The Progress., 1896-09-03

arc Insisting upon return TO hn"n-
cial policy approved by tho e2por;coce
Of history and supported by all the
prominent statesmen OF our nation
from the days of the fiji, 1rCSjdent
down to 1913,
Troo T"InaCc ct Both Nrtai.
| "Whcn We nsk That orr m,nts ho
| opened 10 The free and uNli,nifeh coin
1so Of silver into full lcgal-tcndcr
m0ner, we arc simply asking that 'N'
5ame mint privileges bc accorded to
| silver that arc now accorded to Ecl1.
! When we ask that This coinage 30 At
the ratio Of IL to I, we simply ask that
our gold coins and the standard silver
dollar which. be it remembered. con
| taiuG tho same amount Of pure silver az
| the first silver dollar coined at oUr
mintg retain their present weight and
/ tlBcNrSg.
"lf there arc two kinds Of money the
option must rcgi either with the debtor
has tAc right 20 choose The metal IN
! which payment shall be made. II ia
roaa0Nah" to suppose that he will re
qUirN the debtor 60 pay in the dcarcI
| metal If thcr" Is any pcrccptihl" dihrI-
| cncc between 'he bullion values of the
metals. IT. on tho other hand, the
Int tc,. ho
s0Hah|a to suppose tha' he viii pay
IN Uic cheaper motaI If orc metal is
pcrrcptibly cheaper than the other; but
the demand thus created for the cheap
or metal will raise It's while tn"
! lrsscnod demand for lrer metal
will lower its price, 4, other words,
when tho creditor has The option tho
metals arc drawn apart: whereas.
! when The debtor has ih" option. the
at the ratio fixed by law; provided the
demand created is sufficient to absorb
all OF both metals presented at the
mint Society is. therefore. interested
In having the option exercised by the
debtor. Indeed there can be- no such
thing rs real bimetaIism unless the
option is exercised by TIC debtor Tho
exercise Of the option by tho debtor
| ccmpCls the creditor classes. whether
I domestic or foreign, to exert them
selves to maintain tho parity between
gold and silver at the legal ratio.
whereas they might find profit in
driving one of the metals TO a premium
IL they could then demand the dearcr
metal.
Debtors aud Creditors.
the coin in which payment shall be
made extends to obligations due from
the government. as we'll as tn con-
tracts between individuals. A govern
ment obligation is simply debt due
from all the people to one of the peo-
pie, and 1t Is impossible to justify a
policy which makes the interest of the
one person who holds the obligation
superior to the rights Of the many who
must be taxed to pay 1t. When, prior
to 1879, silver was at premium 1t was
never cohtended that national honor
required the payment of government
| obligations in silver, and the Matthcw9
resolution, adopted by congress in
1873 expressly asserted the right Of the
United States to redeem coin obliga-
| tons in standard silver dollars, as we'll
rs In gold coin.
1--WE are told that any attempt upon
the part of the government to redeeE,
| ttG obligations in silver would put a
premium upon gold, but why should It?
The Bank Of France exercises the right
to redeem all bank paper in either gold
or silver, and yet France maintains the
parity between gold and silver at the
ratio of 15h to /. and retains in circu-
lation more silver per capita than VIC
do in the United States.
Eve contend that free and unlimited
coinage by the United States alone will
raise the bullion value Of silver to It's
coinage value, and thus make silver
bullion worth s129 per ounce in gold
throughout the world. This PROPOSE
ton Is in keeping with natural laws,
not in defiance Of them. The best
known law of commerce Is the law OF
supply and demand. We recognize
this law and build our argument upon
It. We apply this law to money when
We eay that a reduction In the volume
Of money will raise the purchasing
power of the dollar; we also apply the
law OF supply and demand to silver
when we say that new demand for
silver created by law will raise the
price Of silver bullion.
Whore tho Bimetalllsts Dtner.
"The only question upon which In
ternational bimetallsts and independ-
ent bimetallists differ Is: Can the
United States, by the free and unIimit-
ed coinage Of silver at the present legal
ratio, create demand for silver which.
taken in connection with the demand
already in existence, will be sufficient
TO utilize all the silver that will be pre-
sented at the mints. They agree In their
defense OF the blmetallic principle, and