The daily morning Astorian. [volume] (Astoria, Oregon) 1883-1899, 1896-09-29

They would be the sanle IN form, out ults
terent IN value, The government would
have nc part in the transaction except TO
coin the silver bullion into dollars, Il
would share In no part OF the profit, u
would take upon itself no obligation, II
would not put the dollars into circulation,
Il could only yet them as any citizen would
set them, by giving something for tnem'
II would deliver them 70 those who de-
posted the silver and It's connection with
the transaction there end, Such are the
silver dollars which would be issued under
free coinage Of silver at a ratio ot 10 To l.
Who Would Maintain Parity,
"who would then maintain the partly
What would keep them at par ws1 goldv
There would be no obligation rcstiuS upon
| the government to do IL. and II there were,
Il would be powerless 10 do It. The simple
truth Is We would be driven to a silver
h~as.s-to silver monomctallism. TaSse DOL
lars. therefore, would stand upon their
real value L. the free and unlimited COIN
age a silver at q ratio OF i6 ounces OF
silver 10 l ounce Of gold would, as some
OF its advocates assert, make ~ cents IN
silver worth 100 cents and the silver dollar
equal to the gold dollar, then we would
have no cheaper money than now, ana IL
would be no easter to get. But that sneh
would be the result Is against reason and
is c~ontradlcted by experience In all times
and In all lands. IL means the deh2sement
Of our currency 20 the amount OF tho dlt-
ference between the commercial n ON
value OF the silver dollar which Is ever
changing and the effect would be TO reduce
property values, entail untold nnanelai
loss, destroy confidence, impair the ooilsa-
tons Of existing contracts, further impoV-
erish the labOrers and producers OF the
I asMnNpg aENnNa a manic NJ nmn1TAANNANu
severity and inhlct upon trade and COM
meree a deadly blow, Against any sueh
policy ! an unaltershly opposed.
Gold Driven out OF Mexico
"Bimetalllsm cannot be secured by In
dependent action on our part. II cannot
be obtained by opening our mints to the
unlimited coinage OF the silver or the
world at a ratio OF i6 ounces OF silver TO
l ounce Of gold when the commercial ratio
Is more than so ounces OF silver TO l ounce
Of gold. Mexico and China have tried the
experiment, Mexico has free coinage OF
silver and gold at a ratio slightly In ex.
cess Of l6L ounces Of silver TO l ounce OF
gold. and while her minis are freely open
to both metals at that ratio, not a single
dollar in gold bullion Is coined and cir
culated as money. Gold has been driven
out OF circulation In these countries and
they are on a silver basis alone. Until
International agreement is had, Il Is the
plain duty OF the United States to main
tain the gold standard. II is the reeog-
mixed and sole standard OF the great COM
mereial nations Of the world with which
we trade more largely than any other.
Eighty-four per cent. Of our foreign trade
for the fiscal year 1895 was with gold
standard countries. and our trade with
other countries was settled on a gold basis,
More silver Than Cold.
"Chiefy BY means OF legislation during
and since 1878. there has been put In
circulation more than 1924, 00O. 900 OF sill
yer or its representative, This has been
done in the honest effort to give to silver.
IL possible. the same bullion and coinage
value and encourage the concurrent use OF
both gold and silver as money. Prior TO
that time. there had been less than 5000
900 Of silver dollars coined In the entire
history OF the United States, a period OF
eigl v-nine years. This legislation secures
the largest use of silver consistent with
financial safety and the pledge TO main
tain its parity with gold. We have to-
day more silver than gold. This has been
accomplished at times with grave peril 10
the public credit. The so-called Sherman
law sought to use all the silver product
Of the United States for money at its mar
ket value. From 1890 TO 1898. the gov
eminent purchased 100000 ounces OF sill
yer a month. or $4,000. 600 ounces a year.
This was one-third 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 advance its bullion
value to its coinage value. but this ex-
pectation was not realized. In a few
months, Notwithstanding the unprecedent-
ed market for the silver product in the
United States, the price Of silver went
down very rapidly. reaching a point lower
than ever before. Then. upon the recon-
mendation Of President Cleveland. botf
political parties united in the repeal oil
the purchasing clause OF the sherman law
We cannot with safety engage In further
experiments in this direction.
ION the second OF August, 1891. in
public address. | said II we could havt
an international ratio which all the lead
ing nations OF the world would adopt. ant
the true relation be fixed between the i've
metals and all agree upon the quantity
OF silver which should constitute a dollar
then silver would be as tree and unlim
tied in its privileges Of coinage as gold u
to-day. But that We have not been abl'
to secure. and with the free and unlimited
coinage OF silver adopted 10 the Jnitet
States at the present ratio. we WOULD b'
still further removed from any interna
tional agreement. We may never be abi'
10 secure il IL we enter upon the ISOLATED
coinage OF silver. The double STANDARD
Implies equality at a ratio and that equal
inv can only be established by the concur
rent law OF nations. II was the concurrent
law Of nations that made the double stand
ard: 1t will require the concurrent Law
Of nations to relnstate and sustain It,
Party FayorS .Se OF Siiver Money.
"The Republican party has not been anC
Is not opposed to the use Of silver money
as its record |abundantly shows. II ha'
done all that could be done for its in
creased use with safety and honor by tht
United States acting apart from other gov
ernments. There are those whO think tina
IL mas already gone beyond the limit o
financial prudence. Surely we can go ne
further. and we must not permit falls
lights to lure us across the danger line.
Means Defeat of InternatiOnaI
Agreement.
eve have much more silver IN use thar
any country IN the world except india 81
Chlna-sJ00 900. 600 more than Great Brit
ain; $50. 600, 900 more than France: s40O.
100000 more than Germany; 1926, 900. 00I
less than India and 1926 900, 900 less thar
China. The Republican party has declare,
in favor Of an international agreement, and
IL elected president, 1t will be my duty q
employ all proper means to promote II
The free coinage Of silver In this countr!
would defer. II not defeat International bl
metallism. and until an international agree
meut can be had. every interest require
US to maintain our present standard. IN
dependent free coinage Of silver at a ratiI
OF l6 ounces Of silver TO l ounce Of gOl'
would insure the speedy contraction of tn
r.lnma nf MIR rnrrnnrY. II Mnnll drive 81