The San Francisco call., 1896-08-28
FOR BIMETALLISM.

Now that Major McKinley's letter of
acceptance is before them, it is to be
hoped that without waiting for the aid
or consent of any other nation" Silverites
will have the manliness to admit that the
Republican party stands for bimetallism.
A good many itinerant orators have been
going about the country ever since the
nomination of Major Mckinley charging
that the Republican party was committed
unqualifiedly to the gold standard, and
that the friends of silver would find o
bitter foe to their cause in the candidate
of that party for President. Party usages
forbid any one other than the candidate to
interpret the party's platform, which he
does in his letter accepting the nomina-
ton. Hence no one had authority to
give positive denial to the charge OF these
rowing orators, although sensible people
have known all the time that the money
plank of the st. Louis platform was clear
and positive declaration for bimetalllsm,
but only by international agreement.
In his letter OF acceptance Major Nc
Kinley says that 81 per cent OF our
foreign trade is with countries that main
tain substantially the same monetary
system as our own-that is, silver Is
coined on account of the Government IN
volume equal to the ability OF gold to
main tain silver at par with gold. he
holds, and properly SO, that we could not
maintain trade relations with those coun-
tries if our monetary system aatagonized
their system, or rather we should have to
abandon oGr own and conform to their
system as the condition of continuing
trade interchange. 1t would not profit US
anything. therefore, to depart from our
present standard, but on the contrary 1t
would materially injure us because the
laws of commerce would oblige US to en-
ploy only gold in paying our balances
while balances to us could be paid IN
silver, which would operate to cause an
outflow but no inflow of gold, and it
would be question of a very short time
when we should have no gold to pay
balances with. 1t does not require very
great degree of intelligence to see that this
country would very soon come to a silver
basis with our mints open to the free
coinage of the worlds silver and prac-
tically closed to gold because of the hos
tility of such a monetary system TO gold.
Now, what Major Mckinley proposes to
bring about is an agreement between the
United States and the other commercial
nations to open the mints of ali countries
to the free and unlimited coinage of silver
and gold on basis that shall place silver
and gold upon an equal footing in all COM
mercial operations, so that tender OF
silver would be just as acceptable as q
tender of gold in the settlement OF bal
ances and in the payment for purchases.
This, and this only, is true bimetallism,
and this is what the. Republican party
means when it speaks OF bimetallism.
The effect of any other plan to open the
mints 10 the free coinage of silver would
be exactly as Ma jor Mckinley says; 1.-THE
owner of the silver bullion would get the
silver dollar; it would belong to him and
to nobody else. Others would get it only
by their labor, the products OF their land
or something of value. The bullion
owner, on the basis OF present values,
would receive the silver dollar for 53
cents worth of silver, and other people
would be required to receive it as q full
dollar in the payment of debts. The
Government would get nothing from the
transaction. 1t would bear the expense of
coming the silver and the community
would suffer loss by its use."