The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1896-04-01


denounced by the democratic party.
Though to-day there be those who deny
that II was done surreputously, no party
can go before the country and approve the
demonstration of silver and have the ap-
proVal OF the people" Great applause)
Mr. Crisp then reviewed silver legisla-
ton by congress-the Bland-Allson act.
the Sherman act, and the repeal Of the
sherman act. He argued that the position
OF the democratic party had always been
IN opposition to the republican effort to
rasten upon the country the single gold
standard and contraction of the currency.
Not until this good day had the country
viewed the spectacle of democrats going
gold standard
He declared that the republican party
had inaugurated the policy of allowing
the creditor to dictate whether he should
De paid in gold or silver, but he blamed
the democratic party for following bad
precedent. He condemned the issue OF
bonds in time of peace, and said they
were Issued 10 procure gold when no
body wanted gold. He said the govern
ment did not need gold 10 meet its obli
cations. 1t had plenty of silver, and it
could pay its bonds or the greenbacks
in silver (Applause). He said it had cost
government on the gold basis for three
years only.
Mr.. Crisp closed with an argument to
show that this country could maintain
free and unlimited coinage of silver in
dependently of other nations. He said il
was agreed that several governments by
lnltTndIlOndl agreement might 90 so.
This admitted that it was simply a ques-
ton of strength. He then compared the
population, area, wealth and manufac-
lures of the United States with those of
the European countries, showing how it
surpassed them all, and, closing with
patriotic picture of this countrys power
and resources, declared 1t was able to
maintain, alone, gold and silver at
parity at the existing ratio. He was
given protracted applause as he took his
seat
Chairman Doughty Immediately intro
duced Secretary Smith, and his friends in
the audience were determined that
he should have no less enthusiastic greet
ing than was given Mr.. Crisp. He had to
pause until the applause ended, and then
began, as follows: you have just listened
to a glowing description of our countrys
resources. My distinguished friend only
needed TO complete the picture by saying
that since 1873 the development in all
lines has been twice al great as during
any other like period of its history. Gap
plause). We are here tonight consulting
together as democrats upon party policy.
When the national convention shall au-
thoritatively declare that party policy,
then all differences will be at an end
among US. and we will line up shoulder
to shoulder as democrats and stand solid
ly on the party platform. (Applause) In
opposing the free coinage of silver / am
not nghting silver, and do not seek to re-
duce its use or its legal tender value. l
favor all the gold, silver and paper that
can be kept equally good"
In answer to the charge that they were
seeking to stop the use Of silver, or to con-
tract the currency, he gave the amount of
gold and silver in circulation in 1860, in
1873 and in 1898 showing that the totat to-
day is eight times that of 1873 and that the
per capita circulation had increased from
$lS.04 in 1873 TO between so and $23 in 1895.
We are not trying to contract the curren-
cy and our silver friends mislead you if
they make you believe we do not mean to
accomplish the use of both gold and silver
as the money of final payment for all the
obligations of this country. (Applause)
Mr Crisp talks about my confusing cir
culation and standard of value and his
own argument shows that he entirely mis-
conceives the matter. Currency is some
thing which circulates and furnishes the
means of exchange, but a standard is a
measure of values, and to be a standard it
must perform the function of measuring
Mr.. Crisp says we had a double standard
prior to 1873, but what is the use of a
standard you do not measure by?
Whenever you coin two metals and
put into one greater value than the other
you become monometallists on the cheap
er metal | am not here to fight bimetal-
lism, but silver monometallism (Applause)
TO light the contraction the silver men
are advocating" He said that when this
country fixed the ratio in 1892 Jefferson
did so after finding out the commercial
ratio. Il believe in that kind of bimetal-
lism: The stamp of the government does
not impart the value to the coin, but sim
ply bears with 1t the fact that 1t con-
tatnS a certain amount of valuable metal
Paper money does not acquire value from
the stamp of the government, but from
the governments promise to redeem it
in something of value. (Applause) JEFF
ferson found gold worth fifteen times as
much as silver, and fixed the ratio at Is
to l. Our latter day statesmen find gold
worth thirty times as much a silver but
want to fix the ration at only 16 to 1. Why
not 10 to !, or 4, or 10 to 1?''
He then reviewed the history of finan-
cial legislation, showing how the ratio
had been changed, and how one metal
had left the country at one period and the
other at later period. He declared that
we had silver monometallism up to 1894
and gold monometallism afterward He
sald we had been unable to bring the two
metals together when they varied only
per cent in value, and now we propose
to do so when they differed 80 per cent
Il am opposed to the trial simply because
l know they cannot do it,"
"Mr. Crisp says this idea that we were
on gold monometallic basis before 1853
is of modern craftsmanship. I will read
him from the report of the chairman of
the ways and means committee of the
House of Representatives in 1853 as fol-
lows: We have had but the single stand
ard for the past three or four years and
that is gold, and we propose to remain
there
1T is easier to captivate an audience by
appeals to prejudice against Wall street
and Lombard street than by argument
There is something popular in this idea
of free silver, though we do not under
be given away. I fancy that the ap-
plause which greeted this phase of his
speech must have come from representa-
tives of that party. He charges that the
act of 1873 was surreptitiously passed. /
do not care how it was passed. If it is
bad, let's repeal it; if good let us keep it.
Before 1873 only S,031, 900 silver dollars had
been coined. Since then 425,OOO,OOO have
been coined Not only that, but this vile
administration at Washington has coined
between 100000 and 100000 standard sill
yer dollars, and, within two months will
have coined more silver dollars than were
coined during the eighty years of bimetal-
lism.
He then replied to Mr.. Crisp's reference
to France and declared the efforts at BIZ
metallism had been going on in France for
200 years prior to 1903, and that the ratio
had been changed twenty-six times within
century. He read French authorities
which took the ground that at times
France while claiming to have bl-metal-
lism had in fact been on a silver basis
alone up to 1850 and after that upon gold
necessitating the appointment of a COM
mission in 1857 in the effort to get silver
back into circulation.
THE gentleman has seen fit to criticise
the course of the Secretary of the Treas
ury in his effort to keep silver at a parity
s1,a 4