Audubon Republican. [volume] (Audubon, Iowa) 1894-1925, 1896-01-16
Editor of REPUBLICAN.

Editor of REPUBLICAN.
AS challenge has been published in
Il county paper, and us viva voce cages
have been Haunted to induce Opposers
of the free unlimited coinage of silver
at ratio of 16 to to defend their
position, ask permission through the
columns of your paper to accept the
above invitation to free silver debate.
Free silver today, with certain class
of would-be statesman, occupies the
same position in politics that calomel
did in the practice of medicine fifty
years ago, and the store-box politician
is just as lavish in the administration
of this financial cathartic as was the
old time empiric prOdigal in prescrib-
ing calomel for all human ills. Free
silver is the tinancial.panacea of the
populist and the eureka of the disa-
fected office seeker. BY them it is
avowed to be the. liquidator of person
al liabilities, the extirpator of mort
the infallible remedy for the failure of
crops by reason of provential droughts.
1t is patent fact that the man who
knows only his side of a question
knows but little of that, hence believe
that by bringing this subject pro ct CON
before the people fairly, many.popuIar
fallacies may be destroyed. For in
stance, have heard, in conversation
and public discussion, persons who
were ardent free silver advocates and
who claimed to fully understand the
situation, make their hearers believe
that IL toll meant the coinage of Is dol
lars OF silver to one of gold, that the
silver under such an act would still be
strengthened by the unfluctuating gold
measure, and that silver was the great
medium of exchange prior to 1873, etc.
by permission of free silver opponents,
L will state that | conceive to he the
meaning of tree and unlimited coin
age at ratio of Ii to |, and if am in
error, they will please, correct me. BY
the foregoing phraSeology is meant
that the United States, without the
concurrent action of any other govern
ment, shall enact that all silver bullion,
foreign silver coins, or abraded silver
coins of the United States that may be
presented at the minis, by individuals
or corporations, foreign or domestic,
shall De coined into full legal tender
dollars at the expense of the govern
ment and returned to those delivering
The bullion i. Z. for every 40 cents worth
of bullion presented, the presenter is
entitled to receive 100 cents of a full
legal tender, and the government is
not only 10 coin 1T free of charge, but
to furnish all the alloy. The dollars sc
coined must be received by all citizens
of the United States as a full 100 cents
but nobody else shall be compelled to
receive them, and as consequence
all foreigners who owe us will have
the privilege of paying us in silver, but
all TO whom we become indebted may
require us to pay in gold. BY this
scheme the United States would be
come the dumping ground for the re
jected, deprecated silver of the world
millionaires would be created every
where at the expense of the people anC
government of the Uaited States and,a.
gold woulI, by such scheme, become
more valuable as Il commodity than a!
money, it would all be exported o.
boarded and the contraction of the cur
: rency caused by the departure of tn,
, 5000, 100000 of gold from the channe
, of trade would be greater than ever be
fore experienced by our government
and as all inevitable consequence thu
most ruiniOus panic would prevail
compared to which the present finan
: cial depression would be but as
, balmy southwest zephyrs to a hoWlih,
Dakota blizzard. The endeavor t
create of the two metals, gold and sill
Y yer, a double standard would certainl,
e result i'll silver mometallism, for tn
a introduction of any money about whicl
there is the least doubt will always op
crate to drive out of circulation abou
4 the same amount of better money an
: thus, instead of increasing the vOlum
p of the currency, would give us abou
= the same nominal amount at greatl
:, deprecated value. But the wors
u feature connected with this question
e would be the impossibility of main
Il tanning parity of 10 to between tn
!, two metals. when the actual CONNER
: cial parity is about 321l to l. At tn
present market value of silver and gol
/ the silver dollar should have in it owe
o TAO grains of pure silver in order t
make 1t everywhere acceptable as a
honest dollar; but the free silver ma
. asks for dollar of 374 grains of pur
{ silver and the deficiency in value to b
: made good by the credit of the govern
g ment, and he never seems to realiz
!. that such scheme would simply b
making fiat money of the silver ii
Z stead of intrinsic money as he desires
/ AS do not desire to occupy too niue
f space, and hoping that this may b
. sufficient to call forth a free silve
: reply, / am yours for sound money.
l S. S. BAKER.