The daily morning Astorian. [volume] (Astoria, Oregon) 1883-1899, 1896-08-20
BrYAN AND RIMETALLrsM.

fngs S. ems to tickle him more than his
assert m that the Republican platform
admits that the sold standard is a bad
thing. but atfirms that We must clinS
to ii until foreign nations consent 20
Soin l., an international agreement for
silver coinage. He repeats II again and
again. and proudly declares that il WILL
BY dirt Of reiteration. drive the Re
public5n party from the field Just
Keep on asking your Republican
friend.. he says, why they want free
eoinae by international agreement II
the q q standard is q good thing, and
YOU VIII shut their mouths. Perhaps
you " II. II you can first induce them
10 shut their eyes and not read their
own platform. But II they DO read it,
they uill not be long in seeing how mis-
Ieadiny and dishonest Is the interpre-
tation which Mr.. Bryan puts upon it.
The Republican money plank begins
BY saying that since resumption every
dollar has been as good as gold. Then
1t declares unalterable opposition to
every measure calculated 10 debase
our currency or impair the credit Of our
country" That is to say, having made
every dollar as good as gold, the plat
form proposes to keep it SO. II is
therefore, il goes on. opposed TO the
free coinage of silver" II is opposed
to it because it would debase the cur
rency, impair the credit Of the country,
and fail 10 keep every dollar as good
as gold. II free coinage is TO be had
in such a way that these bad results
VIII not follow from IT. it is TO be had.
the platform continues. only by inter
national agreement with the leading
commercial nations Of the world" III
such agreement would not debase our
currency or impair our credit. then the
platform is SOr it. but otherwise, and
till len. the existing gold standard
must lie preserved. and the obligations
OF the United States must be maintain
ed iii violate"
Hero is no shamefaced shufiing !
about the gold standard, as Mr.. Bryan |
insinuates. The emphasis throughout
is on gold as the best currency and the /
true measure Of private and public |
credit There is no apologetic or halt /
ing ne OF the word gold; it occurs |
three times in the plank, and each time
is ma le to stand for the best money |
and tle only standard, being that Of
''the most enlightened nations Of the !
earth. II Mr.. Bryan is really opposed |
to tina plank, then he declares himself, |
in the act, in favor Of a debasad cur
rency, OF impaired national credit of
having dollars not as good as gold
dollars, and Of allowing the obliga-
tons Of the United States TO be yio-
lated He is enough OF a logician to |
know that thcse propositions are the
only strict contradictories Of the ones
he as ails.
We are not set for the defence Of
intern ltional bimetallism. our feet
have not been taken in that snare
But there are intelligent and honest
intern ational bimetallists, Ike Presi-
dent Walker. who have co-aplete and /
dignif ID answer u NJ. BrylA's bright
boy" question. II bimetallism is a good
thing. why not have it yourselves out
of hard? Because, Boy orator it is
one Of those many good things which
you cannot have without the c0-opera-
tion o. other countries. Why must We
have International copyright, interna-
tional sanitary regulations, an interna-
tional code Of signals and rules Of the
road 1T sea, international public and
privat law, and so on? Because onel
nation alone, one nation in reckless de-
fance Of others, can have none Of
these good things. If marine signals
are a good thing, Mr. Bryan's boy
logic would say, why not set up a code
Of your own without waiting for the
consent" Of other countries? Are not
70,000C)0 Of people able to lay down
their own rules Of the road at sea? All
that Is necessary for the international
bimets Hist to do in order to clap an
extinguisher on Mr.. Bryan's chapter ls
to shoY, as he easily can, that free
by this country alone would
be as disastrous as free sailing Of the
seas in disregard Of international rules
would be. The real opinion Of real
bimetallists has already
oeen declared by President Walker and
5thers to be that the Bryan go-it-alone
plan has thrown all the fat in the fire
Ind set back the bimetallic cause in =
definitely.