The true northerner. [volume] (Paw Paw, Mich.) 1855-1920, 1896-09-23

1884, and substitute for IL the single silver
standard.
1t Is idle to say that we can keep both
metals In circulation with the free coinage
of silver by ourselves alone It II impos-
sible, and every man who knows anything
about it knows IL IL impossible, and every
honest silver man will admit It In private
and a few of them IN public. Any one who
says otherwise says what Is not true. We
have, indeed, demonstrated the fact re-
Gently.
While the great minis of India were still
open TO the free coinage Of silver we bought
"a, 600, 900 ounces year, under the act OF
1890, and still the price OF silver steadily
fell The minis of India are now closed.
If, with the mints Of India open and our
own purchase of all the American product,
we could not keep silver from falling, it Is
only too obvious that we could not hope to
raise alone the price of all the silver of the
world. Therefore, under free coinage, sill
yer would be enormously overvalued, and
all the undervalued gold in accordance with
the Gresham law, as immutable as the law
of gravitation, would leave the country.
All the silver countries are entirely desti-
tute of gold, and we should be the same.
We should be like Mexico and Japan and
China.
Under Which King?
am not going to argue now the COM
parative merits of the two standards. /
merely wish TO show that this contest Is
between the single gold and the single sill
yer standard and that there Is no question
Of bimetallism involved whatever. AS the
case now stands IL must be either the exist
ing gold standard, or, after IA frightful con-
vulsion, bringing untold injury and dis
aster, the single silver standard. Under
which king, bezonianf Speak or die. "
There Is no third course, no half way, no
other result possible.
Mr. Williams has called attention TO a
speech of mine which he says he thinks
supports his position and convicts me Of
an Inconsistency. Mr.. Williams is Justly
sensitive on the subject of inconsistencies
and quick to point them out and censure
them In others am glad that he called
attention to my speech In the senate, for it
furnishes me a text for what / especially
want to say today.
Mr. Williams, having accused me of In
consistency, declared that would not ad-
NIT It. He is right In one single thing. ]
do not admit It, for If did should be
guilty of untruth- Proving personal con-
sistency is not of much matter, but on this
point happen to be entirely consistent
7 have always opposed earnestly, in sea-
son and out Of season, by vote and speech
one speech was made while / was in the
house and widely distributed In Massachu
setts-the free coinage of silver by the
United States alone. oppose IL now more
than ever when IL has allied itself with ev-
cry abhorrent and un-American doctrine
which It was possible to crowd into one
platform.
/ have supported bimetallism, and still
believe that It would be good thing if it
could be brought about. But bimetallism
Is only possible by international agreement,
including all the great commercial nations
of the world. Many persons believe 1t i'm
practicable in any way. Many Others, in
Guiding some of the ablest statesmen of
Europe, like Mr.. Balfour and all professors
of political economy in England, believe it
possible and practicable by general inter
national agreement But there is not one
of these real bimetallists who favors hav-
ing this or any other country now on the
gold standard going alone to the free coin
age of silver, for they know that such &C
ton would be the deathblow of bimetal-
lism.
Mr. Williams misrepresents all these au-
thorities as he misrepresents me- He
quotes, for example, what Mr.. Blaine said
in behalf of the principle Of international
bimetalIism when he was fighting the free
coinage of silver, in order TO show that
Mr. Blaine sustained the very thing he
was bitterly opposing. He quotes a frag-
ment Of a speech Of mine just as he and
his fellows use forged extract from the
London Financial Chronicle or speech
of some foreign authority in behalf of BIZ
metallism torn from the context and made
to do duty as support for free coinage.
1t Is a bad cause which resorts to such
methods.
International Bimetallism.
Let me take my own speech to illustrate
Mr. Williams read sentence from my
speech. He did not tell his hearers that
had always opposed free silver, and that
this speech was in favor of imposing dis
eliminating tariff duties In such manner
as to try at least to force an international
agreement and compel other nations to
some settlement Of the silver question. He
did not tell you that the gold standard Re-
publicans present in the senate voted for
my amendments He did not tell you that
they were beaten by free silver votes and
by Democratic votes in a Democratic sem
ate because the free silver men, with a few
exceptions, like Senator Wolcott, did not
want international agreement, because
they sought then what they seek now un-
der the pretense of bimetallism-to drive
this country 10 the single silver standard.
Let me also tell you that the Republic
ans who supported these amendments, that
Mr.. Reed, who spoke in an interview on
this policy, and that /, who offered them,
felt that the United States ought to make
every effort for settlement of this ques-
ton by international agreement We
wanted to force the settlement and prove
that international bimetallism was either
practicable or was impossible. We wanted,
by an intelligent effort for the only BIZ
metallism that can exist II IL can exist at
all, TO save our party from division and
our country from the madness of the free
coinage agitation which is now upon it.
We were defeated by the so called friends
of silver who do not want international
agreement but want to drive this country
to the single silver standard.
International bimetallism rests on the
theory that there Is not enough gold TO per-
form the duties which the money of ulti-
mate redemption must perform, and that
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