The San Francisco call., 1896-06-13

tional utterances. They have read Alright
the signs of the times with that accuracy
which is only attributal to a correct dag
nosis of the ailments of the body polite.
They have forewritten the financial his
tory of the United States with vision
most prophetic, and those who have the
inclination and who will review the de-
bates in Congress for the past twenty years
and take note of what the champions OF
bimetallism have said cannot help be as
tonished, if not convinced, by the force
of events following IN the wake of silver
sentiment.
81 realize that as Western man hail
ing from silver State l am open to the
charge of being unduly prejuuiced in favor
OF silver, but it may be somewhat of sur
prise to many of you to know that my
greatest interests are in gold mines, where
not an ounce of silver is TO be encountered.
Some of the ablest and most radical advo-
Gates of silver reconciliation are men
who have never seen silver mine. In this
connection l wish to refer to the oft-re-
peated statement that the silver barors
are seeking to obtain 100 cents for a 90
cent dollar. Ii you will but reflect for a
moment the absurdity of the statement
will be discernibIe. If the spirit of the
plank which | have presented was abided
by, supposing the Republican party
adopted it, and through that adoption it
became the basis of law, the miner would
have his silver coined into dollars of 412H
grains of pure silver, and for every 81 d
grains of pure silver deposited at the
United States mint he would receive in
exchange an American silver dollar. Now,
here you have your choice: II the dollar
thus obtained passes for 100 cents no man
with 371N grains of uncoined bullion will
part with it for less than 100 cents, and a
10O-cent dollar will be worth 100 cents.
Has any harm been done? If, on the
other hand, the 371H grains are only
passable for so cents when coined will the
bonanza kings, as they are spoken of,
profit by free coinage? When the silver
men state that the demonetization has re-
suited in the depreciation of farm prod
ucts proportionately to the fall of silver
by virtue of a contraction of the currency
and the advantages enjoyed by silver
standard countries, the reply is made that
improvements IN farm machinery is the
true cause and not the act of 1873. If the
farmers were equally as prosperous now as
they were before the effects of demoneti-
zation became felt, mechanical i'm
provements could be held somewhat
bIamable for the present distress
among our pastoral population. If
farmer can to-day make two blades of
grass grow where formerly one grew, and
care for his increased responsibilities by
virtue of the aid machinery affords, is it
fair to presume that that advantage and
that aid has after twenty years of trial left
the farmer bankrupt and an owner of
mortgage which has bereft him of the
acreage which is free from debt2'
Relative to the situation in California
the New York Tribune of yesterday, quot
ing Shortridge, says:
The California delegates are for silver,
but they are primarily and overwhelm-
ingly for protective tariff, as shown by
the Endorsement by the convention of Mr..
Mckinley for President, who is looked
upon by California as the great champion
OF that principle. There will be no bolt on
the part of the California delegation
They feel too strongly the need OF tariff
laws advocated by the Republican party,
and will look only to the Republican party
for help on the silver question"
JOHN PAUL CosGRAvE.