Pine Bluff daily graphic., 1896-08-14

the banks the necessity of furnishing coin redemption the banks would exercise the right to furnish either gold or silver. III other words, they would exercise the op- tlon, just as the government ought to ex- ercise 1t now The government must either exercise the right to redeem it's ob legations in silver when silver is more con venient, or it must call all the silver from circulation and use nothing but gold as legal tender. Are our opponents willing to outline a financial system which will carry out their policy to it's legittmato conclusion, or will they continue to cloak their designs in ambiguous phrases There is an actual necessity for bimetalliSm as well as theoretical defense of it. The silver dollar Is now held up to the gold dollar by legal tender laws and not by redemption in gold, because the stand ard silver dollars are not now redeemable ln gold either in law or by administrative policy. We contend that free and unlim ited coinageSby the United Ssates alone will raise the bullion value of silver to it's coinage value and thus make silver bull lion worth Sl. % per ounce in gold through out the world. This proposition is in keeping with natural laws not i'll defiance to them.
 If our hints are opened to free and un- limited coinage It the present ratio mer- chandise silver cannot come here because the labor applied to 1t has made 1t worth more i'll the form of merchandise than it would be worth at our hints. We cannot even expect all of the annual product of silver, because India, China, Japan, Mexi- co and all the other silver using countries must satisfy their annual needs from the products; the arts will require large amount and the gold standard countries will need a considerable quantity for sub sldary coinage. We will be required to coin only that which is not needed else where, but if we stand ready to take and utilize all of it other nations will be com pelled to buy at the price which we fix Many fear that the opening of our hints will be followed by the enormous increase in the annual production of silver. This is conjecture. Silver has been used as money for thousands of years, and during all that time the world has never suffered from overproduetion.
 Our opponents cannot ignore the fact that gold is now going abroad in spite of all legislation intended to prevent 1t and no silver is being coined to take it's place. Not only is gold going abroad now, but it must continue to go abroad as long as the present financial policyts adhered to unless we continue to borrow from across the ocean and even then we simply post pone the evil, because the amount bor- rowed, together with interest upon 1t, must be repaid in appgeciating dollars. The American people now owe 8 large sum to European creditors and falling prices have left larger and larger margin be- tween onr net national income and our all nual interest charge There is only one way to stop the increasing flow of gold from our shores and that is to stop falling prices. The restoration of bimetallism will not only stop falling prices, but will, to some extent, restore prices by reducing the worlds demand for gold. If it is argued that rise in prices lessens the value of the dollars, which we pay to our creditors, reply that, in tue balancing of equities the American people have as much right to favor a financial system which will main tain or restore prices, as foreign creditors have to insist upon financial system that will reduce prices But the interests Of society are far superior to the interests Of either debtors or creditor, and the inter ests of society demand a financial system which will add to the volume of the stan dard money Of the world and thus restore stability to prices. Perhaps the most per. sistent misrepresentation that we have to meet is the charge that we are advocating the payments of debts in 50-cent dollars. At the present time and present laws silver dollar, when melted, loses nearly half it's value, but that will not be true silver and leave no surplus silver upon the market to drag down the price of bullion. Under bimetallism silver bullion will be worth as much as silver coin, inst as gold bullion is now worth as much as gold cotp, and we believe that silver dollar will be worth as much as gold dollar,
 Honest differences of opinion have al ways existed and ever will exist as to the legislation best calculated to promote the public veal but when it is seriously as serted that this nation must bow to the dictation of other nations, and accept the policies which they insist on, the right of sal fSrOU Inf ia lad nd hat