Santa Fe daily New Mexican. [volume] (Santa Fe, N.M.) 1885-1897, 1896-08-14

one day in any nation in the world. l
was fastened upon the United State.
without discussion before the people, ant
its friends have never yet been willing to
risk verdict before the voters upon
that issue.
There can be no sympathy or co-opera
tion between the advocates of a universa
gold standard and the advocates of bi
metallism. Between bimetallism -wheth
or independent or international--and the
gold standard there is an impossible
gulf. Is this quadrennial agitation in
favor of international bimetallism con.
Quoted in good faith, or do our opponents
really desire to maintain the golo stand
ard permanently? Are they willing tc
confess the superiority of double stand
ard when Joined by the leading nations o
the world, or do they still insist that gold
is the only metal suitable for standard
money among civilized nationsS If they
are in fact desirous of securing bimetal
lism we may expect them to point ont
the evils of a gold standard and defend
bimetallism as system.
If on the other hand they are bending
theiv energies toward the permanent es
tablishment of gold standard, under
cover of declaration in favor of interna
tional bimetallism, am justified in sug
gesting that honest money can not be ex
pected at the hands of those who deal
dishonesty with the American people.
WHAT Is HONEST MONEY?
What is the test of honesty in money
1t must be found in the purchasing pow
er of the dollar. An absolutely honest
dollar would not vary in its general pur-
chasing power; it should be absolutely
stable when measured by average prices.
A dollar which increases in purchasing
power Is as dishonest as dollar which de-
creases in purchasing power. Professor
Laughlin, now of the university of Chi
cago, and one of the highest gold stand
ard authorities, in his work on bimetal-
lism not only admits that gold does not
remain absolutely stable in value, but
expressly asserts "there is no such thing
as standard value for future payments
either in gold or silver which remains alb
solutely invariable."
He even suggests that a multiple stand
ard, wherein the unit is based upon the
selling prices of number of articles of
general consumption, ''would be a more
just standard than either gold or silver,
or both, because long time contract
would thereby be paid at its maturity by
the same purchasing power as was given
in the beginning"
1t can not be successfully claimed that
mono.metallism or bimetallism, or any
other system, gives an absolutely just
standard of value. Under both mono
metalism and bimetallism the govern
ment fixes the weight and fneness of the
dollar, invests it with legal tender quail
ties and then opens the mints
to its unrestricted coinage, leaving the
purchasing power of the dollar to
be determined by the number of
dollars. Bimetallism is better than
money -metallism not because it give US
perfect dollar-that is, dollar abso-
lutely unvarying in its general purchas-
ing power-but because it makes a nearer
approach to stability, to honesty, to JUS
tice than gold standard possibly can.
Prior to 1878, when there were enough
open mints to permit all the gold and sill
yer available for coinage to find entrance
into the worlds volume of standard
money, the United States might have
maintained gold standard with less in
| jurv to the people of this country, but
now, when each step toward universal
gold standard enhances the purchasing
power of gold, depresses prices and trans
fers to the pockets of the creditor class
an unearned increment, the influence of
this great nation must not be thrown
upon the side of gold unless we are pre-
pared to accept the natural and leglti-
mate conseq quences of such an act.
VICIOUS LRGIsLATION.
Any legislation which lessons the world 8
stock of standard money increases the
exchangeable value of the dollar. There
fore the crusade against silver must inev-
itably raise the purchasIng power of
money and lower the money values Of all
other forms of property. Our opponents
sometimes admit that it was mistake to
demonetize silver, but insist that we
should submit to present conditions
rather than return to the bimetallic sys-
tenn. They err in supposing that we have
reached the end. The injury is a contin-
uing one, and no person can say how long
the world is to suffer from the attempt to
make gold the only standard money. The
same Influences which are now operating
to destroy silver in the United States will,
If successful here, be turned against
other silver using countries, and each
new convert to the gold standard will
add to the general distress. So long as
the scramble for gold continues prices
must fall, and general fall in prices is
but an other definition of hard times.
Our opponents, while claiming entire
disintersstedness for themselves, have ap-
pealed to the selfshness of nearly every
class of society, recognizing the disposi-
tion of the individual voter to consider
the effect of any proposed legislation
upon himself. We present to the Ameri-
can people the financial policy outlined
in the Chicago platform, believing that it
will result in the greatest good to the
greatest number. The farmers are op-
posed to the gold standard because they
have felt its effects. Since they sell at
Wholesale and buy at retail they have lost
more than they have gained, by falling
prices, and besides this they have found
that certain fixed charges have not fallen
at all. Taxes have not been perceptibly
decreased, although it requires more farm
products now than formerly to secure the
money with which to pay taxes. Debts
have not fallen. The farmer who owed
$1,000 is still compelled to pay $1,000, al
though it might be twice as difficult as
formerly to obtain the dollar with which
to pay the debt. Railroad rates have not
been reduced to keep pace with falling
prices, and besides these items there are
many more. The farmer has thus found
com plant against the gold standard.
The wage earners have been injured by
a gold standard, and have ex pressed them
selves upon the subject with great en-
phasis. In February, 1895, petition
asking for the immediate restoration of
the free and unlimited coinage Of gold
and silver at 16 to was signed BY rep.
resentatives of all or nearly all of the
| leading labor organizations and present.