Virginia free press. (Charlestown, Va. [W. Va.]) 1832-1916, 1895-08-07
THE TWO STANDARDS.
PATTERsoN's EXCELLENT REASONS
IN FAVOR OF GOLD.

Is IL better IOr Tue AHciiSoA -.
pie to adhere to the present standard
or abandon il and go to silver mono
metalism? This, l admit, is debata-
BILE ground, with the overwhelming
weight of the argument IN favor OF
the gold standard
1 an tired of mincing words when
we talk of standards. / would like to
PROFOUND to the free silver men IN this
audience a simple inquiry. The bimet-
allie standard means the free coinage
of gold and silver at a ratio which re-
suits in maintaining gold and silver
in concurrent circulation. No m
will deny the correctness OF this defi-
milton. The question, therefore.
which / ask is this: Is there a man In
this audience who can name a coun-
try in all the world which has the BIZ
metallic standard? Let your minds
run over the ~hemispheres and CONT
nents and 1 defy you to find one. Then
the truth is that all the countries are
to-day either at the gold or the silver
standard, and there is not one where
free coinage of silver obtains that is
not a silver standard country. pre-
fer the gold standard for the United
States for several reasons. The hrst
reason which influences my Judgment
is, that looking abroad over the world
l do not find a single country where
Christianity and civilization are pro-
crossing, where the arts and the
sciences are in the ascendent, where
trade and commerce are growing,
where schools and colleges flourish,
where men and women are compare
lively happy, where Government is
stable and the laboring man earns q
good wage for a days work, that is
not on the gold standard. On the
other hand, l do not find a country
where civilization and Christianity
are retrograding, where the arts and
sciences are backward, where schools
and colleges are decaying, where revo.
lutions are perennial, where men and
women have no cause to be happy and
the laboring nan is paid a miserable
wage for a days work, which IS not
on the silver basis. l do not say that
all the highly enlightened Christian
lied and prosperous Nations are
such because they have the gold
standard, but / do say that all
such Nations have adopted 1t, demon
strating that gold is the standard OF
civilization AMI Christianity, OF COM
merce and of labor. 1t is true that
all progressive Governments have
adopted the gold standard, and that
the unprogressive countries retain the
silver standard. As Mexico adheres
to implements OF industry which the
farmers of the United States discarded
fifty years ago, so does it adhere to a
standard of value which this country,
guided by Andrew Jackson, discarded
in 1884. know the statement which
l have just made is somewhat startling
to free silver advocates, and, there
fore, 1 will name the gold and silver
countries of the world: United States.
United Kingdom, Russia, Germany,
Austria Hungary, Belgium, Holland,
Denmark, Norway, Sweden, France,
Spain, Portugal, Switzerland, Italy,
Greece, Servia, Roumanis. Turkey,
Australia, Egypt, Cuba, Canada and
Brazil. These are the gold countries
of the world. 1t is true that some OF
them, like Brazil, Russia and Italy,
have only deprecated paper money,
but the standard is gold.
The silver countries are: China,
Japan, India, The Straits, Mexico,
Central American States, the countries
Of South America, other than Brazil,
and the half-civilized countries OF
Africa.
Another reason which is controlling
with me is, that there is no country IN
the world which has the gold standard
that does not largely use silver in its
circulation, whereas there is no silver
country which uses gold in its circula-
ton at all. Russia has gone to the
gold standard within the last few
weeks, and therefore / include Russia
with the silver countries when say
that while the silver countries have
200, 600, 900 more population than the
gold countries, yet the gold countries
have more silver money in circulation
than all the silver countries combined.
while the latter have no gold in %circula-
ton whatever. 1 furthermore assert
that the United States has more silver
in circulation per capita than any
silver country on the globe. merely
throw out this for the benefit OF those
who believe the chief end of nan is to
have a large per capita circulation,
without regard to the character OF the
money.
But there is another reason which
is absolutely conclusive with ne.
When / was in Washington a few weeks
ago l called at the Office of the Secre-
tsry OF State, and. handing in a list of
the gold and silver countries OF the
world, as / have given them to you, l
requested that an expert should be put
to work on the Consular reports sent
in to the department from all the oun
tries of the world and make a table
showing the weekly wages paid labor
in each country. With this informa-
ton in my possession I am prepared
to assert that there is not a silver
country on the globe where a labor
ing man is paid a good wage for a day's
work. At last, fellow citizens, this is
the test of human progress. Labor is
the rock on which civilization is
builded. 1t is the very groundwork
of society. A days work is the true
unit OF value. When you test the adj
vancement ofapeople, their prosperity
and happiness, inquire how much vii.
a days work buy; how much gold,
how much silver, how much clothing,