The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1896-10-22
THE TRAMP
answers the Silver Argument of NJ. A. Y.
published in the democrat"
To the Editorof The Republican

mountain HAS kln0lE
mailed to me copy of the Mountain
Democrat for Sept. "a, 1896, in which
Nj. A. Y, of st. Louis, Mo, ATTEMPTS
toreply to my article in the REPUB-
LICAN for Sept. 9TH.
M. a. Y. is an adept at arguing in a
circle and equally accomplished in
the Bryanistic art of stating half
truth where it would be damaging to
tell the truth, and then to further
cllnch an argument misquote and
misinterpret as freely as may be nee
essary.
Nj. A. \. attempts to disprove my
assertion that there is not a single
nation renowned for its enlighten-
ment and advancement whose hiqhest
Stdnd0rd of value was or is not based
on gold" Singularly enough NJ. A.
Y argument with all its flow of fine
words and glowing rhetoric proves my
assertion absolutely and indisputa-
bly,. The glory of Great Britain.
France and Germany was obtained
and maintained on a sound money
basis whether bimetallic or otherwise.
and that sound money basis had and
has for its highest standard of value
gold and always gold. The French
dSSig11dt issued during the French
revolution, is the only exception: its
basis of value was supposed to rest
upon the landed estates of the royal
lists and aristocrats. The French as
Signdt met the fate of all unsecured
currency.
As a matter of fact the United
States has been practically on gold
basis ever since 1905, at which time
the coinage of silver dollars was
stopped and no more We're coined
until 1884. At this time the ratio was
changed from 1873 to 1898 or which
is now called rs to 1. In that year one
thousand silver dollars were turned
out at the mint. From 1884 to 1878
the minis were opened to the free
coinage of silver, but only few dol
lars in silver were coined, because the
bullion value of the silver at that
time was greater than IS to /.
1t is fact then that the growth
and material prosperity of the United
States rested upon a sound money
basis, and more than that, upon
almost exclusively gold currency or
its equivalent. Bimetallism, as a
matter of fact, cut but an insignif-
cant figure in the business of our
country from 1885 to 1878 and the
mint coinage for that period proves
that the crime of 1878 was a step in
the right direction-the prudential
foresight that prevented the ship of
state from laundering on the shoals
of an unstable currency.
What NJ. a. Y. needs to learn is that
the Republican party is not opposed
to bimetallism, honest bimetallism,
but it is opposed to establishing a
currency that would be constantly
changing in value. England by her
coin laws attempted to establish the
price of wheat, that the price should
never go below eighty shillings per
quarter; but the government was
powerless to maintain the price in the
face of the great crops of 1S20-21-22
and wheat sold at AZ shillings per
quarter, working great loss to the ag
riculturists and almost destroyed the
business of the island.
Whenever NJ. A. Y. can show a sill
yer dollar whose bullion value is equal
to its face value, in other words whose
value is constant, unvarying and UNI
chaning and whose value is not fixed
by fiat of government, then bimetall-
ism may win the day. The melting
pot is the true test of value. Our sill
yer dollar to-day is not worth dollar,
but it has the government guarantee
behind it, and is limited in quantity
so that the guarantee may readily be
made good.
Bryan in some of his speeches jeer-
ingly asks how many working men
see a gold dollar. AS a matter of fact
every days wages is paid in money as
good as gold, and has the same pur-
chasing power as gold. But with free
silver that no longer would be the
case; silver dollar would have debt
paying power of 100 cents but its pur-
chasing power would be no greater
than its bullion value.
M. A. Y. places great stress on the
power of the bondholders and pluto
Gratis, and yet in the same paragraph
the great progress of the United
States is lauded to the skies. But for
the bond buyers in the time of the
civil war, in the time of the nations
peril, our country might yet be under
the dominion of the slave element,
and all our boosted enlightenment
and advancement buried in the ashes
of an inhuman greed. But for the
plutocrats, the men of money, the