The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1896-08-28

tnat they are demanding. They say gold has
gone up until it has ceased TO be a proper
standard value, and lhey wanl silver. But
now DO they wanC IL? Now, my arenas, there
IS a grcSaI deal or talk or DimetalilSm or The
douDle Standard ana a great deal or con-
iuson IN the use or those Terms. binetal-
Hsm is the use of The Two meals as lnvney
where they are Dotn used
by aouoie s.anualo ,lsey mean that gold
dvl4ar aha u silver uo.i&t slian De unlls Oh
saiue Dy winch All property ana ali wages
ana everything is 10 Oe measured, NOW our
iatners .AousAt tnat wnen they used these
Two metals III coinage tiiey must determine
the intrinsic reiaLNe value OF the Two, SO
mat comparison OF the markets or the
world would snow Just what relation one
ounce or SILVER bore TO one ounce Oh gold,
how many ounces of silver IL took TO be equal
to the one ounce of gold in the markets. CT
the word where goiu and silver were used,
and they carefully went about aScertaining
that. Jefferson and Alexander Hamilton gave
their great powers TO the determination of
that question, and they collected the market
reports and they studied with all their power
that question and when they had found what
appeared TO be the general and average rela-
tive value OF thess two metals, they fixed
upon ratio between them.
Now what was the OBJECT of all that? Why
did they lump all. Because they fully under
stood these dollars we're of the same inherent,
intrinsic value, that both OF them could not
be standards of value and both could not cir
cuIate. Why everybody knows that II is essen
tial that the length Of his stills below the
tread should be the same. CLaughter9 What
simple law OF human seiishness and self pro-
tectlon, that If you have two things either
one of which will pay a debt and one is not
as valuable as the other, you are sure TO
give the least valuable one (Laughter.)
1t is just upon the principle that man VINO
can pay a debt with one dollar won't give
two-precsely that. So that unless these
two things maintain approximately their rela-
tive value, so that sixteen ounces or silver is
worth one ounce of gold, you cannot make
such dollars circulate together. The one that
ip lYfnh
pocket, or he will sell it to a bullion broker
and everybody win use the other
1t is an old law proclaimed years ago in
England by Gresham, that the cheaper dollar
drives the better one out. (Applause.) 1t
has been illustrated in the history of every
nation in the world, and anybody Of half
sense could see why it is so. Naughter.)
You might just as well say, if we had
TWO KINDS OF BUSHELS.
if the law should declare that sixty pounds
of wheat was a bushel and thirty pounds OF
wheat was a bushel. Well, what farmer
would deliver wheat by the sixty-pound meas
ure if he had sold it by the bushel. Now,
nice were our people about this in trying
fractions. In fact that is not the ratio. 1t is
1888 plus. Now, that the actual ratio.
1t was near 16 that We call it Is, but the
men who made our silver dollar and our gold
dollar, were so nice in their calculations that
they went into decimal fractions into thou
sandths, to adjust it accurately. Now, what
do these people propose to do? To take any
account of thousandths? No. When the
markets of the world fix the relative value Of
silver or gold at 81 ounces Of silver to i
ounce of gold, they propose to say 16.
Qaughter.)
1t has been a repeated declaration of Mr..
Bryan's that everybody admitted that BIZ
metallism was a good thing, there was no
debate on that subject, and the debate of
the campaign had come down to this fine
point-'"rhe Republicans say we cannot have
a good thing without the consent OF England,
and say we can have it ourselves. He
has endeavored to pivot this campaign, with
its tremendous issues upon that pinhole.
Applause.) We hear a great deal about the
great resources and wealth and power of
this country, and l do not allow anybody to
go beyond my appreciation of them. But
what is the use of talking about all that
when you do not propose to put this wealth
and power and influence behind the silver
dollar at all. (Appiause.) AS things are now,
the silver dollars that we have are sup
ported by the government, and the govern
ment that supports this silver bullion has is
sued these dollars on its own account-not
for the mine owner. And it has pledged its
sacred honor 1t would make every one of
these silver dollars good as gold dol
lar (Appause) And that is a pwerful sup
port. Without it disparity between these
metals would at once show itself in the mar
kets. There would be some sense in the
talk which our Populistic friends indulge
in, when they speak of the power of the
government, if they proposed to put this
power behind their free coinage. But they
do not.
They propose that the men who dig silver
out of the mines may bring 1t to the mint
and have it stamped and handed back to
them as a dollar, the government having no
responsibility about it. These men would
reject with contempt the proposition that
free coinage was given with a pledge on be-
half Of the government to maintain parity
of the two dollars. But this feeling is well
adapted to touch the prevailing American
bumptiousness and well adapted to touch
that prejudice against England which we
have Can we do this thing ouselves? Is it
a question whether we will do it or ask some
body's consent whether we may ask the
cooperation of somebody? Not at all. l will
tell you what this government can do alone.
It can fix it's money. It can declare by law
what shall be the relative value Of an ounce
Of gold and an ounce of silver, but it can
not make that last declaration good. ZAP
plause) 1t is unquestionably fully within the
power of this government to bring this
country to a silver basis by coming silver dol
lars and making them legal tender. They
can do that. This government may say you
shall take one of those dollars in discharge
of any debt owing to you for a dollar, not
withstanding you may have loaned gold dol
lars, but you cannot buy and enforce the
decree. If you call out. the regular army
and navy and muster all our great modern
ships and add the militia and put Bryan in
command Of them they
CANNOT ENFORCE THE DECREE.
that one ounce of gold is the equivalent
of sixteen ounces of silver. (Applause.) Not
only that, not France, England and Germany
can do that unless the markets respond.
Applause.) Why, you may make me take
a silver dollar for a debt, but if they have
bought my goods at gold prices, they can
not make me give many yards OF cloth for
a silver dollar 1 have been in the habit
of giving for gold one. (Applause.) If I
have gold dollar in this hand and a silver
one in that, and you declare they are equal
and 7 can take the gold dollar to a bullion
broker and get two dollars for It, l know
it is a lie. Applause.)
If 7 have nothing but a gold dollar and
sugar is twenty pounds for a dollar I will
not give that gold dollar for twenty pounds
of sugar. l will take 1t around to a broker
and get two silver dollars for it and get
the twenty pounds of sugar and have one
silver dollar left. So it is, my friends; we
can of ourselves, of our own wisdom, de-
clare the unit of value. We coin sill
yer freely but we cannot make sixteen
ounces of silver equal to ounce Of gold
unless it is: and it is not, unless the mer-
chants take it ct that rate. That is where
it all comes In. 1t is the merchant, it is
the man who exchanges and deals in these
things that fixes the relative value and if
you do not take the value he fixes the gold
dollar will go back to the gold vault and
the gold will go out of circulation.
These gentlemen say why did we not
win the battle of Bunker hill? Laughter.)
Did we not whip the British at Yorktown and
do you mean to say we can't do it again ?''
The logic of these gentlemen-if may use
such a term in connection with such balder-
dash-is that a nation that can do these
linn ora6 tah yfC1, ttC {xnI1