St. Paul daily globe., 1895-07-25
chief with the financial side of
American. politics.
LEARNED THEIR LESSON.

Van Buren to his son Prince John,
to never write letter. The Atlanta
Constitution, whose contemporary,
the Journal, is the property of the
secretary, has unearthed a letter
written by the secretary to Georgia
politician in 1890, over which it
gloats with a glee that is fiendish.
How much of this satisfaction is due
to the feeling that Mr.. Cleveland
betrayed a great lack of capacity
to distinguish fitness when he passed
by the editor of the Constitution,
and selected the editor of the Jour
nal for his secretary of the interior,
is not, of course, a determinable
quantity; but the ferocity of the
Constitution leads one to suspect the
existence of the feeling in a very
considerable quantity. However,
this is aside from the matter in
hand
That is letter from Secretary
Smith in which he narrates to fell
low Democrat of Georgia a confer
ence that he had held with promi-
nent members Of the Alliance, with
a view to preventing the formation
of a separate party, and to the unfit
cation of the various elements.
Among the measures of reform
around which all might gather
he mentioned the free coin
age of silver, a currency
based on imperishable prod
ucts, and the issue of treasury notes
to redeem government bonds. "My
only purpose the letter continues,
was in a spirit of harmony to aid
Democratic nominees and preserve
the Democratic organization" The
secretary undoubtedly wishes today
that that letter had not seen the
light. There is no question that such
letter should never have been writ
ten by any Democrat for any pur-
pose. But the secretary is getting
from the Constitution, and papers of
that kind, sufficient punishment
for his indiscretion of five years
ago.
A number of gentlemen, we may
a similar indiscretion today which
they will very keenly regret before
another five years shall have rolled
around. There is, however, less of
mitigation for a man who, today,
advocates free coinage of silver than
there is for the secretary who sug-
gested it as a. remedy in 1890. While
the silver question had been spas
medically before the public since
1875, it had never reached such pro-
portions as to invite the general con-
sideration of it and the principles Of
coinage that it conf1icted with, as it
has within the past year or two.
To most men in the country it was
then, as Secretary Smith, in an ex-
planatory interview, says, a matter
to which no study had been given.
1t was regarded as an unimportant
side issue, pressed by few, but not
regarded as being a present or i'm
portant one. Back of it, too, was
the traditional use of silver and it's
popular acceptance as suitable
money metal.
On the surface it appeared to be
q reasonable proposition that, with
the cessation of demand through the
denial of free coinage, there had
come an excess of supply which had
resulted in the diminution of prices;
and on this, without further study
or reasoning, a busy man might we'll
conclude that q restoration of coin
age would result in the restoration
of values. This was the conclusion,
says the secretary, on which he
based his suggestion of the free
coinage of silver as being policy on
which all could unite. Since that
time, he says, 81 have given the SUBJ
ject more study, and being thor
oughly satisfied that the free, unlim-
tied and indeI ondent coinage of sill
yer at the ratio of 16 to 1 would re-
suit in silver monometalliSm, I have,
for several years, openly opposed
it."
A great many men within the last
year have undergone the experience
of Secretary Smith, and also that of
Secretary Carlisle. Years ago the
latter reasoned in the same way,
and favored the free coinage of sill
yer, thinking that it would result
in the restoratio of its par value.
There are other Democrats today
who, when the free coinage move
ment was sprung last winter, ar
rived at the same erroneous conclu-
sion by the same erroneous process
of reasoning. The path was
smoothed for them by the use of the
word free by the hard-money ira
ditionS of the Democratic party and
by the general familiarity of the
people with silver as money metal.
Those Democrats who do not be-
lieve that it is a function of gov
ernnent to create values believed
necessarily, that it was not one Of
its functions to impair values. They
accepted, without study, the asser-
ton that the value of silver had
been impaired by the refusal of the
government to afford it a proper
and legitimate market at the mints.
Accepting this superficial reasoning
as sufficient, such Democrats COM
mitted themselves to the free coin
age movement.
But they are wiser today than
they were then. No public question