The news & observer. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1894-current, 1896-09-02
COINAGE or SILVER
Speech of Hon. G. M. Cook at
Burlington Last Night.
ANSWER TO OBJECTIONS
What the Two Great Parties
Now Stand For.
THE LAST GENERAL ASSEMBLY
Some of It's Acts viii in the Next Few
Years Bring Disastrous Con-
sequences to Our
People.
ANSWER TO OBJECTIONS
THE LAST GENERAL ASSEMBLY

| buGIlSNOtAs ~ N's ~ - NJ
| Hon. Charles NJ. Cooke, Secretary of
| State, spoke here tonight. He arrived
ON the afternoon train from Raleigh,
and was met by influential Democrats,
and escorted to the hotel. He received
a cordial greeting, and made an able
and earnest speech, which made a fine
impression. He said in part
In the opening speech by myself in
this campaign, shall make no apollo
CIV for discussing first the financial
| question, in view of its great prom
| inence and Importance. 1T is an oc-
| casion of congratulation that after
| wears of striving we have the opportun-
| fty of making the contest upon the
| square issue as to whether or not sill
| yer shall be restored in this country
| Many of us have longed to see this
| dav, and have hopefully labored for
| this condition. But there comes to
| rs the pa6nful reflection that some of
| the ablest and most faithful sol
diers in the great struggle for the
| elimination of subjects of hindrance
| to this cause, and for the alignment
of the forces on this great issue, have
| been taken away and are not here TO
lead us by their skill and to cheer us
by their words of hope and of courage.
Every patriotic heart in North Caro-
lima that is enlisted for the cause of
the moral and financial disenthralment
and uplifting of the masses-ls sad
dened by the remembrance that Vance,
who was really and in truth spent in
this cause cannot marshal and lead
the forces for truth and righteous
ness in his and our own beloved State.
But he has left us the legacy of his
bright example and the memory or his
noble deeds in this cause. We shall
not forget that when on Nebo--after
reviewing the forces that were array
ed on the side of error, and establish
ing by the force of logic where the
right did live, and depicting in most
beautiful imagery the benefits that
should come from the final triumph
of truth and justice; and while his
soul was under the shadow of death,
| he gave to us as his last patriotic lega
| CIV the cry: ITO your tents, oh, Is
| rael," and let this be the battle cry,
| for the patriotic hosts in this conflict.
| And scarcely less melancholy to us
| is the remembrance that many of shose,
and some of them prominent leaders,
/ who have fought with us in many bat
| ties for justice and right on other lines
| and have even been with us on the
| skirinish lines for this cause have faIt-
cred and 90 not with us to the great
| final battle.
But what shall we do with this great
| issue?
First, We need more money. The
A r n III IL A.
| of human energy are of less net yalue
/ than the interest on idle capital, and
that can not be accounted for on the
| ground of over production, for 1T has
continued so through many years.
Money and products are so correla-
ted that value of the one or the other
depends equally upon their relative
| quantity.
Since the demonstration of silver in
1873 the tendency of the values of all
other properties has been downward,
| and steadily so, except when it was
arrested in some measure by the
Bland act of 1878 and the Sherman
| purchasing act of 1890, and since the
act of 1893 repeating the purchasing
clause of the Sherman act the decline
| in prices has been<very marked. In
| answer 10 LI1c ODIEtIIOIS UIlShO III ~
| cent wears there has been such a great
increase in the quantity of silver pro-
duced relative to the quantity of gold
produced / would state that according
to the best estimates, from 1893
to 1850 inclusive the total productions
of gold and silver in the world were
/ of gold 152, 100000 ounces, and of silver
4,817, 587, 900 ounces and the ratio was
81 SIS to 1.
From the beginning of the Christian
era up to 1493 the ratio was from 1919
to Ito IA 40-100 to /. Before the
! Christian era it was about IA to /.
From 1851 to 1895 the worlds produe-
ton of gold was 265, 100000 ounces,
| and of silver. 100, 000, 900 ounces. The
| ratio was IL 1926 to /. Taking the
| production from 1892 to 1895, the
worlds production of gold was 49,
800. 900 ounces and of silver 1917, 587,-
900 ounces and the ratio little less
| than 10 to /. And so it comes about
that when the relative quantity of sill
ven as compared with gold was much
| greater than it was in 1878, it was
freely coined at ratio never exceed
ing Is to l. But we are met with the
objection that the great relative i'm
1
| gold in the last years would make
| it disastrous to restore silver at the
| ratio of 10 to 4. AS a matter of fact
the largest annual production of silver
as compared with gold was in 1890,
| and the ratio then was % 92-100 to l.,
| and in 1895 the proportion of the
worlds production for that year was
| IL 37-100 to i. Tt is therefore appar-
ent that considering the large quantity
off silver that is used in the arts the
difference in the quantities of the two
metals already produced and the pro-
portion in which they are now being
produced present no barrier
to their coinage at the ratio of 16 to /.
The contention is made that this
may be so but to make it etfectual it
must he done with the concurrence of
/ the other civilized nations of the
| world
In 1916 England with whom we have
the most intimate trade relations de-