Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1896-08-27
McKINLEY'S LETTER OF ACCEPTANCE

fineness; they are to bear the same stamp
OF the government. Why should they not
be OF the same value? / answer: The
silver dollars now in use were coined on
account of the government and not for
private account or gain and the govern
Ment solemnly agreed to keep them as good
as the best dollars We have. The govern
ment bought the silver bullion at its mar
Ket value and coined it into silver dollars
Having exclusive control of the mintaee
1t only coins what it can hold at a parity
with gold. The profit, representing the
dlnerence between the commercial value
OF the silver bullion and the face value
Of the silver dollar. goes to the govern
ment for the benefit of the people The
government bought the silver bullion con-
Jared IN the silver dollar at very much
less than its coinage value.
1t paid 1t out to its creditors and mt II
IN circulation among the people at its face
value OF one hundred cents, or full dol
lar' 1t required the people to accept it
as iesal tender and ii is thus morally
Douno 10 maintain it at parity with
gold which was then. as now the recop-
,iZed standard with us, and the most en-
Hshtened nations of the world The gov
err ment having issued and circulated the
SILVER dollar, must in honor protect The
noidef from loss: This obligation it has
SO far sacredly kept. Not only is there
a amor moral obligation. but there is a legal
un;satioh expressed In public statute, to
MAINTAIN the parity.
These dollars, in the particulars I have
named, are not the same as the dollars
Which would be issued under free coinage.
They would be the same In form. but Diff
ferent In value. The government would
have no part In the transaction, except to
com the silver bullion into dollars. 1t
Wouid snare in no part of the profit. It
would take upon itself no obligation. It
,;on =, not put the dollars into circula-
m 49,,
Would get them, by giving something for
them. 1t would deliver them to those
mo deposited the silver, and it's connec-
'iS So with the transaction there ends.
Such are the silver dollars which would
De issued under free coinage of silver at
a ratio of Is to 1. Who would then main
Il. the parity? What would keep them
obligation resting upon the government
TO do 1t. and If there were it would he
powerless to do it. The simple truth is.
we would be driven to silver basis
to silver monometallism These dollars
therefore, would stand upon their real
value. If the free and unlimited coinage
OF silver at ratio of sixteen ounces of
siiver 10 One ounce of gold would, as some
OF It's advocates assert, make So cents in
silver worth 100 cents, and the silver dol
lar equal to the gold dollar, then we wouId
nave no cheaper money than now, and IT
would be no easier to get
But that such would be the result Ia
against reason, and is contradicted by ex
perlence In all times and in all lands. It
means the debasement of our currency tn
.lle amount OF the difference between the
commercial and coin value of the silver
dollar, which Is ever changing, and the ef
rect would be to reduce property values
entail untold financial loss, destroy con
ndence, impair the obligations of existing
contracts. further impovcrish the ahorer
ana producers of the country, create a
panic of unparalleled severity and inf1ict
upon trade and commerce a deadly blow.
opposed.
Bfmetallism. 20. zoe, --... -
Bimetallism cannot be secured by inde-
pendent action on our part. It cannot ba
obtained by opening our minis to the un-
limited coinage Of the silver Of the world
at ratio OF sixteen ounces of silver to
one ounce OF gold, when the commercial
ratio Is more than thirty ounces of silver
10 one ounce Of gold: Mexico and China
have tried the experiment. Mexico has
Tree coinage of silver and gold at a ratio
slightly in excess of sixteen and a half
ounces OF silver to one ounce of gold, and
wnile her minis are freely open to both
metals at that ratio, not a single dollar in
gold bullion Is coined and circulated as
money.
Gold has been driven out of circulation
II, these countries and they are on a silver
basis alone. Until international agreement
Is had, 1t Is the plain duty of the United
States to maintain the gold standard. II
Is the recognized and sole standard of the
great commercial nations of the world
with which we trade more largely than any
other. Eighty-four per cent Of our for
eign trade for the fiscal year 1895 was with
gold standard countries and our trade with
other countries was settled on a gold basis.
We Now Have More Silver Than G,old
Chiefly by means of legislation during
and since 1878 there has been put in cir
culation more than $624, OOO, 600 of silver
or Its representative. This has been done
In the honest effort to give to silver. II pos-
sible, the same bullion and coinage value
and enco lrage the concurrent use of both
gold and silver as money. Prior to that
time there had been less than nine mil
lions of silver dollars coined in the entire
history of the United States. a neriod os
eighty-nine years. This legislation secures
the largest use Of silver consistent with
financial safety and the pledge to maintain
Its parity with gold. We have today more
plished at times with grave peril to the
public credit.
The so-called Sherman law sought to use
all the silver product of the United States
Tor money at its market value. From 1880
to 1893 the government purchased 4. 500 Oc0
ounces of silver a month, or 1000 OOO
ounces a year. This was one-third of the
product Of the world and practically all
Of this country'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 it's coinage value
but this expectation was not realized. In
few months, notwithstanding the un-
precedented market for the silver produce
ed in the United States, the price of silver
went down very rapidly, reaching a lower
point than ever before. Then, upon the
recommendation of President Cleveland.
both political parties united in the repeal