Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1896-09-14
CLINTON REPUBLICANS
Hold Large Rally in the Town
Hall.

. Clinton, Sept. 12.-The Republican
) OF this town held a rousing rally /
the Town hall, last evening, the clos
ing one Of the campaign. Hon j. /
q. Pitkin of Louisiana, and Mr. Clar
ence Il. Burleigh of Augusta were tn
speakers of the evening.
The floor and galleries were packe,
with people. many coming from Ions
| distance. A number of the prominen
| Republicans of the town had seat
| upon the stage. Hon. Alpheus RoWell
| chairman of the Republican town com
| mittee, presided over the meeting an,
| introduced as the first speaker, Mr.
| Burleigh. who spoke as follows:
I Mr. Chairman. Ladies and Gentlemen:
1t was the custom Of Mr. Bryan, while
member of Congress, to write four On
! five speeches session. These he com
mitted carefully to memory, ana then
went in upon the floor of the House and
| acclaimed them magnifcently. Haugh-
| ter) The man is a born actor | sat
| within a few seats of him at the st.
| Louis convention. where he was doing
|
| Herald, and could not help thinking
| That he bore a strong resemblance to
| Edwin Eooth. 1t is IA great power.
| my friends, to be able to irnpersonafe
thought. but it is not craftsmanship.
can readily understand how Mr. Bry-
IN speeches can sound a good deal
better than they read Certainly no
one viii deny that his speeches on the
way To New York To deliver his address
Of accept lnce in Madison Square Gar
den. were weak ana flabby, a setback
I" his cause. and a bitter disappoint-
ment to his friends. The people could
not help comparing them with the mas
terly cross-country speeches of James
q. Blaine and Benjamin Harrison, I'M
Ter similar circumstances. and Mr
Bryan dill not grow any in the public
estimation. as "A result of it,
! Wen remember Mr.. Bryans great
tariff speech of 1892 This was the
most carefully prepared and the most
laboriously polished Of any of his pub
lis deliverances His friends have been
pleas q to call ii the effort of his life"
In this speech Mr.. Bryan was origi-
nal enough to tell us that the tariff was
n tax, that it was legislating for the
classes as against the masses and that
the great need Of the country was free
trade. which would give us low prices
Now he is advocating the free coinage
Of silver at tho ratio Of l6 to l. Just
twice its commercial ratio. because it
viii give us high prices. Uaughter)
Consistency was never an attribute of
Mr.. Bryan.
What is meant by the ratio of 1G to
1? Simply this. that there shall be six
teen times as many grains Of silver in |
l silver dollar as there are grains of |
gold in gold dollar. In other words. |
mat the gold dollar shall contain % y |
grains OF pure gold, and the |
silver dollar shall contain 37lh
sixteen times as many-grains Of pure |
silver
And what is meant by fine gold and |
standard gold. and what by fine silver |
and standard silver? Simply this: by |
the American standard of coinage, only |
nine-tenths of the metal in a gold coin
Is pure gold;and only nine-tenths Of the
metal in silver coin is pure silver.
Enough copper is added To the pure
gold in gold dollar to bring its weight
Ip TO 25.8 grains, and enough copper is
added to the pure silver in silver dol
TAR 70 bring its weight up to 4l21s
grains
Therefore when we hear gold or sill
yer coins spoken of as nine-tenths fine.
II. what is the same thing. nine hun
lred one thousandths fine. it simply
means that they contain nine-tenths of
pre metal and one-tenth of copper
alloy
standard q |
grains. of which 2322 grains are pure
gold. \ standard silver dollar weighs
'l21a grains, of which 3114 grains are
pure silver.
The ratio of 16 grains OF silver to one
grain of gold is the present ratio at
which the two metals are coined into
ioilafs at our mnts. and has been the
'atlo i'll this country since 1884. At that |
lime this ratio was very nearly the
-ommercidl ratio. In other words, YOU
'puid go into the markets Of the world
n 1884 with sixteen ounces Of silver ana
9uy an ounce of gold with it. You
touid, in fact, do better than that. for
SILVER at that time was tritie under |
valued by that ratio. The ratio of |
european mints was then ISL. grains
Il silver tn one grain Of gold. and as a
eSuit. silver went out of use as money |
N this country and found its way into
,orei@n countries, where it was worth
I traction of per cent more than il
vas in this country.
IN 1884 the total production of silver
n the world was l9,0o0. 900 ounces with
coinage value of about $50 900, 900
In 1894, the latest year covered by the
asst mint report. the silver production
IF the United States alone, largely ow
ng to the discovery of new mines. and
'heaper methods of mining, amounted
% i9.ooo,10 ounces with coinage val
lie of $64 900. 600 and the silver produc
ION of the world was 167, 900 900 ounces.
nearly nine times as much as i'm 1884.
WITH coinage value of $216, 900 600.
AS result of this enormous Increase |
n production. the price of silver has
gone down very rapidly in the markets |
IF the wCrld. 1t now takes nearly ~
grains of silver to buy grain of gold
In spite of this fact, Mr.. BRYAN and i
lis followers demand that the free and
unlimited coinage of silver shall be es-
apilShed by this government without
he cO-0n tinn of 40 |