The Caldwell tribune. [volume] (Caldwell, Idaho Territory [Idaho]) 1883-1928, 1896-09-19
WHERE FITCH STANDS.
The Arizona Nan Explains His Attitude
Toward
THE GREAT POLITICAL ISSUES.
Ne Is Embiltered Toward Those Who
Engineered the Demonstration
Of Silver.
THE GREAT POLITICAL ISSUES.

Mr.. Fitch Of Arizona, says that lie
advocated free coinage for years, that
he proposed to remain both a Republic.
an and a bimetallist, and that he refused
to premit the proportions of his Repub-
licanism and his bimetallism to be or
dered by Democratic authority or
measured with Bryan tape line. All
parties favored free coinage and diff.
fered only as to the best method of
accomplishing it. John Stuart Mill
compacted the argument in favor of
bimetallism into sentence when lie
said that an increase in the quantity
of money raises prices. The market
value Of the products Of labor has
been affected, through not absolutely
controlled by the action in 1888 of
Europe and the United States in alb
Olishing free coinage of silver. No
man could feel more bitterly than he
towards those who engineered the de-
monetiazatiOn of silver, but two fool
ish acts never make wise one, and
we could not now repair the mischief
Of 1888 by flying to the Oppisite ex-
IRENE and pulling down the single
gold standard merely to erect single
silver standard in its place.
In 1883 all the great commercial ma
tons except England were bimetallic.
Since then they seated gold as a lonely
despot on the throne of finance and in
trenched their yellow idol so that it
was impossible for any one nation to
restore silver to its former place.
1t is not a question of the power of
the United States to establish its
own system of coinage. Of course we
could do that. If is question of our
power to force Europe to follow us. If
the question were to be settled by the
shock of armies we might do it, for the
American eagle is the monarch of all
the birds of air, but We cannot send
white sQuadrons to Hamburg and
Liverpool and Ostend and Genoa and
give the bankers of these cities the
option between our dollars at par and
our dynamite bombs at a premium.
Any cab driver in Europe could refuse
to respect the Goddess of Liberty at
any higher rate of difference than %
per cent.
Twenty years ago Germany led the
world into the mistake of demOnetiza-
ton of silver. France, Italy, Spain'
Portugal, Switzerland, and other ma.
tions followed, and Uncle Sam walked
after them into the debtors downfall
Whether the act of 1873 was crime or
or mistake, its results are with u.s.
The gold in a gold dollar is worth lOO
cents as bullion, while the silver IN a
silver dollar is worth 50 cents as bull
ion. The American silver dollar Is
made worth 100 cents only because the
United States stands ready to redeem
Il with 100 cents in gold. Free coin
ace of silver means the right OF any
man to take 3714 grains of silver to the
mint and have it coined into a silver
dollar and returned to him. live es-
tablished free coinage without the CO.
operation of other nations and contln
ned TO. redeem silver dollars as now,
fhenE the owner of So cents worth OF
silver bullion could take it to the mint
aud have it stamped into silver ool
lar and then take it to the United
states. treasury and obtain 100 cents
worth of gold for It. That would be a
picpic for Jones and Mackey and
other silver mine owners, but 1t Woulu
help nobody else. 1t would cause the
uncoinod silver of all countries ana inc
coined silver Of silver-standard count
riss the rupees of India and the spoons
and forks of the world to convert
into silver bullion and sent to our
minis for coinage. We would be com
pelIed to give up redeeming our silver
dollars in gold, and as soon as we olu
that they would fallto their bullion
value, our currency would be Mexican,
led and we would have passed
| from a single gold standard to a single
silver standard. That would not Oene,
Al the man In debt, for the money
loaners of late years have made all Cd,
i;sations to pay dollars payable in gold
and Congress could not enact a ia"
that would impair the obligation oil
these contracts. -. q
Mr.. Fitch said that he was NOT
.,,sor monomstalllst any more than he
was a gold monOmetallist. de was as, !
binetailist. and as bimetallist as wen