Abilene weekly reflector. [volume] (Abilene, Kan.) 1888-1935, 1896-09-03

as some OF us advocates assert, make
cents In silver worth 100 cents, and III
silver dollar equal to the gold dollar, the
we would have no cheaper money than nov
such would be the result Is against reaso
and ID cOntradicted by experience In a
times and In all lands II means the dt
basement OF our currency to the amount 3
the difference between the commercial an
coin value OF the silver dollar, which Is eve
changing, and the effect would be TO re
duce property values. entail untold finan
cIal loss, destroy confidence, impair tn
obligations OF existing contracts, furthe
impoverish the laborers and producers o
the country, create panic Of unparallele,
; severity and infilct upon trade and com
lnerce deadly blow. Against any sucl
policy. am unalterably opposed
Bimetsllism.
"Bimetallism cannot be secured by In
dependent action on our part. 1t canno
be obtained by opening our minis to tn,
unlimited coinage Of the silver OF tn,
world at the ratio OF sixteen ounces O.
silver to one ounce OF gold, when thu
commercial ratio IL more than thirty ouncei
OF silver to one ounce OF gold. Mexico ant
China have tried the experiment. Mexico
has free coinage Of silver and gold at {
ratio slightly In excess Of sixteen and one.
and while her mints are freely open d
both metals ut that ratio, not single dol.
lar In gold bullion Is coined and circulated
as money. Gold has been driven out Ol
circulation In these countries and they
are on a silver basis alone. Until interna-
tional agreement Is had 1t Is the plain
duty OF the United States to maintain the
gold standard. i Is the recognized and
sole standard Of the great commercial ma
lions OF the world, with which we trade
more largely than any other. Eighty
| four per cent. Of our foreign trade for the
fiscal year 1896 was with gold standard
countries, and our kade with other coun-
tries was settled on a gold basis.
We Now Have More Silver Than Gold.
"Chieny by means OF legislation during
and since 1878 there has been put In crcu-
latlon more than 1921, 100000 Of silver. or
Its representative This has been done In
the honest effort to give to silver, II pos
sible, 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 0,O00,000 OF
silver dollars coined In the entire history
OF the United States, period of ~ years.
This legislation secured the largest use
Of silver consistent with financial safety,
and the pledge to maintain Its parity with
kuiu. we nave tO-uuy IuOTt hllVtT lHhIl
gold. This has been accomplished at times
with grave peril to the public credit. The
so-called Sherman law sought to Use all
the silver product Of the United States for
money at Its market value From 1890 to
1898 the government purchased 4,D0000
ounces Of silver month, or 81, 600, 900 ounces
year. This was one-thIrd OF the product
Of the world and practically all Of this
country's product. II was believed by
those who then and now favor free coin
age that such use Of silver would advance
Its bullion value to Its coinage value, but
this expectation WIS not realized In a
few months, Notwithstanding the ,inprece-
dented market for the silver produced In
the United States, the price Of silver went
down very rapidly, reaching lower point
ommendatlon Of President Cleveland, both
parties united In the reDeal of tho nur-
chasing clause Of the Sherman law. We
cannot with safety engage In further ex-
periments In this direction.
The Double Standard.
ION the 22d Of August, 1891, In a public
address, | said; II we could have an In
ternational ratio, which all the leading
nations Of the world would adopt. and tho
true relation be fixed between the two
metals, and all agree upon the quantity of
silver which should constitute dollar
then silver would be as free and unlimited |
In Its privileges of coinage as gold Is to-
day. But that we have not been able to |
secure, and with the free and unlimited |
coinage OF silver adopted In the United
States at the present ratio we would DO
still further removed from any interna-
to secure II II we enter upon the isolated
coinage OF silver. The double standard
implies equality al a ratio. and that equal
ity can only be established by the concur
rent law Of nations. II was the concurrent
law Of nations that made the double stand
ard; II will require the concurrent law Of
nations to relnstate and sustain It,.
Fsvors tho Use Of Silver Money.
''The republican party has not been, and
8 not now, opposed to the use of silver
money, as Its record ahundantly shows. II
las done all that could be done for itg In
reased use, with safety and honor BY the
United states acting apart from other gov
rnments. There are those who think that
has already gone beyond the limit of
nancial prudence len surely we can SO no
ghts to lure US across the danger line.
I'VE have much more silver In use than
ny country In the world except India or
000, 900 more than Great Britain,
60,0OO000 more than France. s40O,O0,O00
lore than Germany; s326,000,0OO less than
ndla and tl25. 000,0 900 less than China.
1.-THE republican party has declared In
lvor OF an International agreement and II
Iected president It will be my duty to ,
he free coinage Of silver In this country
ould defer, II not defeat, international b. i
letallism, and until an international s
greoment can be had every interest re-
llres us to maintain our present standard.
free coinage Of silver at a
tito OF sixteen ounces of silver to one
lnce of gold would insure the speedy con-
action Of the volume of our currency. 1t
ould drive at least $5000OO.0O0 of gold, {
hlch we now have, permanently from the {
ade OF the country, and greatly decrease
IT per capita circulation, /
ut Is not proposed by the republican c
irty II take from the circulating medium
the country any of the silver We now 3
ave. On the contrary 1t Is proposed to S
Yep all OF the silver money now In circu- |
ton on parity with gold by maintaining 4
Q pledge Of the government that all Of II Il
lall be equal to gold. This has been the /
1broken policy of the republican party v
nee 1873, i has inaugurated no new i
,llcy 1t will keep In circulation and as I
rod as gold all of the silver and paper c
'iiNS WINCH uit luW llltluupu III Inc cur
ncy of the country. II will maintain their L
rity 1t will preserve their equality In c
e future as II has always done In the past. <
VIII not consent to put this country ON h
silver basis which would inevitably fol- D
" Independent free coinage at ratio of n
Steen to one. 1t will oppose the expul- 4
on of gold from our circulation a
Farmers and Laborers suffer Most. x
II there is any one thing which should G.
free from speculation and tiuctuation u
Is the money OF a country. Ii ought never u
be the subject of mere partisan conten- "
m. When we part with our labor, our g
oducts, or our property, we should re- I,
i've In return money which is as stable n
d unchanging In value as the ingenuity p
honest men can make II. Debasement II
the currency means destruction of val m
$. NO one suffers so much from CHEAP c.
)ney as the farmers and laborers They tC
9 the first to feel Its bad effects and the al
81 10 recover from them This has been le
9 uniform experience OF all coustrles q
d here, as elsewhere, the poor, and not II
G rich. are always the greatest sufferers 10
,m every attempt to debase Our money. n,
would fall with alarming severity upon 10
vesments already made upon nsur- OF
ce companies and their policy-holders:
on savings banks and their depostors.
on building and loan associations and
cir members, upon the savings Of thrift, W
on pensioners and their families, and fr
on wage.earners and the purchasing he
wer Of their wages, Il,
Unlimited 1rredeemable Paper Money be
THE silver question IL not the onlv isat,a w