Delaware gazette and state journal. (Wilmington, Del.) 1883-1902, 1896-10-15
Mr.. ATKINSON'S LETTER.

effort to get replies from any oil the candi-
dates or their supporters of the Silvercrat
party in this vicinity to the questions
which have put in an open letter to Mr..
Bryan, one man has ut length appeared
who has the courage of his convictions
and who has ventured to make an answer
He Is ex-senator and ex-Judge John III.
Reagan of Tcxas-a man for whose
strength, vigor and courage have always
had II profound respect. If ] am rightly
informed he has been one of the railway
commissioners of Texas, and having GU
tered upon his duties with the idea that
it was wholly in the power of the State
of Texas to fix the rate OF traffic on her
railroads and otherwise to manage the
railway service in the interest of the peo-
pie, he has discovered by experience as
commissioner that his first conceptions
We're all wrong and is now applying com
mon sense to remedy for the defects of
the Texas railway service which have
brought nearly all the railways in the
State to bankruptcy and have limited the
service Of that great empire to less than
10000 miles, when an equal area in the
middle West of no greater potential in
agriculture, mineral or anything else, EN-
joys the service of over 10000 miles.
These money questions have finally been
put in the following form:
Sir.--In the event of the election of your
self to the Office for which you are n candi-
date, or In the event of the election of
the candidate whom you present, will You
support by your vote or influence three
amendments to the present law of legal
tender to the following effect?
First-Be it enacted that any and all
tracts payable in dollars made of gold of
the present standard may enter into such
contracts or agreements which shall be
enforced in dollars made of gold of the
present standard, and in the event of suits
at law, including damages and costs, be
payable in dollars made of gold.
Second--Be it enacted that any and all
persons who may choose to make con-
tracts payable in dollars made of silver
| of the present standard may enter into
| such contracts or agreements, which shall
he enforced in dollars made of silver of
| the present standard, and in the event of
| suits at law, including damages and costs,
be payable in dollars made of silver.
Third-Be it enacted, that If either
party in any contract shall neglect to
name dollars made of gold or dollars
|
| yertance such contracts, bargains, or
agreements shall be made in the name of
dollars without discrimination, then il
shall be held that the intent and meaning
| of every such contract or agreement is
that the payment to be made under il
shall be made in the best kind of money
or dollar in use when the contract ma
lures; 1t being held that If. ut the time
of the maturity of such contract or agree
ment, whether 1t be for goods or for the
payment of wages, the bullion value of
silver shall not have been raised to a
parity with gold at 10 to 1, or to 81. 29H
per ounce. then the dollar made of gold
is the best kind of money; therefore, all
who work for wages, salaries, or fol
compensation in any other form for Their
services, and all who have contracted tc
deliver goods to be paid for in money
shall be entitled to payment in dollars
made of gold or their equivalent.
These questions are likely to be nut
throughout the country to every candi
date OF the Silvercrat party and to al
their supporters by question clubs first
organized by women and second by mef
OF the railway service. These question:
are substantially in the form in which
they were addressed in an open letter tt
Mr.. Bryan and in which they have beer
put to the candidate for Governor on thi.
side. Mr.. George Fred. Williams ant
others, none of whom have yet venturet
to reply.
In letter to the Houston News, Judg,
heagan repeats these questions. He say.
that they are not put in fair way, tha
they are intended to deceive, and he ask.
IN the final paragraph of that letter, "IIov
long must the American people be callcf
to endure such sophistrics as the mean,
OF sustaining cause which is steadil,
driving the country into d condition 81
hopeless bankruptcy?' But singulari,
enough he does not answer or attemp
TO answer either one of the three oues
tions in his first reply.
In subsequent letter to the Post a
Houston, Texas, Judge Reagan again re
peats the questions and he gives wba
appears to him to be- one final answer /,
the three. 1t is in the following words
MT. Atkinson is labitually employin,
MS skill In the artiul forming of sentence
10 sustain the cause of the single gol,
standard on the false prctense that he il
; the FRIEND OF laboring men, in the face O.
the met That the policy he is thus advocat
ing mas deprived more men of employment
OF the means of earning wages, and Ina,
created a greater number of idle men an,
] tralnps than was ever known before th
IN this country.
He demands to know by what RICH
we propose TO force any one to take sill
yer dollars at $1.29, whether their bulliol
vaiue Is equal to that or not This pass
; age very aptly illustrates the sophistry h,
employs generally in his numerous paper
: on this subject. Instead of referring I,
, the coin money value of silver he. in sui
} suihce' compares the bullion value of sill
yer with the coined money value of gold
J Our coined money silver dollars are nj
good as gold in the payment of debts
/ taxes, etc., while the bullion which is con
, tanned in the dollar is very much les
, valuable.
: suppose the money quality should b.
. taken away from gold, its coinage sus
! pended, and that is would not he a lega
, tehuer, II would be simply a commodit,
! ana II would only have the value which II
use IN the arts would give it. The sam
would be true MS to silver. But CONVEX
ine gold into coins of specified denomina
tions and make it legal tender for debt
ana the law would fix the value of eac
. com. The same would be true as to silye,
? why does Mr.. Atkinson and other col
} standard advocates constantly assam
that the people generally are ignorant a
q tne difference between the value of ur
7 coined bullion, Invested of the money ana
1 ity, and the coins made out of such bulIio
and invested by law with the quality n
money! And they are constontly r,ca,,