Custer weekly chronicle. [volume] (Custer City, S.D.) 1890-1931, 1896-08-29
SPEECH OF JOHN SHERMAN
The Ohio Financier Presents the
Gold Side,
Exposition of the Money Question
From the Yellow Metal Stand
point - Opening Of the
Ohio Campaign.

point - Opening Of the
Ohio Campaign.
Columbus, %, Aug. 1.-THE repub
iicsn campaign in Ohio was formal,
opened Saturday by two monster meet
ings I'm this city. The orators were
Senator John Sherman, Senator-elect j
b. Foraker of Ohio and Hon. Stewart
Woodford Of Brooklyn, n. Y. The meet
ings were held in an immense tent OF
East Broad street, the city having NJ
auditorium large enough to accommo
date the crowds.
At the afternoon meeting fully 10000
people were crowded into the tent. Ths
large attendance vas a great surprise
as 1t was feared the extreme warn
weather would interfere. Governor
Bushnell presided at the afternoon meet
ing. The governor made a brief speech
He said the people from all parts Of the
state were present to open a campaign
that Will elevate to the highest office In
the gift Of the people of the United
States a distinguished son of Ohio. That
mar was William Mckinley.
When Governor Bushnell introduced
Senator John Sherman, the venerable
statesman advanced to the front of the
stage amid loud applause, and a band
struck up The Star Spangled Banner
Mr.. Sherman stood calmly surveying the
crowd until the band ceased playing,
Mr.. Sherman prefaced his speech by
saying that inasmuch as he wished tc
discuss questions of vital Importance +
every citizen in the United States, as
well as of Ohio, he would read his speech
In order TO be exact in his statements
Continuing, he said:
1t is the distinguishing feature OF our
republican government that every ques-
ton affecting the people of the United
States must ultimately be determined
by them at the ballot box. Every legal
voter has an equal voice in deciding it,
however difficult the problem may be.
1t so happens that in the coming presi-
DENTAL election there VIII be submitted
to your judgment two such questions,
n of which Is whether any holder of
silver bullion may deposit it at the minis
of the United States and have it coined
for his benefit and without cost to him
into silver dollars, each Of the weight of
4l2h grains of standard silver, nine
tenths fine, and may tender them for
any debt, public or private. The other
question is whether in levying duties
or taxes on imported goods we shall only
consider the revenue required, or
whether, while raising the needed eve
nue., we shall seek also to protect and
encourage domestic industries; the one
Is called revenue tariff and the other a
protective tariff.
Currency tho Question.
Both the silver and tariff are vital
questions of domestic policy of equal
Importance, but l propose on this occa-
sion TO confine my remarks mainly to
what is known as the free coinage of sill
yer at the ratio of sixteen parts of sill
yer to n part of gold. This issue Is
thrust upon us by the democratic party,
or rather by the populist branch of the
democratic party.
Gold and silver coins are recognized
by all commercial nations OF the world
as the best standards OF value. as the
of every article of desire, of ev-
that is bought or sold. These
;wo metals not only measure all other
but they measure each other.
Their relative value constantly enenges.
T~wenty-three years ago sixteen =. noes
II silver were worth more than one
'unce of gold. Now thirty-one ounces of
liver can be bought by one ounce Of
,old. This 1uctuation Of value cannot
.e .~preyspted b.. Law, It is bayond the I.
Demands for and me fncrcav-
ing supply of these metals from the
mines. Both are necessary as money
silver to supply the daily wants of life
~ f&fS5,TtI+rryTfvasure INC Y1rgcr transae-
ton of business, especially In exchanges
with foreign nations. How to maintain
the parity of the two metals at a fixed
has been, Is and always will be a
difficult problem, not only In the United
States, but in the civilized world.
1t was one of the first questions to oc-
the attention Of American states
after the adoption of the constitu-
ton and Is now one of the most press
ing after more than 100 a of ma
tional growth. In 1892 silver and gold
were made the common standards of
value in the United States at the ratio
is TO !. but this was because then the
market value of fifteen ounces Of
silver was equal to the actual market
value of one ounce of gold. The great
est care was taken to ascertain this ratio
by Thomas Jefferson, then secretary of
state, and Alexander Hamilton, then
secretary of the treasury. These two
distinguished statesmen who disagreed
upon nearly all other questions, did
agree upon the then relative value of the
W metals and that both should be
coined into money at that ratio. At the
time neither gold nor silver was found
In any considerable quantities In the
thirteen states hen forming the union.
The revolutionary war had been con-
Quoted with paper money, which became
worthless, and the coins of Spain, Eng
land n other countries had been made
a legal tender and continued so for many
years after the adoption of the constitu-
ton.
When the new American coins were is
sued 1t was found that the abraded and
worn coins of other nations filled the
channels Of circulation and the new and
bright dollars of the United States
were exported. This led to the discon-
.tinuance in 1906 by President jefferson
of the coinage of the silver dollars.
n after hat date one were coined
for more than thirty years. This order
of Jefferson's. 1 suppose, would be called
by our populistic friends. "the crime of
1906"
In the meantime France and other
countries adopted the ratio Of 15a oun-
ces OF silver as the equivalent of one
ounce Of gold. To avoid these embar-
RAISING changes England in 1916 adop-
ted gold as the single standard in hat
country, and silver as subsidiary coin,
In 1884, during the administration of
Jackson, and under the lead
ership of Daniel Webster and Thomas
H. Benton, congress adopted the ratio
Of sixteen ounces of silver to one of
gold by reducing the number Of grains
In the gold coin. Gold became the only
coin In circulation, and the
avowed purpose Of the passage Of the
Of 1884 was to make gold the stand
ard. This law. heartily approved by
Andrew Jackson, would now be called
crime Of 1884"
In 1853 upon the report of Senator
Hunter. when Pierce was president, and
when all branches Of the government
under democratic control, congress
reduced the quantity of silver in the
coins more than 6 per cent;
the law for their free coinage
and made them a legal tender for S.
cp1v Jao yfpo unI6 ctfI1 nractical l1v the