Staunton vindicator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1860-1896, 1896-08-21

terest charge There is only one way to stop
the increasing flow of gold from our shores,
ana that is to stop falling prices. The re-
storation of bimetallism will not only stop
falling prices, but WILL to some extent, restore
prices by reducing the worlds demand for
gold.
NO ovERPRoDUCTION OF SILVER.
This is conjecture. Silver has been used
as money for thousands OF years, and during
all of that time the world has never suffered
from an overproduction.
If, for any reason, the supply of gold or
silver in the future ever exceeds the require
ments of the arts and the needs of commerce,
we confidently hope that the intelligence OF
the people will be sufficient to devise and
enact any legislation necessary for the pro-
lection of the public. 1t is folly to refuse to
the people the money which they now need
for fear they may hereafter have more than
they need. 1 am firmly convinced that by
opening our minis to free and unlimited COIN
age at the present ratio we can create de-
mand for silver which will keep the price of
silver bullion at $1.29 per ounce, mea sured by
gold
Some of our opponents attribute the fall
in the value of silver, when measured by
gold, to the fact that during the last quarter
of a century the worlds supply of silver has
increased more rapidly than the worlds SUP
ply OF gold. This argument is entirely an
swered by the fact that, during the last five
years, the annual production of gold has in
creased more rapidly than the annual pro-
duction OF silver. Since the gold price of sill
yer has fallen more during the last five years
than it ever fell in any previous five years in
the history of the world, it is evident that the
| fall is not due to increase production. Prices
| can be lowered as effectually by decreasing
| the demand for an article as by Increasing the
supply of it, and it seems certain that the fall
in the gold price of silver is due. to hostile leg
! islation and not to national laws.
THE CHARGE OF REPUTATION.
Perhaps the most persistent misrepresenta-
ton that we have to meet is the charge that
we are advocating the payment of debts in
5O-cent dollars. At the present time and
under present laws a silver dollar, when
melted, loses nearly half its value, but that
will not be true when we again establish a
mint price for silver and leave no surplus sill
| yer upon the market to drag down the price
of bullion. Under bimetallism silver bull
lion will be worth as much as silver CON-
| just as gold bullion is now worth as much as
gold coin, and we believe thata silver dollar
will be worth as much as gold dollar.
The charge Of reputation comes with poor
| grace from those who are seeking to add to
| the weight of existing debts by legislstiol
which makes money dearer and who conceal
their designs against the general welfare I'M
der the euphonious pretense that they are
unfolding public credit and national honor.
| MONEY Is NOT oMNIPoTENT.
There is another argument to which l ask
your attention. Some of the more Jealous
opponents of free coinage point to the fact
election and the first regular session of Con-
gress, and assert that during thai
tme in case the people declare themselves i'll
favor of free coinage, all loans will be
| withdrawn and all mortgages foreclosed. Ii
these are merely prophecies INDUCED in by
those who have forgotten the provisions of the
constitution, it will be sufficient to remind
them that the President is empowered tc
convene Congress IN extraordinary session
whenever the public good requires such
action If, in November, the people by their
ballots declare themselves in favor of the
immediate restoration Of bimetallSm, the
system can be inaugurated within few
months If, however, the assertion that
loans will be withdrawn and mortgages fore
closed is made to prevent such political action
as the people may believe to be necessary fol
the preservation of their rights, then new
and vital issue is raised. Whenever it is nee
essary for the peopleas whole to obtain con-
sent from the owners of money and the
changers OF money before they can lcgislate
upon financial questions, we shall have pass
ed from democracy to plutocracy. But
that time has not yet arrived. Threats and
intimidation will be of no avail. This people
] who, in 1776, rejected the doctrine that kings
rule by right divine, will not, in this genera
ton, subscribe to doctrine that money Is
omnipotent.
| CREDITOR NATIONS.
We shall not offend ether nations when WE
declare the right of the American people te
govern themselves. and, without let OF hin
drence from without, decide upon every ques
ton presented for their consideration. Ii
taking this position we simply maintain the
dignity of seventy million citizens who are
i second to none IN their capacity for selfgov
eminent.
TRIBUTE TO CREDITOR NATIONS.
| The gold standard has compelled the
| American people to pay ar Iever-lncreaslng
tribute to the creditor nations OF the world
tribute which no one dareS to defend.
assert the national honor requires the United
States to secure Justice for all its citizens as
we'll as do justice to all its creditors. For a
people like ours, blest with natural reSour-
ces of surprising richness, to proclaim them
selves impotent to frame financial system
suited to their own needs is humiliating be-
yond the power of language to describe. We
cannot enforce respect for our foreign policy
so long as we confess ourselves unable to
frame our own financial policy.
i COLUMBIA BOUND WITH FETTERs OF GOLD.
l ask, [ expect your cooperation. 1t il
true that few of your tinanciers would fash
ion new figure-a figure representing Colum
bia, her hands bound fast with letters of gol(
and her face turned toward the East, appeal
ing for assistance to those who live beyonc
the sea-but this figure can never express
your idea of this nation. 1ou will rather
turn for inspiration to the heroic statue which
guards the entrance to your city-a statue a!
patriotic in conception as 1t is colossal in pro
portion; it was the gracious gift of sister
republic and stands upon "a pedestal which
was built by the American people: Tha
fgure-Liberty Enlightening the Worlds
emblematic of the mission of our nation
among the nations of the earth. With {
government which derives its powers from
the consent of the governed, secures to al
the people freedom of conscience freedom OF
thought and freedom of speech, guarantees
equal rights to all and promises special
privileges to none, the United States shoult
be an example in all that is good and the
leading spirit in every movement which has
i for its object the uplifting Cf the human race