The record-union., 1896-08-28

the United States that we have the
sound money we now have, because he
has regarded it under the law as his
public duty to maintain the gold basis,
maintaining that parity between cur
silver and gold coins which the law de-
clares is the policy of the Government,
and because he had the courage to ex-
ecute the powers given to him by the
Resumption Act to carry out that de-
claration of public law. 1 undertake,
therefore, to say that if Mr.. Bry-
an, or man holding his views, were
in the Presidential chair, without any
legislation by Congress, we should be
on silver basis in weeks time. Cap
plause)
Three or four years ago, when was
in New York, some one of these report
ers who sometimes hear things that are
not intended for them got hold of re-
mark of mine about the wild horses
that Mr.. Cleveland had to handle, and
simply meant by that what has been
since demonstrated, that he did not
have a compact or Solidified party be-
hind him; that the Democratic party in
Congress represented every shade OF
every ism that has ever been propound-
ed to the country, and that he could
not manage it. My prophecy has be-
come a verify. They have left him.
They abandoned him, and now, as that
caution was meant to indicate that we
needed to look after our Congress as
well as our President, this caution is in
tended to show you at this time that
we need to look after our President IL
we would avoid the calamity of having
this country put upon the Mexican basis
of money.
'The silver question-what is it? DO
you want silver because we want more
money, a larger circulating medium?
I have not heard anybody say so. Mr..
Bryan is not urging it upon that basis.
III anybody were to seek to give that as
a reason for wanting free silver, he
would be very soon confounded by the
statement that free silver would put
more gold out of circulation than the
mints of the United States could possl-
bly, bring in in years of silver, and
that instead of having more money we
would have less (Applause) With our
six hundred and odd million of gold
driven out of circulation, We will re-
duce the per capita money of this coun-
try between IS and 50. So it is not for
more money. We have an abundant
supply of circulating medium gold, sill
yer, national bank, greenbacks, treas
ury notes, fractional silver. We have
something like S23 per capita of our
population. What is it, then, that ere
ates this demand for free silver? 1t is
openly avowed it is not more dollars,
but cheaper dollars, that are wanted.
r. ic Iolya,. CT r16a ri of yall1p they are
demanding. They say gold has gone
up until it has ceased to be a proper
standard of value, and they want silver.
But how do they want it?
Now, my friends, there is great deal
of talk about bimetallism and the
double standard and a great deal of
confusion in the use Of those terms.
BimetalIism is the use of the two metals
as money where they are both used. BY
a double standard they mean that we
shall have a gold dollar and a silver
dollar which shall be unit of value, by
which all property and all wages ana
everything is to be measured. Now,
our fathers thought that when they
used these two metals in coinage they
must determine the intrinsic relative
value of the two, so that comparison
just what relation one ounce of silver
bore to one ounce of gold; how many
ounces of silver it took to be equal to
one ounce of gold in the markets of the
world where gold and silver were used,
and they carefully went about ascer-
tanning that Thomas Jefferson and
Alexander Hamilton gave their
great powers to the determina-
nd
collected the market reports, and
they studied with all their power that
question, and when they had found
what appeared to be the general and
average relative value of these two
metals, they fixed upon ratio between
them. Now, what was the object of
all that? Why did they not lump it all?
Because they fully understood that un-
less these dollars were of the same
inherent intrinsic value that both of
them could not be standards of value,
and both could not circulate. CAP
plause.) Why, every boy knows that
il is essential that the length of his
stills below the step shall be the same.
G.aughter.) 1t is an old law, proclaimed
years ago in England by Gresham,
that the cheaper dollar drives the bet
ter out. tAppiduSe.) II udS Decn mus
trated in the history of every civilized
nation in the world, and everybody of
| half sense could see why it was so.
| Uaughter)
LAS things are now, the silver dollars
that we have are supported by the Gov
| ernment and the Government that sup
ports this silver bullion has issued these
| dollars on its own account-not for the
| owner-and it has pledged its sacred
| honor that it would make everyone of
these silver dollars as good as a gold
dollar Great applause) And that is
a powerful support.
| Our Popuiistic friends 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 re-
sponsibility about it. These men would
reject with contempt the proposition
| that coinage must come with pledge on
| behalf of the Government to maintain
| the parity of the two dollars. applause
| But this feeling is well adopted to touch
| the prevailing American bumptious-
ness, and well adapted to touch that
prejudice against England which many
have, but can we do this thing our
| selves?
rs it a question whether we will do it