The Norfolk Virginian. [volume] (Norfolk, Va.) 186?-189?, 1896-09-23
mr.. INGALLS, SPEAKS
Concluded from First page.)

| ment of one of those great channel ways
| along which flows q constant stream OF
| commerce to the Chesapeake; 4 gentle
man who Is peculiarly qualified to speak
OF those wonderful economic conditions
| which have been wrought out by the
natural laws of trade aided by steam
ana electricity; gentleman who comes
not as the partisan OF any of the differ
ent political parties but who comes as
country and animated by the spirit of
true patriotism.
Ladies and gentlemen, take pleasure
In introducing Mr.. NJ. E. ingalls,.
Mr. ingalls, was greeted with applause
when he arose, but his audience though
large, was not an enthusiastic one, and
Its demonstrations throughout the
speech, which consumed about one hour
and ten minutes, was infrequent and no.
ticeably listless except upon one or two
occasions when he happened to touch the
popular chord. The speakers remarks
were entirely devoid of any attempts at
rhetoric or oratory, or flights Of imasi-
nation. He confined himself entirely to
factS and figures as he construed them.
HIS address was more on the order of
a business-like talk. and was delivered
entirely without notes in an even, well
modulnted voice, which could be heard
all over the building.
In beginning, the speaker declared
that he did not como here as an orator
He was busy man, and came as a busi-
ness man and a patriotic man. He had
no time to indulge in flights of oratory.
financial issue now before the American
people and asserted that there was no
such thing as lodging It.
The free coinage of silver at the ratio
Of 16 ito l, he said, meant that any man
who had silver bullion could take 1t to
hn MT &c nd he, ~ Z
TO be used as a purchasing medium,
regardless of the commercial value Of
the silver. In other words silver, whose
commercial value Is 65 cents an ounce
would become worth S1.29 an ounce. He
asked why the government should lend
Its aid to thus benefit the producer of
silver bullion.
He declared that the nations of the
world had always based their coinage
upon the commercial value of the two
metals, while these modern advocates Of
silver say that all the government has
got 10 do Is to stamp So cents worth Of
SILVER 10 make 1t worth 100 cents. Coin
age, he said, was the stamping by the
government of so many grains OF a
metal, thus making 1t a legal tender
He showed how by governmental sane
ton In times ancient, cattle, stamped
leather iron, copper, etc, became money
and finally the various civilized govern
ments fixed the value of bullion, accord
ing to its weight and fineness. When
they were hard up, the old kings in
|GlGurope used to debase the currency and
thus swindle the people for Gheir own
personal benefit, and these sovereigns,
said Mr.. ingalls,, were men of whom
Bryan and his gang should be proud.
applause and hlsses)
For over a hundred years. continued
the speaker, in Europe the coinage of
gold and silver had been at the ratio Of
IL to l and never less than IA to l. In
1916 England, in her sagacity, found out
the truth which so many years later we
are fighting for, and by act OF Parliament
declared the money standard OF that
country to be pound sterling. which IS
so many grains of gold, and which Is
now good for its face value the world
over France, Belgium, Italy, and
Switzerland coined silver and gold at
the ratio of 151s to /. In 1871 Germany
decided to call in her silver coinage.
This forced upon the Latin Union a
great amount of German silver, and led
to the subsequent action OF the countries
composing that union IN the coinage
question. In 1873 France was forced to
stop the coinage of the silver 5-franc
piece. and in 1876. che stopped the coin
age of silver altogether, and now there
Is no country in Europe with a free
coinage of silver, and they are all upon
gold standard basis.
Leaving Europe, Mr.. ingalls, crossed
the pond" and came over to his own
country, reviewing the money thereof
from the days of continental currency
In 1872 up to the present. The original
ratio OF silver and gold in the days of
Thomas Jefferson and Alexander Ham
ilton was 10 to l, overfxing the value OF
one metal slightly, the result being tina
silver. worth in reality 1914 to I, stayed
in circulation while all the gold was
sold. Then Andrew Jackson came upon
the scene, and with him that wonder
ful law-maker. Hon. Thomas H. Benton,
OF Missouri. who claimed that the ratio
should be fixed at 1919 to l. In 1884.
however. 1t was fixed at l6 to 1. This
was found to be as much oVer-value for
gold as the previous ratio had been over
value for silver. The result was that
gold stayed and silver went, and from
1884 10 1861 the country practically en-
joyed a gold standard.
In 1851 came the war and the country
was then. said Mr.. ingalls,, upon a gold
basis entirely. When paper legal tender
money was Issued In the North its i'm
mediate effect was to drive I'D the price
of gold and force 1t from circulation.
In the South. the paper issue drove both
silver and gold out of circulation. In
the North greenbacks went as low as
40 cents on the dollar
In 1874, proceeded the speaker n des-
perate fight was ~made to increase the
Sreenbacks There had been grea
panic in 1873, and the land was full OF
preachers going through the country
saying there must be more greenbacks. .
In 1879 an act was passed for the re-
1878, looking to the resumption
of specie Dayment Conarar, 80