The Somerset reporter. [volume] (Skowhegan, Me.) 1868-1909, 1896-09-10

would he no easier To get But that such
would be the result IS against reason and
is contradicted by experience In all times
and in all lands 1t means the debase
ment of our currency To the amount of tho
difference between the commercial and coin
value of the silver dollar, which is ever
| changing, and the effect would be to re-
duce property values entail untold fInan-
cial Loss. destroy confidence, impair the oh.
legations of existing contracts further i'm
poveiish the lAborer and producer of the
country. create panic of unparalleled Sc
verify and inllict upon trade and commerce
IA deadly blow Against any such policy 1
am unaterably opposed
Question of Blmetallism.
Bimetallism cannot be secured by indie
/ pendent action on our part 1t cannot be
obtained by opening ctr mints te the un-
limited coinage of the silver of the world
at ratio of rs ounces of silver 10 ounce
OF gold when the commercial ratio is moro
than 30 ounces of silver to ounce of gold
Mexico and China have tried the expert
ment. Mexi 90 has free coinage of silver
and gold mt "A ratio slightly in excess of
| 49, ounces of silver To ounce Of gold.
and, while her minis are freely open to
| both metals at that ratio not "A single dol
as money Gold has been driven out of
! circulation in these countries, and they arc
on "A silver bnsis alone. Until internation-
al agreement is had it is the plain duty of
the United States To maintain the gold
standard 1t is the recognized and sole
! standard of the great commercial nations
| of the world with which we trade moro
/ largely than any other. EiRhty-four per
! cent of our foreign trade for the fiscal year
! 1893 WIS with gold standard countries,
! and our trade with other countries was
settled on IA gold basis.
Chiefly by means Of legislation during
and since 1873 there his been put in eircu-
! lation moro than $62l. oo0, 600 of silver or
| its representative. This has been done in
| the honest effort to give to silver. if posi-
! Bile, the salne bullion and coinage value
| and encourage the concurrent use Of both
! gold and silver as money Prior 10 that
time there had been less than 9oe0 900
! silver dollars coined in the entire history
! of the nted States Il period of - years
| This legislat IN secures the largest Use Of
! silver consistent with financial safety and
! the pledge 10 maintain its parity with gold
| We hive to-day more silver than gold.
! This has becI accomplished ut times with
! grave peril to the public credit The 50
| called sherman law sought to Use all the
silver product of tie United States for
money ut its market value From 1870 to
! 1898 the government purchased 15u0 600
ounces of silver II month"; or 540oo, 900
ounces year This was onc-third of the
| product Of the world aud practically all Of
this countrS's product 1t was believed
| by those who then and now favor free
| coinage that such Use of silver would ad-
/ vance its bullion value To its coinage val
! ne, but this expectation was not realized
! In few months. notwithstanding the un-
! precedented market fer the silver produced
in the United States. the price Of silver
i went down very rapidly, reaching lower
| point than cvcr before Then, upon the
! recommendation of President Cleveland,
! both political parties united in the repeal
of the purchasing clause of the sherman
law Ne cannot with safety engage In
! further experiments in this direction
ON the pa of August, 1871, in public
address | said: IF we could have an in
| ternational ratio Which all the leading ma
| tons OF the world would adopt and the
| true relation he fixed between the two
metals and all agree upon the quantity of
silver which should constitute dollar,
! then silver would be as free ana unlimited
in its privileges of coinage as gold Is today
But that we have not been able to secure,
| and with the free and unlimited coinage of
silver adopted in the nitcd States at the
present fatl" we would be SUN further re
| moved from any international agreement.