The watchman and southron. [volume] (Sumter, S.C.) 1881-1930, 1896-08-19


the minority sentiment in the Chicago cor;
vcntion opposed the free coinage ct silver
by the United States by independent &C
ton on the ground that, in their judgment.
it would rctard CT entirely prevent the
establishment of international bimetal-
lism. to which the efforts Of the govern
mcnt should be steadily directed. y When
they asserted that the efforts Of the govern
ment should be steadily directed toward
the csta adjustment of international blmctI-
lism, they condemned monometalllsm.
The gold standard has been weighed in the
balance and found wanting. Take from 1t
the powerful support Of the money owning
and the money changing classes. and it cam
not stand fer one day in any nation III the
world 1t was fastened upon the United
States without discussion before the pco-
pie ard it's friends have never yet been
willing to risk q verdict before the voters
upon that issue.
There can Ee no sympathy or co-OEcr;t~
ton Between the advocates of a universal
gold standard and the advocates OF blnet
allism. Between bimetallisin. whether III
dependent or international, ard the gold
standard there is an imEassablc gull. is
this quadrennial agitation in favor OF IN
ternational bimetallism conducted IN good
faith. or do our opponents really desire to
maintain the gold standard permanently:
Are they willing to confess the superiority
OF a double standard when joined in by
the leading nations Of the world, or do
they still insist that gold is the only metal
suitable for standard money among clvl-
liZcd nations? II they are, in fact, cesirouS
of securing bilnetallism, we may expect
them to point cut the evils Of 4 gold
standard and defend bimctallism as q sys
tenn. If. on the other hand. they are bend
ing their energies toward the permanent
establishment of a gold standard under
cover of declaration II favor Of intcrra-
tional bimetallisln. am justified in suS-
costing that honest mercy cannot be cH-
pccted at the hands of those who deal dis
honestly with the American people
What is the test OF honesty in money: 1t
must certainly be found in tic purchasing
power CT the dollar An Absolutely honest
dollar would not vary in its general pur-
chasing power. 1t would be absolutely
stable when measured by average prices
A dollar which increases in purchasing
power is just as dishonest as (; dollar which
decreases in purchasing power. Professor
Laughlin. now Of the University of Chi
cago and one of the highest gold standard
authorities. in his work on bimctallism
not only admits that gold does not remain
absolutely stable in vaes:c, but expressly
asserts that "there is no such thing as
standard of value for :uturc payments,
either in gold or silver, which remains ah-
solutely invariablc. He even suggests
that a multiple standard wherein the unit
is "based upon the selling prices OF Il mum
ber of articles of general consumption
would be a more just standard than either
gold or silver, or both, because "a lcng
time contract would thereby be paid at its
maturity by the same purchasing power as
was given IN the beginning
Purchasing Power of tie Dollar.
It cannot be successfully claimed that
recommendation or bilnetallism CT any 9TH
er system gives an absolutely just stand
ard of value Under both lnono1nctallism
and bimetallisln the government fixes the
weight and fincncss Of the dollar, invests
it with legal tender qualities and then
opens the lnints to its unrestricted coinage,
leaving the purchasing power of the dollar
to be determined by the number CT dollars.
Bimetallism is better than monometalllsm
not because it gives Us perfect dollar
that is, a dollar absolutely unvarying in
its general purchasing power-but because
it makes nearer approach to stability, to
honesty, to justice, thana gold standard
possibly can. Prior to 1S73 when there
were enough open mirts to permit all the
gold and silver available for coinage to find
entrance into the world volume Of stand
ard money, the United States might have
maintained a gold standard with less in
jury to the people Of this country, but
now, when each step toward a universal
gold standard enhances the purchasing
power of gold, deprcsscs prices and trans
fers to the pockets of the creditor class an
unearned increment the influence OF this
great nation must be thrown upon the side
of gold unless we are prepared to accept
the natural and legitimate consequences OF
such an act Any legislation which lessons
the worlds stock of standard. money in
creases the cxchangcable value of the dol
lar Therefore the crusade against silver
must inevitably raise the purchasing pow
er of money and lower the money valuc OF
all other forms of properly.
Our opponclts sometimes admit that 1t
was mistake to demonetize silver. but
insist that we should submit to present
conditions rather than return TO the bi-
metallic system. They err in supposing
that we have reached the end Of the evil
results of q gold standard. We have not
reached the end. The injury is a continu-
ing one and 10 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 low operating
to destroy silver in the United States will,
if successful here, Ee turned against other
silver using countries. and each new con
vert to the gold standard will add to the
general distress. So long as the scramble
for gold continues prices must fail, and q
general fall in prices is bat another dc1inl-
ton of hard times.
Our opponents, while claiming entire
disintcrcstetlncss for themselves, have ap-
pcalcd 70 the sclfshress Of nearly every
class of society Recognizing the disEcsi-
ton of the individual voter to consider the