The Portland daily press., 1896-08-20
MIR. WILLIAMS MISREPRESENTA.
TIONS,

You know it is common to complain
that, under the free coinage of silver,
the silver mine owner will get dollar
for IS cents worth Of silver, and that the
laboring man will receive 5S cents' worth
of silver in that same dollar. want the
reporters, If they will, to take this YER
batim, because it is Senator Shermsn's
method of dealing with this question of
the "53-oent dollar'':
why" he asks, ishould we receive
this bullion from the owners of silver
mines at nearly double its market valus2
The only object and effect Of this meas
ure will be to degrade the dollar. to les
sen it's purchasing power nearly one-half,
to enable debtors to pay their debts at
SO cents OH the dollar.''
Now, when you come to look at it, that
is the funniest thing you ever heard ad-
vanced by a sensible man on financial
questIon-Riving to the bullion owner a
dollar for 81 cents worth of silver, and
when that gets into the hands of the
laboring man it is worth but 80 cents. |
think that would be very good quota
ton for all free coinage advocates to pin
In their hats to furnish an illustration of
the logic rsed by our gold advocates. -
George Fred Williams at Everett.
If the Hon. George Fred civilians had
wanted to represent Mr.. Sherman cor
reotIy he wouln have prsfaced the quota :
ton from :, the Senator ssspeeoh which ap
pears above with another quotation from
the same speech. Before Mr.. Sherman
had said what Mr.. Williams credits him
with he had said something else which
remUyes all the Inconsistency which Mr..
Williams affects to find. This is what
he had said:
This dollar is delivered to the owner
OF the bullion, and is not supported by
the fiat Of the governments. The govern
ment does not underta he to maintain its
relative value with gold. The govern
ment stamps it ''This Is a dollar" Its
purchasing power is 53 cents, but its
debt-paying power is 81. 1t is to be a
legal tsnder for 81 of debt, but in the
purchase of any article it Is only worth
So cents, for the seller of the article can
fix his price according to the kind of
money offered.
When this paragraph is read 1t relieves
the paragraph quoted by Mr.. Williams
from all inconsistency and ebscurity, and
destroys all the funny features of it.
1t is clear enough that when Mr.. Sher-
man speaks of receiving 80 cents Hworth
Of bullion at nearly double it's marke,
value he is referring to the legal tender
quality tho government gives it. BY
coming it and stamping it one dollar the
government practically compsls every
body to reoeive 1t in payment of debt Of
ono dollar: but the government cannot
compel owners OF commodities to ex-
change Thorn for this dollar at any greater
estimation than they arc disposed them
selves to put upon it. As Mr.. Sherman
says. its purchasing power is SO cents
and it's debt paying power is ST." and
it's debt paying power is 81 because of
exercise of governmental power. When
the 80 cents worth of silver goes back to
the bullion owner it goes back as dollar
for debt paying purposes, but at the same
time tho withdrawal of tho pledge of this
government to keep it at parity With
gold has deprived it of nearly half its
purchasing power. When Mr.. Sherman's
statement Is taken in connection with
what preceded it 1t is perfectly clear and
consistent.
Nj. George Fred Williams. since lie
has been on the stump has not
scrupled to indulge in gross misrepre-
sentation. He has sseveral times repre-
sented Presidens Walker as favorable to
free coinage, In spite of his speech to the
Bimetallio League in London, which
showed clearly that he was opposed to it,
He has played the same trick on DR..
Arendt, the German bimetallist, and in
the case of the latter he did it by quot
ing out the other part, There is no more
reckless fabrioator and prevaricator on
the stump today than Mr.. Williams,
which only goes to show that when men
of education and intelligence get ON the
downward road they take much faster
pace than the other kind.