The San Francisco call., 1896-07-23
TRUE AND FALSE BIMETALLIsM.


TRUE AND FALSE BIMET TALLISM.
That Mr.. Bryan is aiming at silver mo-
nometallism and not at bimetallism there
is no doubt whatever. When the bill was
pending in Congress to repeal the silver
bullion purchase act quite a number of
amendments were offered with the view
of opening the mints to free-silver coin
age. Mr.. Bland was the leader of the sill
yer forces, and he undertook to secure
compromise by increasing the ratio. Ac-
cordingly he demanded a vote on ratios OF
IL to 1, 1S to 1, 10 to and 20 to !. He and
most of his confreres were willing to in
crease the ratio to somewhere near the
difference in the market price of the
metals, but the Congressional Record"
shows that Bryan voted against every
proposition increasing the ratio above 16
to L. He held, as he now holds, that it is
the fiat of the Government and not the
commercial value of silver that should be
relied upon to give 80 cents worth of sill
yer the character and redemption power
of 100 cents. He was consistent, there
fore, in opposing higher iatio than 16
to l.
But why did he then or why should he
now insist upon 16 to 1? Why not the
first ratio of Is to L? or why any ratio st
all? Certainly it would be just as easy
and just as consistent to declare the metals
OF equal commercial and coinage value as
to bridge over the difference between any
fixed and the natural ratio by the fat of
the Government. Mr.. Bryan has been
asked very many times why he insists
kfn nf I'D I'll nt
other ratio when he himself admits that
that ratio represents only about one half
of the actual difference, but his only an
swer has always been "because that was
the ratio when silver was demonetized."
The absurd and illogical position of the
man becomes very pronounced in the light
of history which records silver dollar as
being worth 103 cents as bullion when the
'crime of 1871 was committed. Mere
over, history records the fact that only
about 100000 of silver dollar pieces had
been coined between the founding of the
Government and 1873, while. since 1873,
including the treasury notes issued under
the silver purchase act of 1890. over 600, 000,-
600 silver dollars have been coined and
which are now in circulation in fact or
by silver certificates.
Although a silver dollar carries as much
purchasing power as gold dollar, its bull
lion value is only about So cents. The Gov
ernment is coming new silver dollars at
the rate of 5000, 900 month, but instead
OF coming them for owners of silver bull
lion it coins them on its own account
These silver dollars possess purchasi sing
power equal to nearly double their bullion
value because they are exchangeable for
gold, which makes them the equivalent of
gold. Nevertheless they are not full dol
lars, except as the gold behind them makes
them so. Now what is desired is that
these silver dollars shall enter the chan
neis of the worlds commerce upon their
own responsibility and at the same time
the equal of gold in every function of
money. That is to say, it is desirable that
the commercial nations with whose COM
merce our commerce is laced and inter-
laced agree with US that the silver dollar
shall be accepted in lieu of gold dollar
and gold dollar in lieu of silver dollar
in every and in all trade interch anges. To
secure this most desirs bic recognition of
our silver dollars as dollars of equal trade
balance and debt-paying power with our
gold dollars, it is the purpose of the Repub-
lican party to assemble the nations with
whom we make annual trade interchanpes
aggregating about 1000, ,0O0, 600 and agree
upon basis that shall give our silver dol
lars equal standing with our gold dollars
in every market In the world in which we
buy and sell. Such a consummation would
be the adoption of a bimetallic monetary
system. That is what the Republican
party calls bimetallism, and that is what it
declares for when it declares for bimetall-
ism. Nothing more nor less.
Mr.. Bryan admits that there is a com
mercial difference between gold and silver.
and he admits that the CON mercial ma
tions are unwilling to recog nize our silver
dollars as being the equal in value of our
gold dollars and that they exact gold dol
lars Of us in all business transactions with
them. He admits, TOO, that here at home
the purchasing power of a silver dollar is
the equal in every particular to the pur-
chasing power of a gold dollar. But he
denies the right of the nations with whom
we do business to give their consent or
disappro baton when it comes to deter
mining what the basis of trade interchange
shall be between them and US. HIS plan
is to first destroy, or rather remove that
which is behind the SILVER dollar and
which makes its purchasing power the
equal of the gold dollar, and then by
proclamation decree that there shall be no
difference in the market price between
4121 grains of standard silver, whether it
be coined or uncoined, and that the COM
mercial nations must govern themselves
accordingly. Have We Jurisdiction over
the. nations of the earth that we may leg
islate for them without consulting them !?
Bryan would move forward on the suppo-
sition that we have.