The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1896-08-06

and one of tho staunchest friends that
metal has in this country. 1t is clear to
see that President Walker regards
the free coinage plank as
a blow to national honor and credit and
as better calculated to retRrd the cause
OF International bimetalism than to ao-
/ celsrate it. President Walker specifies as
potent factors in bringing 1t about-the
silver mining interest. the inflationists,
and the so-oalled Populist party. but he
thinks the impatient bimetallist was
also large factor. 1t may be that i'm
patient bimetallists contributed to it
| by remaining passive and not adding
their protests to those of Mr.. Whitney
and Mr. Russell, but the active factors
We're the silver miners, the inf1ationists
and the so-called Populists-eaoh and
every one of them actuated by selfish
motive. The mum Der of scientific BIZ
metalists who took part in that conven-
| ton could be counted On the ends of
ones fingers. No science had any place
there unless it were the science of tenn
porarily depriving men of their reason
by demonstrations. a very superficial
study of the proceedings of that gathering
will convince anybody that the real rea-
son that free silver was espoused has not
the slightest claim to be designated
metallists that greater steadiness is Sc
cured by the use of two metals than by
the use of one, or that the two met ais
together will supply safer basis Tor
credit currency to rest upon than one
can, had nothing TO do with the action
of that convention. Free silver was es
poused simply because direct and imme-
diate advantages were expected from it,
Ths miner espousBd it because it would
furnish profitable market for his pro-
duct. The infatiopist favored it because
o plethora of money is supposed to bring
about advance in the price of commodi-
ties. The so-called debtor class saw in
it partial relief from existing debts. A
part of its supporters were deluded and
part dishonest. The former were those
who expected bigger prices. not recogniz-
ing the distraction between an apparent
rise made by depreciating the value OF the
standard and real rise, the result of
and increased demand or a diminished
supply. The dishonest ones were those
who were willing to resort to the subter-
fuge of scaling down their debts by out
ting the dollar in two. The really po-
tent forces bohind the free coinage move
ment today belong to one Of the other
of these two classes. We know that there
are men who support free coinage by the
United States alone, because they believe
it will help bring the world to the adop-
ton of the bimetallio system which they
deem sounder and fairer than the mono
metallic theory and naore conducive to
the general system but their number is in
considerable, as compared with the de-
luded and dishonest ones. We are dis
possd to be charitable and assume that
the latter are not wilfully dishonest,
but have been led by specious argu-
ments to believe that. the scale down of
debts they propose is only the equivalent
to the appreciation of them alleged to have
been brought about by the advance of
gold. Nevertheless the thing which they
contemplate Is dishonest-wiu if accom-
plished sully not only their own honor
but that of their country as we'll.