The islander. [volume] (Friday Harbor, Wash.) 1891-1899, 1896-09-24


have done this. And there are many good
people who believe that France is doing
it, and that the Latin union-so-cailei--iS
doing it. Now | would like To know why
they can't tell the entire truth about this
matter. Let us not deceive each ctner
and let nobody deceive rs. The Lttin
union is composed of France. Belgium,
Italy. Switzerland and Greece 1t was
formed in 1860 by treaty between those
powers. whereby each agreed until the
year 1880 to take the coins of the ether
powers at the ratio of 1IL, to |.
But Germany demonetizcd silver: she
had ceased to coin it. and SO. in 1873.
those great nations. headed by France
1.-THE most scientifically governed country
i'll the world. and the one which has the
most accurate financial ideas). | say those
countries. after Germany had demone-
tized silver in 1873. limited their silver
coinage. and by 1876 they suspended it
entirely. They. those great European
natlonS-France. the strongest monetary
nation in the world. with her aaies-un
dcrtook with all their power TO do pre-
cisely what the free coiners of the Unit
ed States are asking this government
to undertake in the light Of such con-
spicuouS failures of other nations.
Invariable Standards Needed.
Now. everybody admts-I think the
moStS rampant free-coiner declaimer
would admit-that the money unit should
remain as nearly inrariable as possible.
Now. | say gold has so remained. Sill
yer has fallen commercially like other
articles. This is denied. They say sill
yer has not fallen. that gold has risen:
Now. that is the way YOU look at it.
You can look at it through the deluding
glass of idealism, and it may appear that
way. but it is an optical Illusion Now
lat
The waters of Lake Superior. that great
inland sea which floats so much of our
commerce and is such an element in our
prosperity. have for many years been
falling. until now they arc lower than
they have been mt any time for fifty
years. and everything on their surface
has f.llen The waters of Lake Sure-
rior. like The universal. Spread-out plane
of humanity. hearing everything upon its
Surface-those waters bear the fleets,
vessels and craft of oil kinds. and yes
sells and craft and fleets of all kinds have
fallen with the water What would YOU
think of man standing on the deck of
one OF those vessels saving. This YES
sci has not fallen: this vessel stands JUS
where il did. but the universal shore of
Lake Superior has risen:' Laughter
and applause.
Now | say. my friends. that since the
Latin union. from 1873 to 1876. aban-
doned free coinage. there has existed in
European nations and the United States
the only practical bimctallism. Let nc
repeat this. ! feel that | cannot bear it
into your minds too often or too urgently
that these nations. Including ours. are
the only nations on the face of the earth
that have any bimetalliSm whatever.
And why? Because they went to the
danger line. as we Went. and then
STONED. Applause- The universal
teaching of history demonstrated that
there WIS dead line. beyond which
silver could rot he pressed without the
immediate humiliation of its companion,
gold. rs Il useful. working money medi
um. And when any man gets up and
dreams and SoliloQuiZeS and PHILOSOPHERS
before me and tells me he knows II won't
be so if we try where others failed, [
tell him that an ounce of fact is worth
a ton of theory. and that something bodi-
ly is worth Il million OF disembodicd
ghosts. IApplause.J
What is Ratio?
And yet these gentlemen favor. in the
face of these historical examples and
warnings, that the United States shall
make the unit of coinage the silver dol
lar at the ratio of IL to |.
Now. what is ratio? 1t is not SIG to
81. as some people claim. nLaughter.)
Ratio means this: That there shall be
sixteen times more silver in weight in a
silver dollar than there is weight of gold
i'll Il gold dollar. Or. to put the definition
i'll another form, that sixteen ounces of
silver. when coined. shall be the eGuiya-
lent of one ounce of gold when coined.
When gold measured by silver is worth
SIG per ounce. no disparity i'll value can
exist: but when measured by silver tine
ounce of gold is worth S}1 an ounce com
mcrcially. disparity results. Such is the
present condition. and yet the free silver
men assert that it will he no such thing
in case legislative fat endeavorS to make
two and two five instead of the old
fashioned result. two and two four
The trouble is that our friends have
confused the ratio of weight with the
ratio of value. and are trying to confuse
the people with it. The ratio of weight
and the ratio of value We're once the
same. hut they have changed. They
changed more than thirty years ago.
Other nations saw it and obeyed the i'm
perial behest of that change before we
did. and the ratio is now throughout
the world 81. or about :'2. to ].
Now | say that no legislative fiat what
ever-it does not lie i'll the power of man
Il was about to say something more ex-
treme than that, which it would not he
proper 70 sayI-it does not lie i'll the
power of man to enact that given dl-
iltnSlpl. NOltliLe VI tdI'dtltN Siihll nc 81
hairs breadth greater than the laws of
the Almighty have fixed it from the be-
ginning. (Applause.)
1t is necessary that the ratio or proper
ton of value should he invariable 1t is
necessary for the productions of the thing
itself called money. speaking of it III its
great volume. as the volume of money III
the United States We see analOgies
everyw here: we see an analogy i'll nature.
Take the air we breathe. 1t is Il com
pound substance made up from oxygen
and nitrogen at the ratio of about a
to 23, and while this ratio lasts it is from
it we all draw our lives and have our
being But change to any material de-
gree and. instead of being the vital. life
giving air it becomes Il deadly and de-
structive miaSna.
But the free-coiners assert that unllm-
tied coinage of silver will restore ii 10 Il
parity with gold. 1t has been tried by
many nations of TIL, world Has IT done
it in single instance: Not one. They
said the same thing when Congress
pa ssed the Sherman act of 1880. They
said buy of us freely + .500.000 ounccS 4
month. or "a. 10000 ounces IL year. and
you will see that silver will go ~ to
81 % an ounce Immediately. In the Face
of c!amor. in doubt as to what nligat be
the result. in WILLINGNESS. lit Went too
far) to give such claims every pP2or-
tunity TO be demonstrated whether they
were correct or incorrect. th;I Legislation
was enacted. And silver did go in the
course of about ten days TO Sl.i3 IN
ounce tApplause by one mani and the