Abilene weekly reflector. [volume] (Abilene, Kan.) 1888-1935, 1896-10-08
THE Friend Of Silver

1.-The Friend OF Silver which articl
after quoting the currency plank 9
the state convention Of 1890 says:
On that plank the party won a vic
tory. 1t exhibited greater friend
ship for silver than any other part
before the people, The Republican
party is still the friend Of silver by
large majority and the next presiden
and his congress which will have t.
consider this matter will legislat
in favor Of silver. Things seem shap
ing so that there will be no interna
tional agreement. When this becomes
certainty, this nation will make W
its mind what to do.
That position is that Of the Repub
lican party now, as 1t was in past
years. The above was published or
June 6, 1895, and the position is ex
actly that Of the party today. The
opponents Of sound money are trying
to make it appear that the Republican
party is not in favor Of silver. They
quote the plank Of the St. Louis con.
vention and so twist it and change il
as to make it read entirely different
from the meaning intended to be con-
veyed. The entire plank on currency
adopted is as follows:
4he republican party is unreservedly for
sound money 1t caused the enactment Of the
law providing for the resumption Of specie
payments in 1879; since then every dollar has
been as good as gold We are unalterably OPP
posed to every measure calculated to debase
our currency, or impair the credit Of our coun-
try. Weare, therefore, opposed to free coin
age Of silver except by international agreement
with the leading commercial nations Of the
WoiAA, WhiSA w pAOuSO oulbClVOn w pkUmUbOs
and until such an agreement can be obtained
the existing gold standard must be preserved.
All our silver and paper currency must be
maintained at parity with gold, and we favor
oil measures designed to maintain invlolably
the obligation Of the United States and our
money whether coin or paper, at their present
standard, the standard Of the most enlightened
nations Of the earth.
This is the position Of the Republic
can party. 1t is the friend Of silver"
as no other party on the face Of the
earth is today or ever has been. 1t
never did and does not now propose
to make its dollars Of two different
values. 1t has in all its declarations
been explicit that every dollar Of the
nation should be worth the same as
every other dollar. 1t has coined of
the silver dollar 5000, 000,00Oin round
and has these in circulation
actually or in certificates. 1t has
kept them all at parity with gold
and proposes that the future shall see
no change in this policy. 1t believes
in a sound money and in true BIZ
that's the foundation of the
right kind Of finance.
The efforts Of the Populists to dis
Tort the position Of the Republican
party is largely dishonest. tits done
With purpose and is equivalent to
downright lying about things that the
acts plainly contradict. 1t also re-
ults to some extent from a misunder-
landing Of the terms used in the
to describe the money
problem. There are two stages of
'imetallism-(D bimetallism by ma
ional guarantee and (2) bimetallism
" international agreement.
/. The United States now has BIZ
netallism by national guaranty,
which warrants a silver dollar to be
ept equal in value to a gold dollar,
o that the two circulate freely toge-
her as legal tender on a par.
2. When an international agree
nent can be secured fixing the ratio
Or coming gold and silver, then the
resent guaranteed bimetallism will +
e made complete international BIZ
netallism. The guaranty Of each
alton to its own silver will still be
eeded in order to allow full coinage
t both metals with the constant
mall changes of the commercial
alto, which experience has shown to
c always occurring
So we see that our present guaran-
aed bimetalism is the true bimetal-
SIN, waiting only to be improved by
International action into the final BIZ
letallsm, which will require in each
alton less load Of guaranty than
e are now obliged to carry.
II our fathers Of 1884 and our
Of 1892 had known this
Ian ofguaranteed bimetallism which
e have found and proved since 1878,
ley would have been saved their
lany trying experiments and their
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