The Mason County journal. [volume] (Shelton, W.T.) 1886-1927, 1896-09-25

low projects of the Democratic and Popu-
list platforms be realized.
| But you have heard from our free
coinage friends here that other nations
have done this. And there are many good
people who believe that France is doing
| it, and that the Latin -so-called-is
doing it. Now, would like to know why
they can't tell the entire truth about this
matter. Let us not deceive each ether
and let nobody deceive us. The Latin
! union is composed of France, Belgium,
| Italy. Switzerland and Greece. 1t was
| formed in 1865 by treaty between those
powers. whereby each agreed until the
year 1880 to take the coins of the other
powers at the ratio of 1917 to 1.
But Germany demonetized silver; she
had ceased to coin it, and so. in 1873,
| those great nations. headed by France
| (the most scientifically governed country
! in the world. and the one which has the
| most accura tie financial ideas). | say these
countries, after Germany had demone-
| tiZed silver in 1873. limited their silver
coinage and by 1876 they suspended it
entirely. They, those great European
nation in the world. with her allies--un-
dertook with all their power to do pre-
| ciSely what the free coners of the Unit
| ed States are asking this government
to undertake in the light of such con-
| spicuous failures of other nations.
Invariable Standards Needed.
| Now. everybody admits-I think the
most rampant free-coiner declaimer
| would admit-that the money unit should
remain as nearly inyariable as possible
| Now. | say gold has so remained Sill
yer has fallen commercially like other
| articles. This is denied. They say sill
| yer has not fallen. that gold has risen:
| Now, that is the way you look at it,
| You can look at it through the, deluding
glass of idealsm. and it may appear that
| way. but it is an optical Illusion. Now
! let me put an illuStra ton from nature
| The waters of Lake Superior. that great
inland sea which floats so much of our
commerce and is such an element in our
| prosperity. have for many years been
| falling. until now they are lower than
| they have been Mt any time for fifty
wears. and everything on their surface
| has fallen. The waters of Lake Sumo
| rior. like tho universal. spread-out plane
OF humanity. bearing everything upon its
| surface-thOSe waters bear the fleets.
| vessels ard craft of all kinds. and yes
sells and craft and fleets of all kinds have
| fallen with the water. What would YOU
| think of man standing on the deck of
one of those vessels saving. This YES
sci has not fallen; this vessel stands lust
where It did. but the universal shore of
La Ike Superior has risen? Laughter
| and applause.]
Now, | say, my friends. that since the
Latin union. from 1878 to 1876. aban-
doned free coinage. there has existed in
european nations and the United States
the only practical bimetallism Let me
repeat this. ! feel that / cannot bear it
into your minds too often or too urgently
that these nations. including ours. are
the only nations on the face of the earth
that have any bimetallism whatever
And why? Because they went to the
IL
stopped. Applausel The universal
teaching of history demonstrated that
there was a dead line beyond which
silver could not he pressed without the
immediate humiliation of its companion
gold. as a useful, working money medi-
qm. And when any man gets up and
dreams and sOlilOquiZes and philosophers
before me and tells me he knows it won't
be so II we try where others failed, I
tell him that an ounce of fact is worth
a ton of theory. and that something bOdi-
~ is worth million of disembodied
ghosts. [Applause.l
What is Ratio?
And vet these gentlemen favor. in the
face of these historical examples and
warnings, that the United States shall
make the unit of coinage the silver dol
lar at the ratio of Is to l.
Now, what is ratio? 1t is not SIG to
-
Ratio means this: That there shall be
sixteen times more silver in weight in
silver dollar than there is weight of gold
in Il gold dollar. Or, to put the definition
i'll another form. that sixteen ounces of
silver. when coined, shall be the eQuiva-
lent of one ounce of gold when coined.
When gold measured by silver is worth
SIG per ounce. no disparity in value can
exist; but when measured by silver the
ounce of gold is worth S31 an ounce com
mercially. disparity results. Such is the
present condition. and yet the free silver
men assert that it will be no such thing
in case legislative fiat endeavors to make
two and two five instead of the old
fashioned result. two and two four.
The trouble is that our friends have
confused the ratio of weight with the
ratio of value. and are trying to confuse
the people with it. The ratio of weight
and the ratio of value were once the
same. but they have changed They
changed more than thirty years ago
Other nations saw. it and obeyed the i'm
perial behcst of that change before we
did, and the ratio is now throughout
the world ID. or about 81. to !.
Now | say that no legislative fiat what
ever-lt does not lie in the power of man
II was about to say something more ex-
treme than that which it would not be
proper TO Say)-it does not lie iii the
power of man to enact that a given di-
mension. volume or capacity shall be
hairs breadth greater than the laws of
the Almighty have fixed it from the be-
ginning. (Applause)
1t is necessary that the ratio or proper
ton of value should be invara BILE 1t is
necessary for the production of the thing
itself called money. speaking of it i'll its
great volume. as the volume of money in
the United States We see analoges
everywhere: we see an analogy in nature
Take the air we breathe 1t is a com
pound substance, made up from oxygen
and nitrogen at the ratio of about ~
to %. and while this ratio lasts it is from
it we all draw our lives and have our
being. But change to any material de-
gree and. instead of being the vital. life
giving air, it becomes q deadly and de-
structiye masma.
But the free-coiners assert that unlim-
tied coinage of silver will restore it TO Il
parity with gold 1t has been tried by
many nations of th.s world. Has it done
it in a single instance? Not one They
said the same thing when Congress
passed the Sherman act of 1890. They
said buy of us freely 100000 ounces Il
month. or 54000.00 ounces IL year. and
you will see that silver will 90 up to
ST % an ounce Immediately In the face
of clamor, in doubt as to what might be
the result. in WILLINGNESS, tit went too
far) to give such claims every pp2or-
tunity TO be demonstrated whether they
were correct or incorrect, that legislation
nd in, fho