The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1896-08-13

nesem. blnpcrs Of money Instead OF pcr-
peuhnl borrowers
NoIiR,c Heard trhIs Iicfnre
Az ugAlnyt the maintenance Of n Eoid
etahdnrd, either permanently or uNtll.
lamentations can he united for It's over
ththw. the Chicago platform p]rc.nntt a
n elNqr anu emphatic demand for tho I'M.
mediate restoration OF the free anu un.
a Halted colnaEo Of silver and goldnt tho
present legal ratio OF lG TO l without
waiting Tor the aid or consent OF any
DINER nation, We are not nskIng that !
new experiment DO tried. we nrc Insist
ms unon q return u u financial policy
K approved BY the experiment OF history
anu supported ny all the prominent
statesmen OF Ol,r nation from the laya OF
inc Ilrst President down to 1873. When
We aisle that our minis he opened to tho
free and unlimited coinage OF silver lnt0
tu!l legal tcuder money, We are simply
asking TINT the same mint privileges bc
Hecor1ed TO Alvcr that nro now accorded
~ Solu. When we ask that this coinage
oe at'thc ratio Of lG to !, we simply ask
tnat our gold coins and the standard
silver dollar, which. hU It remembered,
contains the same amount Of pure silver
as The FIRST silver dollar coined az our
m~lnts-rrtain their present weight and
finencss.
Under the bi-mctalllc system gold and
SILVER are linked together by law ut a flX-
cd ratio, and any person ar persons Own.
inG any quantity OF either metal can
nave the sHmc converted into full legal
tender money, II tho creditor has the
light TO chousc the metal In which pay
ment snail be made. 1t Is reasonable to
suppose that he will require the debtor
10 pay In the dcarer metal II there Is any
p~crceptlhle difference between the bull
ION values OF the metals. This new dc.
mnrd created for the dcarGr metal will
make that mutnl lcGrpr Btlll. while the
decreased d0mand for the cheaper metal
VIII make that metal cheaper still.
n on the other hand. the debtor ex-
cfeiscs the option, It ls reasonable to
suppose that he will pay In the cheaper
metal II one metal Is %perccptIbly cheap
cc shnn' the other; hut the dcmund thus
created for the cheaper metal Will raise
its price while the lcSsened demand Tor
the deurer metal Will lower It's price.
society Is, therefore. Interested In hav-
Ing the option cxercised by the debtor.
Indeed there can he no such thing as
real hi.rlctaillsm unless the option IL cx-
erelsed by the debtor.
Diagram, Please.
"a government obligation is simply n
debt due from all he people to one OF the
people and 1t Is impossible to Justify n
policy which makes the interest OF the
one:person who holds the obligation SUI
pcrior TO the rights OF the many who
must ba taxed to pay it.t
When, prior TO 1919, silver was at Il
Premium, It was never commended that
national honor required the payment Of
government obligations in silver and the
Matthews resolution. adopted byfCOn-
Sress inlSIS, expressly asserted the right
OF the United States government to re-
deem coin obligations In standard silver
dollars as well as In gold coin.
II Is constantly assumed by some that
the United Safes notes, commonly called
~greenbacks, and the treasury notes, IS
sued under the act Of 1880. are RESPONSE
bic for the recent drain upon the gold re-
serve, but this assumption is entirely
without foundation. Secretary Carlisle
appeared before the house committee on
appropriations on January y. 1895, and
! quote from the printed repGrt N his
testimony before the committee:
"Sir. Sib!ey-I would like To Hsk YOU
(peraapS nor entirely Connected with the
matter under discuSs!on) what objection
there Cauld he In having the OptlGn OF
rrdeauiIS either In silver or gold lie
with the treasury instead OF the note
holder?
Secretary CarlIsle--It that policy had
neHn adopted at the %b"G!nuing VI f.
snriptiOn-.gnd | G:n not saying thIs for
the purposc OF cTitic!slug the action Of
any Ht my predecessors or anybody else
bat II The policy OF rsserviEg 10 The
government nj the beginning ot reSumn-
tloh, thr oot!on OF rcdceming n gold or
sllTcr all Its paper presented. | believe K
would have worked bcaGHciRlly and
Mere would have been 10 trouble grow
InS u of 1t, bit the secretaries ot III
treasury from the beginning Uf rcEump-
tinn have pursued ii policy Of rcdEuM!nS
in gold or silver at the option of the
holder Of the paper. and II any secrG-
tIry had afterwards attempted
10 change that ihc policy and force sill
yer upon ! maE who wanted gold or gold
upon 4 man whu wanted silver and IS
pecIally K he had made that attempt in
such a critical period as we have had in
thellast two years, my judgment Is 1t
would hare been very disastrous. ] do
not agree with tic secretary that Is was
wise 20 follow 4 bad precedent. bur from
his answer 1t will he seer that the fault
does not lie With the grecnbackJ and
treasury notes, but rather with the exec
utIve officers who have seen 1T 10 sur
render n right which should have been
exercised for the protection Of tic inter-
eEts Of tlc people. This executive action
mas AiTCdS bttU IHl4' lUc tAEllSH IJT tlN
Issue Of moro than $3.50, G0o,09 IN bonds
and Il Is impossible TO estimate the
amount Of bonds which may hereafter
be issued IL this policy Is continued.
The government mUst either exercise
the right To redeem It's obligations In
silver when silver Is more convenient, or
II must retire all tho silver and silver
certificates from circulation and leave
nothing but gold as legal tender money.
Oh, BUY, what n Contention.
We contend that free and unlimited
coinage by the UHitod States alone will
raise the bullion value of silver to It's
coinage value and thus mal;c silver
bullion worth 81 % per ounce in gold
throughout the world. This proposition
IL In keeping with natural laws, not IN
defiance OF them. The beet known law
OF commerce Is The law OF supply and
sdGmaBd. W. recognize this law and
build our argument upon 1t.
International - bl-rctaIli5ts cannot
complain that free silver gives q benefit
to me mine owner, because international
N-metallIsm gives to the owner Of sill
yer all the advantages offered by indie
pendent bi-mcialiism At the NaInc ratio.
international Dl-fnctIllislS cannot ac-
cusc- advocates % free silver as being
"hullIon owners who desire to raise the
value OF tl:eir bullion" nr debtors who
desire 10 pay their debts in cheap dol
lars or ~''dcmaEpcues whb desire to
curry favor with the people" They
must rest their opposition upon one
ground only. namely: That the supply
of silver available for coinage Is too
large tn b" utilized by the tinted States.
In discussing this question We must