Virginia free press. (Charlestown, Va. [W. Va.]) 1832-1916, 1896-05-27
Some Extracts.

of Judge Geo. n. Aldredge, of Dallas, Tex,
which was inserted in the remarks of Hon.
Donelson Gallery, of Louisiana, in the
United States Senate on the 90th of Janu-
ary:
"If Government were asked to declare
that two quarts equaled gallon, or to re-
wise the multiplication table and enact that
ten times ten equaled two hundred, all men
would see the folly; but when asked to be-
lieve that ten dollars worth of silver touch
ed by the Government stamp, instantly be-
comes worth twenty dollars, many people
honestly believe this miracle may be accom-
plished, and many others affect to believe
it, for practical purposes. In all ages of
the world there have been delusions in ref
erence to money, aud in spite of uniform
disastrous results, many are ever ready to
listen to the teachings OF any chartalan who
claims that he has discovered a shorter route
to wealth. They refuse to apply to money
that hard common sense which they exer-
else in dealing with the everyday affairs of
life. The ignorant have always had super
stition about silver Among the negroes Of
the South nothing would kill witch but
silver bullet. That our ancestors a hum
dred years ago fixed a unit of value in gold
or silver and fixed ratio between them is
immateria to US. Their example in so do
ing is not more bidding on Us than their
methods of business, their means of trans
portation, or the implements with which
they sowed or reaped. 1t would be a sad
commentary upon our intelligence if we
had learned nothing in hundred years.
"The god-standard advocates believe in
gold as a standard with the largest possible
safe use of silver among the people. The
16 to dreamers believe in the so.called
double standard and we are driven by this
law to the use of silver alone. All gold
standard countries use large amounts of sill
yer and no silver standard country uses any
gold whatever As the practical question
is the use of the metals it follows that we
are the bimetalists and the 16 to people
are the monometalsts. Hence, the battle
that is to be fought to a finish, is whether
we will remain under a gold standard, with
actual bimetallism in use among the people
gold and silver circulating freely without
discrimination against either; or shall we
have a so called double standard at the
mints and nO,chere else, with silver mono
metallism in actual use? The battle is be
tween substance and shadow, between those
who want bimetallism in fact and those who
want it in name only We are the friends
of silver money, who would bring to its aid
the power of the Government to keep it
good, and they are its enemies, who, by un-
limited coinage, would take from it the
guaranty Of parity by the Government, and
thereby degrade it to its market value
Our Government has been and is now coin-
ing silver at the ratio of l6 to l. 1t is en-
abed to do this, because under the law it
csn restrict the amount coined, and being
vested with this control, it undertakes to
make every dollar good money. The mo-
ment the Government loses control Of the
coinage confidence in its ability to protect
the money issued is gone, and asilyer dollar
then rests on its merits and is worth 50 cents.
To illustrate: 4 merchant could very well
guarantee the expenses o. his clerk if he
were allowed to control the expenses, but if
the clerk demanded free and unlimited ex-
penses, then the merchant would have to
Stand from under and let the expenses take
care OF themselves.
"Tbe second proposition is that gold has
appreciated and thereby depressed prices,
The same cause operating upon number
of articles will produce the same effect in
all those not affected by conIraveniug
cause. When we contemplate prices we find
that since the gold standard was adopted,
February -, 1873, some articles have de-
clined in value, some have remained sta
tionary. while some have risen in price, and
no contravening causes will account for the
failure Of gold to depress all alike We find
that no two articles have declined at the
same time or in the same degree, nor has
any one article remained uniformly depress-
ed. This demonstrates that, as to those arti-
cles that have declined, no one controlling
cause can be assigned as having produced
these results The stock argument Of the
16 to l people is that wheat and cotton have
declined and they seem to gloat over the
fact. knew an old negro who, when asked
how be was getting along, always replied,
Poorly, thank God and they arc thankful
when the country is poorly on wheat and
cotton. Since 1873 the vast fertile prairies
of the Northwest have been turned into
wheat fields, 30 that the production Of wheat
in the United States has been doubled since
then. The same thing has been goiag on IN
Russia and South America. The wonderful
improvements in machinery for harvesting
wheat. and the extension Of railroads for
transporting it TO market, gave an immense
impetous to the production Of it. A farm
er can make more money raising it at 80
cents per bushel to day than he could at 81
per bushel twenty years ago. The result
has been that the overproduciion Of wheat
1.,.-l - ,.-f., ,.I tho o,oid sfanda rd