Evening star., 1896-09-23
INGALLS, ON SILVER
The Railroad President Speaks at
Norfolk.
his view OF THE FINANCIAL issue
He Champions the Cause Of the
Farmer.
7 OF THE FINANCIAL issue
W II A T IT M z A n S

NJ. T.. lrgallS, pTeSlleHt VI thc Niies'
peake and Ohio read, spoke at Norfolk
last night before the Norfolk Sound money
League, in the Academy of Music, with an
audience of about 1900 people present.
The naval post band furnished music. The
audience was respectful throughout but
it was clear that there were good many
silver men present from the frequent COM
ments offered When Mr.. ingalls, spoke
of Bryan and his gang he was sharply
hissed. In the course of his speech MI.
Ir gals said:
There is one thing that Mr.. Bryan may
be thanked for, and that is he states the
question fairly; he has not shirked 1t, ana
we have got no lodging this time among
the politicians. The question to be settled
by a jury of the people at this election Is
Shall we establish the free coinage of sill
yer at the ratio of 16 to ~ The ratio ID
to means that sixteen ounces OF silver IN
such coinage shall have the same basis, the
same value, as one ounce of gold. An
ounce of silver upon that basis Is worth
s1.29 while 1 suppose there is not a school-
boy in the land that does not know that ne
can go to market and buy 1t for slxty-hEe
cents, and this free coinage law. If 1t pass,
not only gives the right to our own citizens
to take their silver to the mints. but 1t can
be brought in. whether 1t Is mined IN Aus
trala, Siberia, South America, Mexico or
Colorado. ME- Bryan tells you that free
coinage will raise the price of silver from
IS cents to 81 30 per ounce.
Anybody of any commercial sense will
tell you that is impossible. What is coin
age? 1t is simply the stamping of piece
of metal giving its weight. In this country
these people ask, after such piece is
stamped that it shall also be made legal
tender in payment Of debts, but the coin
age by the government can give no value
except as between it's own citizens. What
makes the value of coin-gold and silver
os-y
more fix in this country the value of silver,
regardless of the world, than you can fix
the value of apples or wheat or corn or
anything else that is produced and used
all over the world.
Gold Enough.
'"They will tell you that for years gold
and silver were nearly of the same value
That Is true, because the production of
both metals was limited. and the wants of
commerce were large, but Of late years gold
has become the standard. and its produc-
ton largely increased. SO that with the
present system of credit 1t is amply suffi-
cient for all commercial exchanges: and,
further. the production of silver has in
creased enormously and out of proportion
to the gold Take the year 1878, because
that Is the favorite year of the populists,
and the production of silver in the world
was 63UO.UU ounces, while the production
of gold was 5.tD0.0~ ounces. about one
twelfth as much gold produced as silver.
Now, in 1S9J the production of silver had
increased to 176.U~.OO, while gold. which
| had increased beyond the expectations of
everybody almost. had only increased to
9SUWO. In the year 1873 the production
of gold was one-twelfth that of silver.
while in 1895 1t was only one-eighteenth.
F., And this production of silver, my friends.
| had been after it had been demonetized
practically by all the leading nations of
| the world for twenty years; and if you
produce 17G.WU.OG0 of silver with the linn
/ tied market it has had. how much do you
| think can be produced if this great country
| of ours should undertake to stamp all that
was produced, and the value of 1t should
| be doubled by this process. as Mr.. Bryan
claims? Why. the production would be
| tripled and quadrupled. He said in his
| Madison Square speech that silver was
| found and not produced. By the same rea-
son you may say that iron and coal are
| found. OF course they are, but the ques-
| ton of their production depends upon we'll
| known methods of mining, the cost of the
| same and the price which they will bring.
| and there is limit to the amount that
| can be produced with the present ap-
| pliances, and therefore you may as we'll at
tempt to lift the earth as to attempt ta
keep the value of silver at s1.29 an ounce
/ by free coinage when it is only 60 cents in
| the markets of the world.
/ IF the generalization of silver of less
| than three per cent by Alexander Hamilton
! in 1892 drove all the gold out of the coun-
| try; if the generalization of gold in 1884 of
| less than five per cent drove all the silver
| out of this country, how in Gods name are
| you going to keep them both here when
| silver is .i1 cents on the dollar, and you pro-
| pose to value it in comparison with gold at
100 per cent? Why, no. they don't ex-
pect to do it. If they did, the populist gang
who are in favor of it would not want it,
| What they want is a:S5-cent dollar, and if you
! listen to their speeches you will find that is
| what they say, in order that they may pay
! this great Indebtedness that they talk
| about.
Farmer and LnbOrer.
1T has been a struggle for the last five