Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1896-08-28

to seek to give that as q reason for want
ing free silver he W1uld be very soon con-
founded by the statement that free silver
would put more gold out OF circulation than
the mints of the United States could pos
sibly put In In years Of silver, and that.
instead of having more money, we would
have less.
j.. What is 1t. theH, that creates this de-
mana ior siiver? II is openly ayowed: It Is
are wahted. II. is a, lower standard of value
that they are Demanding. They say gold
mas gone up until 1t has ceased to be
p siDer T Star ard and they want
my friends. there - great deal of talk
ABOUT bimetallism,- Of the double standard,
and great deal ofsconfusion in the use of
those terms Bmefallism is the use Of the
used. BY a doubIs standard they mean
that we shall have q gold dollar and a sill
yer dollar which. shall be a unit OF value
!or al property apd wages and everything
that is to be measured
Now. our fathers thought when they
USED the two metals in coinage they must
determine the intrinsic relative values of
.he w. SO that comparison of the mar
Kets or the world would show just what
relation one ounce of silver bore to one
ounce OF gold. how many ounces of silver
~ LOOK TO be equal to one ounce Of gold in
.ne markets of the world where gold and
SILVER were used and they carefully went
ABOUT ascertaining that.
Stills Must be the Same Length.
Now. what was the object of all that?
because they fully understood unless
these dollars were of the same inherent
intrinsic value that both Of them could not
be standards of value and both could not
circulate. Why, every boy knows that 1t is
essential that the length of his stills below
,He treao snail be the same. What Is the
law mat governs here? 1t is just this
simple law OF human selfishness and self
protection, that if you have two Things,
either one of which will lay debt and
one Is not as valuable as the other. you
are sure to give the least valuable. 1t
Is Just upon the principle that man who
can pay a debt with one dollar won't give
tWo-preclsely that. So that unless these
TWO things maintain approximately the
reiatlve value that sixteen ounces of
no not make such dollars circulate together
me one that Is more valuable the man
Will Keep In his pocket or he will sell it TO
.other.
II Is an old law. proclaimed years ago
III england by Gresham, that the cheaper
dollar drives the better one out. it has
Deen Illustrated In our history repeatedly
II mas been illustrated in the history of
every commercial nation in the world, and
anybody of half sense could see why it is
SO.
Now, SO nice were our people in try
ing 10 adjust this that they went into
declmal fractions. We say 16 to ]. In fact
tnat Is not the alto. 1t is 15.9SS plus
NOW, that Is the actual ratio 1t is so near
sixteen that we call 1t sixteen but the men
who made our silver dollar and our gold
ooliar were so nice in their calculation that
they went into decimal fractions, into the
thousandths. to adjust it accurately.
A Matter of Fine FractfOnx.
NOW, what do these people propose to
40! 10 take any account of thousandths?
No. When the markets OF the world fix
the relative value of silver or gold at thirty
one ounces Of silver to one ounce of gold
they propose to say sixteen. Well my friends
there has been nothing more amusing, ard
yet rear that with the thoughtlass 1t
may have been in some measure mislead-
Ing. than the repeated declaration Of Mr.
Bryan that everybody admitted that BIZ
metallism was a good thing-there is no
debate on that suhject-and that the de-
bate in the campaign has come down to
this fine point: The republicans say that
we cannot have iahisf good thing without
the consent Of England, and we say we
can nave 1t ourselves. and he has en-
deaVored TO plvotithts great campaign with
its tremendous issues upon that pinhole.
I'VE hear great deal about the great
resources and wealth and power of this
country. and do not allow anybody to 90
beyond my appreciation of them; but what
is the use of talking about that when you
do not propose to put this wealth and
power and influence behind the silver dol
lars at all? As things are now the silver
dollars that we have are supported by the
government, and the govcrnm mt that sup
ports this silver ,.blltEon has issued these
collars on us own acconnt-hot for the
mine owners--anthft has pledged Its sacred
honor 1t would make every one of these
silver dollars as good as gold dollar.
And that is a powerful support.
without 1t the disparity bet Heen these
metals would at once show itself in the
markets. and there would be some sense
in the talk which our populistic friends
indulge in when they speak Of the power
put this power behind their free coinage.
But they do not. They propose that the
man who digs silver out Of the mines may
bring it to the mint and have it stamped
and handed back to him as a dollar, the
government having no responsibility about
What Can BE Done.
But can we do this thing ourselves? Is
1t a question whether we will do it or ask
somebody's consent whether We may or
ask the cooperation of somebody? Not at
all. 1 will tell you what this government
can do alone. 1t can fix its money unit.
1t can declare by law what shall be the
relative value Of an ounce of gold and an
ounce OF silver. but ii cannot make that
last declaration good. 1t is unquestion-
ably fully within the power Of this gov
eminent to bring this country to a silver
basis by coming silver uOIiarS and making
them legal tender. They can do that. This
government says you shall take one of
those dollars in discharge Of any debt
owing to you for dollar, no.withstand-
ing you may have loaned gold dollars, but
1t cannot say, and enforce it's Decree If
you should call out the regular army and
navy and muster all our great modern
81 ips and add the militia and put William
]. Bryan in command of them-it cannot
enforce the decree that one ounce of gold
Is the equivalent of sixteen ounces of sill
yer.
Not only that not France and Eng
land and Germany can do that unless the
markets respond. Why? You may make
me take a silver dollar for debt; but If
1 have bought my goods at gold prices you
cannot make me give as many yards of
cloth fer silver dollar as I have been
in the habit of giving for a gold one. If I
have a gold dollar in this hand, a silver
one in that, and you declare they are
equal, and 1 can take the gold dollar to
bullion broker and get 81 for it, know
1t is lie. If I have nothing but a gold
dollar, and sugar Is twenty pounds for a
dollar, I will not give that gold dollar for
twenty pounds of sugar. I will take it
around to a broker and get two silver dol
lars for 1t, and get the twenty pounds of
sugar. and nave one silver dollar left.