does not believe it possible to avoid
that result II the United States, independent
Of all other nations, should authorize free
coinage His belief that this result could
be avoided, and the silver dollar raised to n
parity with the gold dollar, is matter of
personal speculation in nowise applicable in
the state of the worlds coinage ideas, to the
present agitation of the free-silverites.
Now, turning to Mr.. CLEvELAND's letter to
the Democratic editors, we can extract, after
we take off the customary flowing garments
OF generalities about party principle"
misleading light" popular excitement
and misconception, and sound and safe
money" the naked planks of the CLEvE-
LAND platform. They are these:
He is opposed to 1.-THE campaign TO force
the free. unlimited, and Independent coin
age of silver by the Government at ratio
which would add to our circulation unre-
strained millions of so-called dollars in
trinscally worth but half the amount they
purport to represent"
He thinks that a remedy should be an
piled which will avoid the disaster which
must follow in the train of silver mono
mctallsm.''
And again, he believes that "free. I'm
limited, and Independent coinage of silver
would be an injury to the country"
No one can say honestly that there is the
faintest shade of difference between the
platforms of these two statesmen on the
money question. Both are against free
silver coinage. Neither thinks that the
adoption of free silver by the United States.
alone and unaided, as Senator HILL nuts
1t, or independently" as Mr.. CLEVELAND
puts it, is 10 be thought of seriously.
Senator HILL says, explicitly, that in his
opinion the rehabilitation of silver is DOS.
sible by the concerted action of the principal
Governments of the world, and President
CLEVELAND says the same thing, or lie is
guilty OF an attempt to bamboozle his hear |
ers, when he records himself as opposed to |
Americas independent coinage of silver.
There we have substantially the whole of |
these interesting records up to date, and |
they are, in their vital points, identical, be-
yond the ability OF any degree of Mug
to distinguish