The Dakota chief. (Gann Valley, Buffalo County, S.D.) 18??-1913, 1896-10-08

that parity between our silver and gold
coins which the law declares is the
policy of the government, and because
he has the courage to execute the pow
ers given to him by the resumption act
to carry out that declaration of public
law. l undertake. therefore. to say
that if Mr.. Bryan. or a man holding his
views, were in the presidential chair.
without any legislation by Congress, we
should be on a silver basis in a weeks
time. (Applause).
1.-The silver QuestiOn-what is it: Do
you want silver because you want more
money, a larger circulating medium! l
have not heard anybody say so. Mr..
Bryan is not urging it upon that basis.
If anybody were to seek to give that as
a reason for wanting free silver he would
be very soon COMPOUNDED by the state
ment that free silver would put more
gold out of circulation than minis of the
United States could possibly bring in in
years of silver. and that instead of hav-
ing more money we would have less. Cap
plause.) With our six hundred and odd
million of gold driven out of circulation
we VIII reduce our per capita money of
this country between eight and nine dol
lars. So it is not for more money. We
have an abundant supply of circulating
medium-gold. silver. national bank
greenbacks. treasury notes. fractional sill
yer. We have something like $23 per
capita of our population. What is it.
then. that creates this demand for silver?
IL Is openly avowed. 1t is not more dol
lars. but cheaper dollars that are wanted.
Ii is a lower standard of value that they
ar" demanding. They say gold has gone
NJ until it has ceased to be- a proper
standard of value. and they want silver.
l'ui how do tIDN want n.
Now my friends. There i a great
deal of talk aiout himctalli>m and the
duuhle standard and II great deal of con
fusion m the nS. of those tarp,s IL;
m"talll>m Is the use of the two metals
as money where they are both used.
BY Il double standard they mean that
we shall have Il gold dollar and a silver
dollar which will he Il unit of value,
by which all property and all wages
and everything is to he measured. Now.
our fathers thought that when they used
these two metals in coinage they must
determine the intrinsic relative value of
the two, so that Il comparison of the
markets of the world would show just
what relation one ounce of silver bore
to one ounce of gold; how many ounces
OF saver 1T took to be equal to one ounce
of gold in the markets of the world
where gold and silver were used. and
they carefully went about ascertaining
that. Thomas Jefferson and Alexander
Hamilton gave their great powers to
the determination of that question, and
they collected the market reports and
thty Stuuicu Win all tuelF power tnat
question:. and when they found what
appeared to be the general and average
relative value of these two metals they
fixed upon Il ratio between them. Now,
what was the object of all that? Why
did they lump it all: Because they fully
understood that unless these dollars were
of the same intrinsic value that both of
them could not be standards of value.
and both could not circulate. Gap
plause.)
AS things are now the silver dollars
that We have are supported by the gov
ernment. and the government that SUD-
ports this silver bullion has issued these
dollars on ITS own accOunt-not for the
mine owner-and it has pledged its sa-
cred honor it would make every one of
these dollars as good as Il gold dollar.
Great applause) And that is a power
full support. Our PopuliStic friends pro-
pose that the man who digs silver out of
the mine may bring it to the mint and
nave it stamped and handed back to him
as a dollar. the government having no
responsibility about it. These men
would reject with contempt the PROPOSE
ton that free coinage was to come with
a pledge on behalf of the government
to maintain the parity of the two dollars.
l.Applausc.) But this feeling is well
adapted to touch the prevailing American
bumptiousneSs and well adapted to
touch that prejudice against England
which many have. but can we do this
thing ourselves: Is it a question wheth-
er We will do it. or ask anybody's con
sent whether we may. or ask the coop
Grafton of somebody? Not at all. |
tell you what this government can do
alone. 1t can fix its money unit. 1t
can declare by law what shall be the
relative value of an ounce of gold and
an ounce of silver. but it cannot make