Santa Fe daily New Mexican. [volume] (Santa Fe, N.M.) 1885-1897, 1896-01-31
WHITE METALS CHAMPION
Ex-C0ngressman Bryan, of Nebraska,
Eloquently Discusses BimetalliSm
Before Santa Fe Audience.
A CAPTIVATING And CONVINCING EFFORT
Widespread Ruin and Misery Among
the Inevitable Results of Gold Mono
metallism-Free and Unlimited
Coinage Must be Restored.

Coinage Must be Restored.
Ex-Congressman W. j. Bryan, of Ne
braska, WAS greeted by one of the finest
audiences at the court house last night
that ever assembled in the capital city of
New Mexico. Every seat was occupied
by an attentive and eager listener and
many persons were glad to occupy stand
ing room during the nearly two hours
and half that the distinguished and elo.
quent champion of the shining white
metal occupied in flooding his momen-
tous subject with the three-fold light of
truth, reason and common sense.
At the outset it may truthfully be re-
marked that Mr.. Bryan's wide repu.
tation as one of the most captivating,
convincing and powerful orators in the
nation is substantially founded. He
proved this to the satisfaction of all who
had the good fortune to be among his
hearers last night. From the moment
the speaker was introduced, in glow
ing and appreciative language by Mr.. E.
I. Webber, president of the local Board
of Trade, until he concluded his grand per-
Grafton, he held his audience spell.bound,
and many went away expressing surprise
that they had listened so long and declar-
ing that they could have sat under the
charm of his musical voice and mastery
art in the management of an intricate
argument for hours longer without
weariness. What higher tribute can pos.
sibly be paid to public speaker
He discussed the subject of "Bi-metall-
| ism" with such admirable clearness and
simplicity that school children could
catch the drift and meaning of his argu-
ment, and the bankers, professional men
and others present, who had carefully and
thoughtfully studied the subject, gained
many fresh ideas touching the same. The
specious fallacies of the gold-bugs we're
held up in their true light and their utter
selflshness exposed with as little mercy
as the "ldle owners of idle capital" exhibit
in exacting interest from their unfortu-
nate debtors. The studied efforts that
have been made to cloud the subject with
mystery by fallacious and impossible
definitions of the word "bi-metallism"
were referred to with telling effect as
illustrating all the methods adopted by
the gold standard advocates to mislead
the people. He said that the word was
perfectly plain. 1t simply meant the free
coinage and free use of two kinds of
metal money in all business transactions
without discrimination in favor of one or
the other. Since the beginning of the
world gold and silver had been set apart
|for that purpose; they we're the recognized
money metals of the United States consti
tuition; they were the standard money
metals recognized in all the party plat
forms, and no one in this country had
dreamed of disput1ng their legitimate
place as such until after the stealthy de-
mon tization of silver by congress in
1878, when a silver dollar was really
worth more than a gold dollar. Since
then the creditor class had been engaged
in gigantic and constituencies con-
spiracy to drive silver out of the none
tary system of the world, aud to make
gold the sole measure of all values, well
knowing that the success of their con-
spiracy would deprive the people of the
use of half their meagre supply of
primary money, would make money just
that much more difficult to obtain and
hence largely increase it's value, would
immensely enhance the bonds, mortgages
and other obligations held by the creditor
class, would make interest and taxes (un-
changeable quantities in the problem)
Just that much harder to pay, and at the
same time would correspondingly de-
crease the money value of all the products
Of the farm, the orchard, the dairy and the
results of other forms of human industry,
and would actually decrease the value of
the farm upon which the gold-bug held
the steadily appreciating mortgage.
Quotations were recited from speeches
of James G. Blaine, John Sherman, John
G. Carlisle and other public men of ma
tional fame, uttered years ago, accurately
forecasting exactly the ruin and misery
that have actually been wrought in the
homes of American toilers since the effort
permanently to fasten gold monometal-
lism on the country was first begun in
1878. The speeches of Sherman and Car
Isle were of course made, he said, before
either of the speakers had served as score
tary of the treasury and had yielded to the
seductive influences of Wall and Lom bard
streets. He was particularly eloquent
and effective in quoting Congressman
Carlisle against both Secretaries Sherman
and Carlisle. When Congressman Car
Isle bitterly denounced the financial
policy of Secretary Sherman and por-
trayed in matchless invective the ruinous
results that would certainly flow from
gold monometallism, the great Kentucky
an was Moses leading the people out of
bondage. Hethen unq uestionably uttered
his honest sentiments. Was he honest now
that he had fallen under the poisonous
spell of Wall street, had adopted precisely
the financial policy that he SO savsgely
denounced when Sherman was at the head
of the treasury, and had becomes favorite
speaker at New York banquets!
The restoration of genuine bi:metal-
lism, with laws commanding the free and
unlimited coinage of both gold and silver
at the ratio of Is to /, was urged in the
strongest possible language as the true
and only solution of the financial trou-
bles at present disturbing the country,
blighting the prosperity Of the people
and paraly zing the arm of productive
and useful labor. The array of unanswer-
able arguments and convincing illustra-
tions presented iu support OF this propo-
sition would fill columns of space. 1t was
truly grand lecture that can not justly
be dealt with in the meager space avail
able for the purpose in this paper
Only those who heard it can adequately