Washington standard. [volume] (Olympia, Wash. Territory) 1860-1921, 1896-10-23
LET THE GOLD MEN EXPLAIN.
Conservative Friend of Silver Asks Some
Very Pertinent Questions.

LET The GOLD MEN EXPLAIN.
Conservative Friend of Silver Asks Some
Very Pertinent Questions.
The people of the United States have
yet to hear from the gold monometal-
lists Of the Republican party and from
the gold monometallists lately of the
Democratic party an intelligent defense
Of their position.
The evils Of gold monometallism are
positive, existent, already demonstrated.
The evils which might attend free silver
coinage are still purely supposititious,
theoretical, predicted, perhaps logically.
by scientific reasoners, but still to be
manifested. While we coined gold and
silver, as We did until 1878, none Of
these disasters which are supposed to
attend upon free silver coinage befell
us. Since we stopped that coinage all
the evils which the closest students re-
gard as inseparable from gold mono
metallism have fallen to the lot of the
nation.
1t is time for the advocates of tho
single gold standard to check themselves
in the easy occupation of asking ques-
tions and answer few. The present,
for example, is q good time for them to
explain why the only honest" dollar
is dollar which constantly appreciates
in value, to get which year after year
tho debtor. if he be farmer, must give
more Of his wheat, his corn or his cat
tie; if a workingman, more of his labor.
What is the sanctity which attaches to
the money lender that makes the essence
of honesty in dollar its capacity to
purchase twice as much when repaid as
when lentp
There may be conscientious question
Of the merit Of the free silver l6 to l
theory, but even from that extreme men
need Iecoil to approval Of tho wholly
unlawful system Of gold monometallism
foisted upon the nation by Grover Cleve-
land, nor to the support Of the money
farming interest in its attempt to fasten
that system upon the government by
formal legislation with the aid Of Will.
liam Mckinley and by permission of
Mark Hanna.
But for the fact that the term has
been brought into disrepute by men
who used it only as u snare The Jour
nal would avow itself with confidence
an international bimetallist. But if we
look back over the past two years of
storm and stress in currency debate, we
will find that the cry Of international
bimetallism" has always been raised
just as an election was pending by emf
nent bankers. financiers, statesmen and
| journalists who. when the election was
safely past, scoffed at the idea Of inter-
national action, and even, as q rule,
discarded the bimetailic theory alto
gether. President Cleveland has not
failed to preach in sonorous phrase the
possibilities Of international co-opera-
tion, but it does not appear that he ever
took effective or even vigorous action
under authority conferred upon him by
congress to hasten such an agreement.
1t seems pertinent to ask now, i'll the
face of q silver wave which bids fair to
sweep the country, why the very people
who bid their fellow countrymen today
wait for the cooperation of England,
France and Germany in the establish
ment Of bimetallism were only few
weeks ago deriding the very word BIZ
metallism and applauding Mr.. Thomas
Collier Platt for having forced a straight
declaration for the single gold standard
into the st. Louis platform
The political memory of men in this
United States is not very retentive, but
there are few observers Of politics who
do not know that this battle Of the mon
etary standards has been In progress for
a quarter Of a century, with the victory
uniformly on the side of gold. Nobody
can forget that this sick man of ours
the commercial interests-has been
given, almost without interruption, the
gold cure, and that year by year the
dose has been made stronger. From the
time of the resumption Of specie pay
ments to the day Of the repeal Of the
purchase clause of tho Sherman law the
only thing the advocates of gold mono
metallism asked for was the piece of
legislation Immediately In sight. That
enacted, they assured us, the patient
would thrive. the bright blood OF trade
would again flow briskly through his
veins and new vigor and animation
possess his entire body. 1t seems per-
tinent now to Ask whether the state of
the country after 25 years Of legislation
constantly tending toward gold mono
metallism is such as to justify belief
that attainment Of that goal is all neces-
sary to establish prosperity.
As yet no fixed limit has been set by
those who persistently press on toward
gold monometallism, thrusting aside
contemptuously with the epithet
"crank" or anarchist" all who ask
them to stop and reason. But from the
circumstances attending the repeal Of
the purchase clause Of the Sherman law
shrewd observers may judge how far the
agencies now raising against Bryan the
bitterest Of cries are willing to CO. That
repeal was wholly wise. Neither mono
metallist nor bimetallist can for a mo-
ment defend the bastard system which
John Sherman formulated. But we were
promised by the banking interests that
repeal Of that law would cure all fnan-
cial ills from which the country suffer
ed. 1t was repealed. The evils still con-
tinued. Suddenly It was discovered that
the treasury notes were the source Of
all our financial sorrows, and the finah-
ciers demanded their retirement
Now it is pertinent to ask If the re-
peal Of the purchase clause Of the Sher-
man law must be followed by the re-
tirement Of all the treasury notes and
greenbacks? And, if this be done, will
the silver certificates, redeemable, of
course, directly in silver only, but
through exchange for national bank
notes indirectly in gold, be next marked
Tor the slaughter Is the effort for con-
traction Of the currency to be continu-
ous, persistent, unrelenting?
It seems fair to ask the members of
the faction which opposes Mr.. Bryan for
having frankly stated his ultimate
views on the currency question what
their programme is. Are they content
with the present hodgepQdge monetary