Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1896-09-03
THE BATTLE OF THE STANDARDS
Champions Tilt in the Tourney for Gold
and for Silver.
to be marked especially as the poor mans
curse"
SOME RECENT STATEMENTS.

Mr.. siddons Considers Portions of the
Speech of MIR. Henry e. Davis.
To the Editor Of The Evening Star:
In your report of the address made by
Mr.. Henry E. Davis to the Non-Partisan
Sound Money League the following re-
markable utterance is credited to him:
What is it makes a gold dollar worth a
hundred centsT' said Mr.. Davis. 1T Is be-
cause God Almighty made 1t so. while sill
yer cannot be dollar except by the super
vision OF men, This was greeted with
ioud applause, &c. To a person trying to
reach some approximately accurate conclu-
sions on the all-absorbing question Of the
day statements such as Mr. Davis Is re-
poItea 10 nave made come with startling
anu disturbing effect. Here Is a question
OF currency, a politico-economic problem,
wnlcn this nation is trying to solve to its
own advantage, and about which honest
men diner radically 1t is generally sup
posed that 1t Is question left to morals
to determine according to their best iuGr
ment and for their best good. It is a per
picking and Intricate question, and in its
discussion the most astounding and I'M
founded claims are made by the dispu-
tants Indeed, the student of the subject.
unless cool-headed, is very apt to be caught
In the maelstrom Of the sursins waters ef
national debate.
10 searchers after the truth and admir-
ers OF MIR. Davis ability, and there are
many such In the District, he owes IT tn
them and himself. since he assumes the
loie OF expouhder, to make clearer. than he
has done the connection between the Al.
mighty and the value of the United States
gold dollar. If he can prove that The
~ OF the Universe has decreed that
hundred cents. then Mr. Bryan ana his
cause are hopelessly lost If he cannot
tnen such an assertion should never have
binn INA, mace 1or the revsrent will charge
believe that the overrultng Providencs
iedVes SUCH questions to be settled ky the
lnha nltants OF the earth themselves will
noyt 'I has nj paws Is misleading. Your re-
polt mas II that this bold assertion was
sIeeted with loud applause" 1t Ia SIR
pLislns that the audience was not retrified
t WIN ,astto,nishment. Had Mr.. Davis con-
tented himself with the modest c1ai,ns
usually made by the adyocates Of tho .-nIa
standard. the reader could understand that
an audience Of sympathizers would h."a
s.eeteu MS remarks with loud applause"
Dut surely there is a limit to rhe ,nodestv
OF the average supporter Of Sound
money" oo
one further comment. Your report
states that The N1r. Davis said free coin
age had a great element of dishonesty. and
every man who embraces it with the idea
that he will pay his debts 80 cents on the
ooliar had canker worm at his heart. and
ne reared the outcome of such morals" OF
course, that statement involves the as
sumption of the accuracy Of the position
taken by the gold standard people and it
suggests immoral motives on the part of
those who embrace the free coinage idea
nave looked In vain to discover If the
free silver parties We're operating upon the
voters with such ignoble appeals as Mr.
Davis suggests Is the case. The nearest
approach can find to such charge is the
promise held out that under a system CT
Tree coinage of silver money will be more
plentiful and will circulate more generally
The paradox Of a 30 or 53-cent dollar, l
nave observed. is always put forward by
those who stand on Mr.. Davis platform
and they. assuming that 5O-cent dollars are
to be the vogue under the free silver
regime. proceed to charge that this is a
seneme on the part Of considerable per-
centage Of the population to get rid of
DO per cent of their debts. Without in
tending to argue what the effect of free
silver will be, for l do not know and cannot
guess, l do wish to deny with all the
fervor at my command that such base mo-
tives as those Mr.. Davis intlmates ex-
plain the present popularity of the free
silver movement And, as one of Mr.. Da-
Wis admirers, believing him to be a man
of generous impulse and of ready SYM
pathy with the mass of the people today
struggling under hard conditions and Crop
ing to find way out of situation rap
Idly driving them to desperation, l am
more than sorry that he treat ted his subject
with less. much less. of that judicial meth
cd which we had a right to expect from
the thoughtful student of human affairs.
F. L. SIDDONS.