The representative. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1893-1901, 1896-02-19

and independent state. Knute! you had
better revise your argument; it wont
hold water.
AS matter of fact land Knute tries
after the fashion Of the genuine gold
bug to make capital out Of it, gold and
silver never did for any. length of time
circulate freely side by side, and 1t has
never been argued by genuine bimetal-
lists that they ever would, or that 1t
made any material difference in the ar
gument in favor Of bimetallism whether
they did or not. The strength of the
himetallists position lies in it's justice.
This Justice is given effective express
sion in the option that it gives to the
debtor (the weaker party to the con-
tract to pay his obligations in the metal
which at the time of payment happens
to be the cheaper. According to Mr.. Mel
sons own statement the cheaper metal
will always be in circulation thus in
surfing protection to the debtor against
any unjust exaction which the creditor
might make had he the power to dictate
all the terms of payment. Knute! There
is another hole in your theory:
AS to the causes which retire the
dcarer metal from, and return the
cheaper metal to circulation. they are
not hard to find. Metal money, especi-
ally, has always had and will always
have two distinct denard5fi one for debt
paying, the other for boarding. The
cheaper metal will be sought after by
the debtpayer, and the dearer by the
hoarder. But these demands have at all
times in our country's history. under
free coinage of both metals, been so
evenly balanced that the difference in
bullion value between the two metals
LIT ni1 ANN
or benefit to anyone The beauty of BIZ
metallism, and one of the strongest argu-
ments in it's favor, is this, that is salts
fies the demand which always exists for
boarding while it also satisfies the de-
mand for debt paying medium by pro-
viding plentiful suppl OF slightly
cheaper metal for circulation. This is
where monometallism must from the
very nature of things always prove
failure.
But the cream Of the whole speech lies
in the fatal admission contained in these
words: ''In this full and plenary sense
we have never had complete bimetal-
lism in this country"
If this does not mean that Knute Mel
son and his political associates are aim
ing to overthrow the bimetallism of the
past, for the purpose of establishing
upon its ruins new and unheard Of
bimetallism, then human language is
no longer proper vehicle for the convey
ance of intelligence. Knute Nelson! you
have confessed that the bimetallism
which you and your party is seeking to
| foisten upon the American people is not
the bimetalism of the constitution; that
it is not the bimetallism of the ages
gone by; but bastard bimetallism be-
gotten in the brain of a legal highway
| man. Why don't you call it by its right
name? Why don't you call it gold mon
ometallism? You don't because you
| dare not.
The rest of the speech, although quite
| lengthy, is merely reiteration of this
| fundamental fallacy, that simultaneous
| circulation is vital condition of bimet-
| alism." It is a mass of statistics and
labored argument to prove that under
| the bimetallism of the past gold and sill
yer did not always circulate side by side,
a fact which no intelligent bimetallist
will deny, for the reason that it in no
way affects the true basis of genuine BIZ
metallism. p. M. Ringdal.