Democratic Northwest and Henry County news. [volume] (Napoleon, O. [Ohio]) 1894-1905, 1896-09-10
LET THE GOLD MEN EXPLAIN.
a Conservative Friend of Silver Asks Som
Very Pertinent Questions.
tCoNTNUED.l


yet to hear from the gold monometal
lists of the Republican party and from
the gold monometallists lately of the
Democratic party an intelligent defense
of their position.
The evils of gold monometallism are
positive, existent, already demonstrated.
The evils which might attend free silver
coinage are still purely supposititious,
theoretical, predicted, perhaps logically,
by scientific reasoners, but still to be
manifested. While we coined gold and
silver, as we did until 1878, none Of
these disasters which are supposed tc
attend upon free silver coinage befell
us. Since we stopped that coinage all
the evils which the closest students re.
gard as inseparable from gold mono
metallism have fallen to the lot of the
nation.
1t is time for the advocates of the
single gold standard to check themselves
in the easy occupation Of asking ques
tions and answer o few. The present,
for example, is good time for them to
explain why the only "honest" dollar
is dollar which constantly appreciates
in value, to get which year after yeal
the debtor, if he be farmer, must give
more of his wheat, his corn or his cat.
tie; if workingman, more of his labor.
What is the sanctity which attaches tc
the money lender that makes the essence
Of honesty in dollar its capacity tc
| purchase twice as much when repaid as
when lent?
There may be conscientious question
of the merit of the free silver 16 to 1
theory, but even from that extreme men
need lecoil to approval Of the wholly
unlawful system Of gold monometallism
foisted upon the nation by Grover Cleve-
land, nor to the support of the money
farming interest in its attempt to fasten
that system upon the government by
formal legislation with the aid of Will.
liam Mckinley and by permission of
Mark Hanna
But for the fact that the term has
been brought into disrepute by men
who used it only as snare The Jour
nal would avow itself with confidence
an international bimetallist. But if we
look back over the past two years of
storm and stress in currency debate, we
will find that the cry of international
bimetallism" has always been raised
just as an election was pending by emf
nent bankers, financiers, statesmen and
! journalists who, when the election was
safely past, scofed at the idea of inter-
national action, and even, as a rule,
discarded the bimetallic theory alto
gether. President Cleveland has not
failed to preach in sonorous phrase the
possibilities of international co-opera-
tion, but it does not appear that he ever
took effective OF even vigorous action
under authority conferred upon him by
congress to hasten such an agreement
It seems pertinent to ask now, in the
face of a silver wave which bids fair to
sweep the country, why the very people
who bid their fellow countrymen today
wait for the cooperation Of England,
France and Germany in the establish
ment Of bimetallism were only few
weeks ago deriding the very word BIZ
metallism and applauding Mr.. Thomas
Collier Platt for having forced straight
declaration for the single gold standard
into the st. Louis platform.
The political memory of men in this
United States is not very retentive but
there are few observers Of politics who
do not know that this battle of the mon
etary standards has been in progress for
a quarter of century, with the victory
uniformly on the side of gold. Nobody
can forget that this sick man of ours
the commercial interests-has been
given, almost without interruption, the
gold cure, and that year by year the
dose has been made stronger. From the
time of the resumption Of specie pay
ments to the day Of the repeal of the
purchase clause Of the Sherman law the
only thing the advocates Of gold mono
metallism asked for was the piece of
legislation Immediately in sight. That
enacted, they assured Us, the patient
would thrive, the bright blood Of trade
would again flow briskly through his
veins and new vigor and animation
possess his entire body. 1t seems per-
tinent now to ask whether the state Of
the country after 25 years of legislation
constantly tending toward gold mono.
metallism is such as to justify belief
that attainment of that goal is all neoes-
sary to establish prosperity.
AS yet no fixed limit has been set by
those who persistently press on toward
gold monometallism, thrusting aside
contemptuously with the epithet
"crank" or anarchist" all who ask
them to stop and reason. But from the
circumstances attending the repeal Of
the purchase clause of the Sherman law
shrewd observers may judge how far the
agencies now raising against Bryan the
bitterest of cries are willing to go. That
repeal was wholly wise. Neither mono
metallist nor bimetallist can for mo
ment defend the bastard system which
John Sherman formulated. But we were
promised by the banking interests thai
repeal of that law would cure all finan
cial ills from which the country suffer
ed. 1t was repealed. The evils still con
tinued. Suddenly it was discovered tina
the treasury notes were the source O
all our financial sorrows, and the finan
ciers demanded their retirement.
I, Now it is pertinent to ask If the re
peal of the purchase clause Of the Sher
man law must be followed by the re
tirement Of all the treasury notes ant
greenbacksp And. If this be done. will
CA9ToRIA.
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