Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1896-08-17
Sherman's Speech.

MIR. Chairman and Fellow Citizens:
citizen Of Ohio has been selected by
he Republican National convention
as their candidate for President of he
United States. ana we are here to
ratify and support his nomination.
We take pride in VIM. Mckinley. not
only for the honor conferred upon
Ohio ~ The convention. but because
we know him to be fitted for that
great office. During ali his active life
he has been faithful and able Re
publican.
Al The coming presidential election
there will be submitted To your judy
ment two questions, one of which is
whether any holder of silver bullion
may deposit il At the minis of the
nited Safes. and have it coined for
his benefit and without cost to him
luto silver dollars each of the weight
Of 4l2la grains Of standard silver nine
tcnths fine ana may tender them for
any debt public or private.
The other question is whether in
leVNin% duties or taxes on imported
goods we should only consider the
revenue required. or whether while
seek also to protect and encourage
domestic Industries: the one is called
revenue tariff and the other Il protcc-
tive tariff. Both the silver and tariff
are vital questions OF domestic policy
Of equal Importance. but ! propose ON
this occasion To contine my remarks
mainly to what is known as the free
coinage of silver ut the ratio of siN-
teen parts of silver to one of gold.
This Issue is thrust upon us by he
Democratic party. or rather by the
PopuliStic branch of the Democratic
party. Gold and silver coins are rccog-
uizcd bvall commercial nations of the
world as the best standards OF value.
rs the measure of Il very article of de
sire. Of everything that is bought or
sold. These two metals not olIlV meas
nrc all other things. but they meas
urc each other. Their relative value
constantly changes. TwcntN-thrcc
Years ago sixteen ounces of silver.
were worth more than one of gold.
Now 3 ounces Of silver can be bought
Tor one ounce of gold. This huctua-
ton Of value cannot be prevented by
law. 1t is beyond the reach of lcos-
demands for and The increasing sup
ply of these metals from the mines.
Both are necessary as. money, silver to
supply the daily wants of life and gold
to- measure the larger transactions of
business. especially in exchanges with
foreign nations. How TO maintain the
parity of the two metals at Il fixed
ratio has been. is. and always will be.
4 difficult problem not only in the
nitcd States. but in the civilized
world
In 1ia2 silver and gold We're made
the common standards of the United
states at the ratio of - to |. but this
was because that then the actual mar
ket value of 10 ounces of silver was
equal to the actual market value of one
ounce of gold. The greatest care was
taken to ascertain this ratio by Thomas,
then secretary of state. and Alexan-
DER Hamilton, then secretary of the
treasury
When the new American coins were
issued it was found that the abraded
and worn coins of other countries
filed the channels Of circulation and
the new and bright dollars of the
I iiitth 'tdttS were exported, rms
led to the discontinuance. in 1906. by
President Jefferson of the coinage OF
the silver dollar and after that date
none We're coined for more than 30
years. This order of jefferson, | sup
pose, would be called by Populistic
friends, the crime OF 1906" In the
meantime France and other countries
adopted the ratio of l51a ounces of sill
Yer as the equivalent of one ounce of
gold. To avoid these embarrassing
changes England. in 1916. adopted gold
as the single standard in that coun-
try and silver as subsidiary coin
In 1884, during the administration of
President Jackson and under the
of Daniel Webster and Thomas
H. Benton. Congress adopted the ratio OF
lG of silver 10 of gold by reducing the
number of grains in the gold coin AS
silver was thus slightly undervalued. it
WAS not largely coined.
Silver could be coined in France at the
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