Phillipsburg herald. [volume] (Phillipsburg, Kan.) 1882-1905, 1896-08-27

if in trying to raise our credit by in
creasing the purchasing power Of oul
dollar we destroy our ability to pay
the debts already contracted by low
erng the purchasing power of the
products with which those debts must
be paid2
1T it is asserted, and it constantly
is asserted, that the gold standard
will enable us to borrow more money
from abroad, l reply that the restora.
ton of bimetalllsm will restore the
party between money and property,
and thus permit an era Of prosperity
which will enable the American peo-
pie to become loaners Of money in
stead of perpetual borrowers. Even
if we desire to borrow how long can
we continue borrowing under q sys-
tenn which, by lowering the value Of
property, weakens me foundation up
on which credit rests?
AN APPEAL FOR posTERITY,
"Even the holders of fixed invest
ments, though they gain an advantage
from the appreciation OF the dollar,
certainly see the injustice of the leg
islatlon which gives them this advant-
age over those whose incomes depend
upon the value of property and pro-
ducts. II the holders of fixed invest
ments will not listen to arguments
based upon justice and equity, / ap-
peal to them to consider the interests
of posterIty. We do not live for our
selves olsne. Our labor, our self de-
NAL and our anxious care-all these
are for those who are to come after US
as much as for ourselves, but we can
not protect our children beyond the
period of our lives. Let those who
are now reaping advantage from a
vicious financial system remember
that in the years to come their own
children and their children's children
may, through the operations Of this
same system, be made 10 pay tribute
to the descendants of those who are
wronged today.
THE l6 TO COINAGE DEMAND.
CAS- against the maintenance Of a
gold standard, either permanently or
until other nations can be- united for
it's overthrow, the Chicago platform
presents clear and emphatic de-
mand for the immediate restoration
of the free and unlimited coinage of
silver and gold at the present legal
ratio of l6 to l, without waiting for
the aid or consent Of any other ma
ton. We are not asking that new
experiment be tried; we are insisting
upon return to a financial policy
approved by the experience of history
and supported by all the prominent
statesmen of our nation from the
days of the first president down to
1873 When we ask that our mints
be opened to the free and unlimited
coinage of silver into full legal tender
money, we are simply asking that the
same mint privileges be accorded to
silver that are now accorded to gold.
When we ask that this coinage be at
the ratio of 16 to l, we simply ask
that our gold coins and the standard
silver dollar which, be 1t remembered,
contains the same amount of pure sill
yer as the first silver dollar coined at
our mints, retain their present weight
and fneness.
A PRACTICAL ILLUSTRATION GIVEN.
"The theoretical advantage of the
bimetallic system is best stated by
European writer on political econ
omy. who suggests the following illus
trations: "A river fed from two
sources is more uniform in volume
than river fed from one source-the
reason being that when one Of the
feeders is swollen the other may be
low; whereas river which has but
one feeder must rise or fall with that
feeder. So, in the case of bimetal-
ism, the metallic money receives con-
from both the gold mines
and the silver minee, and therefore
varies less; and the dollar, resting up
on the two metals, is less changeable
in its purchasing power than the dol
lar which rests on one metal only.
IF there are two kinds of money,
the option must rest either with the
debtor or with the creditor. Assum-
ing that their rights are equal, we
must look at the interests of society