The evening herald. [volume] (Shenandoah, Pa.) 1891-1966, 1896-08-27
WILLIAM N'KINLEY'S LETTER.
lContlnued from IlIrst pape.l }

government bought the silver bullion at
It's market value and coined it into silver
dollars. Having exclusive control OF the
mintage. II only coins what it can hold at
parity with gold, The profit, represent
ing the difference between the commercial
value of the silver bullion and the face
value Of the silver dollar, goes to the gov
erument for the benefit of tho people.
The governments bought the silver bull
lion contained in the silver dollar at very
much less thuu its coinage value. 1t paid
it out t3 ila creditors, and put it in oirou
latiun among the people at its face value
Of one hundred cents, or full dollar. 1t
required the people to accept it as u legal
tender and Is thus morally bound to main
tain it at a parity with gold which was
then, as now, the recognized standard
with us, and the most enlightened nations
of the world The government having
issued and circulated the silver dollar,
must in honor protect the holder from loss,
This obligation it has so far sacredly kept.
Not only Is there u moral Obligation but
there is legal obligation, expressed in
public statute, TO maintain the parity.
These dollars, in the particulars l have
named, are not the same as the dollars
which would be issued under free coinage,
| They would be the same in form, but diff
fcrcnt in value. The government would
have no part in the transaction, except to
coin the silver bullion into dollars. 1t
would share in no part of the profit 1t
would take upon itself no obligation. 1t
would not put the dollars into circula-
tion. 1t could only got them as any citi-
zan would get them, by giving something
for them 1t would deliver them to those
WIN deposited the silver, and its connec-
| ton with the transaction there end Such
are the silver dollars which would be is
sued under free coinage of silver at a
ratio of Is to /.
They Could Not be Kept at Par.
Who would then maintain the parity {?
What would keep them at par with gold
| There would be no obligation resting upon
| the government to do it, and if there were
| it would be pOwcrless to do it. The simple
! truth is we would be driven to silver
mOnomctalism. These dollars, therefore,
would stand upon their real value. If
the free and unlimited coinage of silver
at ratio Of rs ounces of silver to 1
ounce of gold would, as some of our advo-
Gates assert, make SO cents in silver worth
| 100 cents and the silver dollar equal to
the gold dollar, then we would have no
cheaper money than now, and it would be
no easier to get But that such would be
the result is against reason and is contra
| dicted by experience in all times and in
all lands
1t means the debasement of our cur
| rency to the amount Of the difference be-
| tween the commercial and coin value of
the silver dollar, which is ever changing
and the effect would be to reduce prop
| erty values, entail untold financial loss,
destroy confidence, impair the obligations
OF existing contracts, further impovorish
| the labOrer and producers of the country,
create a panic OF unparalleled severity
and inllict upon trade and commerce II
deadly blow. Against any such policy 1
am unaltorably opposed.
Bimetallism.
Bimetallism cannot be secured by inde-
pendent action on our part. 1t cannot be
obtained by opening our mints to the un-
limited coinage of the silver of the world,
at IA ratio of 16 ounces of silver to / ounce
of gold when the commercial value is
more than 80 ounces of silver to ounce of
gold Mexico and China have tried the
experiment Mexico has free coinage Of
/ silver and gold at ratio slightlyin excess
/ Of .Bl% ounces OF silver to l ounce Of gold,
both metals at that ratio not single dol
lar in gold bullion is coined and circu-
lated rs money, Gold has been driven out
Of circulation in these countries and they
are on silver basis alone.
Until international agreement is had it
Is the plain duty of the United States to
maintain the gold standard 1t is the
recognized and sole standard of the great
commercial nations of tine world, with
which we trade more largely than any
other. EiFhty-fOur per cent, of our for
eign trade for the fiscal year 1895 was with
| gold standard countries and our trade
with other countries was settled on gold
basis.
Chiefly by means of legislation during
and since 1878 there has bcen put in circu-
lation more than Sd24, 600 Of silver OF
its representative. This has been done in
the honest effort to give to silver, if posi-
BILE, the same bullion and coinage value,
and encourage the concurrent use Of both
gold and silver as money. Prior to that
time there had been less than nine mill
ions of silver dollars coined in the entire
history of the United States, period OF
eighty-nine years. This legislation Sc
cures the largest use of silver consistent
with financial safety and the pledge to
maintain its parity with gold
We Now Have More Silver Than cold.
We have today more silver than gold
This has been accomplished at times with
grave peril to the public credit The SC
called Sherman law sought to use all the
silver product of the United States fol
money at its market value. From 1890 tC
1898 the government purchased 1900 90,
ounces of silver month, or 54OOOO OJl
ounces n year. This was one-third of tn,
product of the world and practically al
Of this country's product, 1t was beloved
by those who then and now favor free
coinage that such use of silver would ad
vance its bullion value to its coinage value
but this expectation was not realized. II
"a few months, Notwithstanding the un
precedent market for the silver produooC
in the United States, the price of silve
went down very rapidly, reaching lowe
point than ever before. Then, upon thl
recommendation of President Cleveland
both political parties united in the repea
of the purchasing clause Of the Sherman
law We cannot with safety engage il
further eXperimCnts in this direction.