The Coconino weekly sun., 1896-01-30
SILVER RESOLUTIONS.

1 SILVER RESOLUTIONS.
 Platform Adopted by the Free Silver Con.
 ference at Washington.
 At the late conference of the free sil.
 yer advocates in Washington. Senator
 Jones, of Nevada, read the following
 as the declaration of the conference:
 The paramount issue at this time in the
 United States is indisputably the money ques- tion It is between the gold standard, gold
 bonds and currency on one side. and tho bi-
 metallic standard, no bonds and government currency on the other.
 On this issue we declare ourselves to be in
 favor of a destinctive American financial sys. tenn. We are unalterably opposed to the single | gold standard and demand the immediate re- turn to the constitutional standard of gold and silver. by the restoration of this government, | independently of any foreign power, of the un- restricted coinage of both gold and silver into standard money. at the ratio of 16 to 1. and upon
 terms of exact equality, as they existed prior to 1873. the silver coin to be full legal tender equally with gold for all debts and dues. public | and private.
 We hold that the power to control and regu- | late paper currency is inseparable from the power to coin money: and, hence that all cur rency intended to circulate as money should be I lSSueu, dHu NOiuIue COHITOliCu' uy lhC Bch- eral government only, and should be legal ten- | der.
 We are unalterably opposed to the issue by | the United States of tercst-bearing bonds in l time Of peace, and we denounce as blunder worse than a crime the present treasury policy, concurred in by a republican house, of plung- ing the country in debt by hundreds of millions | in the vain attempt to maintain the gold stand lrd by borrowing gold: and we demand the | payment of all the coin obligations of the United States as provided by existing laws, in either gold or silver coin, at the option Of the government, and not at the option of the cred | itors.
 l Whereas, The demonstration of silver in | lSs3 enormously increased the demand for gold, enhancing it's purchasing power and lowering | all prices measured in that standard and. | Whereas. Since that unjust and indefensible | act the prices Of American products have | fallen upon an average nearly 10 per cent. car | rying down with them approximately the money value of all other forms of property, ex- cept in peculiarly favored localities: and, | Whereas, Such fall of prices has destroyed the profits of legitimate industry, injuring the l producer for the benefit Of the non-producer, increasing the burden of the debtor and swell | ing the gains of the creditor. paraly yzing the productive energies of the American people, | relegating to idleness vast numbers of willing | worR CTS, sending the shadows Of despair into | with tramps and paupers, and building up colossal fortunes at the money centers: and | Whereas, IT. the effort to maintain the gold standard the country has, within the last IS months, in a time Of profound peace and plenty, been loaded down with fl62, ,0OD00O of | additional interest bearing debt, under such | circumstances as to allow a syndicate Of na- tive and foreign bankers to realize a net profit | of Sl0,0J0 ,y0J on a single deal and | Whereas. Another call is now pending for a further gold loan Of Sl00, 900 900, which but for an outburSt Of popular indignation would also | have been negotiated in the same secret man. ner and through the same syndicates: and, | Whereas, It stands confessed that the gold standard can only be upheld by so depicting our paper currency as to force the prices of our products below the Europeans and even below the Asatic level, in order that we may sell in foreign markets. thus aggravating the very evils of which cur people so bitterly com plain degrading American labor and striking It the very foundation of our civilization it. self: and,
 | Whereas, The advocates of the gold standard consistently claim that the real cause of our | distress is overproduction, that we have pro- iuced so much that it has made us poor which | implies that the true remedy is to close the factory, abandon the farm and throw multi tude of people out of omployment-a doctrine that leaves us absolutely without hope for the future: and,
 l Whereas The difference of exchange between | silver standard countries and gold standard | countries is equivalent to bounty equal to l the difference between the value Of gold and silver, in favor of the products of silver stand | ard countries exported in gold standard coun- tries and corresponding tarif against the products of gold standard countries exported | to silver-using countries: and, Whereas, The cost Of production otherwis | In the old world, and particularly in China and Japan. is far less than the cost at which simi- | lar products can be produced or manufactured | In this country by American labor, without re- | iucing our farmers. miners, mechanics. manu- lecturers and other industrial workers to the | level of Chinese coolies: therefore, be it Resolved That. over and above all other questions of policy, we are in favor of restoring to the people Of the United States the time honored money of the constitution. gold and silver, not one. but both-the money of Wash ington and Hamilton and Jefferson and Monroe and Jackson and Lincoln-to the end that the | American people may receive honest pay for an honest product the American debtor pay his just obligations in an honest standard and not in standard that is appreciated l0J per cent above all the great staples of our coun- try; and to the eted further that silver standard countries may be deprived of the unnatural advantage they now enjoy in the difference in exchange between gold and sllver-an ad- vantage which tarir legislation alone cannot overcome.
 We therefore confidently appeal to the peo- pie of the United States that, leaving in abey- ance for the moment all other questions. how ever important, even momentous, they may appear. and sundering if need be all former party ties and affiliations, that they unite in one supreme effort to free themselves and their children from the domination of the money power-a power more destructive than any which has ever been fastened upon the civil ized men of any race or in any age And upon the consummation of their desires and efforts we invoke the gracious favor Of Divine Provi- dence
 EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE.
 The following executive committee was chosen:
 AriZona-M. w. Brennan.
 Colorado-L N. Stevens.
 Characterization Joseph Sheldon.
 California-Georgo w, Baker.
 Idaho-John r. Clough.
 1owa-AmoS Stechr.
 Illinois-Dr. George NJ. Emcrich
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