The Dalles times-mountaineer. [volume] (The Dalles, Or.) 1882-1904, 1896-10-24
PROPHETS AND FACTS.

The republican party is making its
campaign on the gift of prophecy and
the unknown terrors of fmOnometalism
That variety of monometalism which
we now enjoy-more or less-based ou
the gold standard, has no terrors for
them, but should the basis ba changed
to silver, then by so magic of finance
things unspeakable will happen. If
by chance one will say that mouomet-
alism will not be the result of free sill
YER coinage the angry reply comes
back, You are ignorant. 4ouare pre-
sumptuous, You are farmer" Mr..
Schoonmaker would say you are a
liar" You may esteem yourself for
tunate if you are not called an anarch-
ist or pirate or the Lord knows what.
The men who favor free-silver coin
age maintain that it will not brlng
about monometalism and deprecated
currency, and in this view it is worth
while to consider what mouometalism
on silver basis would entail. First,
as TO international exchanges it would
give the United States an enormous
advantage in trade with China, Mex
leo and the other countries to the south
and west whose business is done on a
silver basis. There would be no ques-
tion of discounting exchanges where
currencies are at par one with the
other. We want that trade, England
has most of it now. Can England af-
ford to give the United States the
enormous advantage of currency in
Interchangeable dollar or dollar with
the money of the most populous coun-
tries of the earth? Those people are
buyers mostly of manufactured pro-
ducts. 1t is a peculiarly beneficial
trade. If in our exchanges we speak
the same financial language as those
countries we shall escape the friction
and expense of translation.
Here, then, is one inevitable result
of the monometalism and the deprc-
ciated currency with which we are so
solemnly-and sometimes abusively--
threatened. Does anybody suppose
that England would permit US to re-
tain that advantage when she can so
easily put herself on equal terms by
adopting bimetalism herself? That is
one way to get international bimetal-
ism.
Perhaps some one will say that we
should lose the trade of England while
wo are gaining that of the countries on
a silver basis. England buys nothing
of consequence from America but
breadstuffs and cotton. Now, if she
could find a country on gold basis
able to supply her with bread, no doubt
all her trade would go there. But
there is no country in the world on
purely gold basis that produces the ce-
reals in quantity except America. The
same thing is true of cotton.
Then the prophets continue and say
British bondholders will rush their
secureties in upon us and make us
settle. wrecking every Institution in
the land and we might add losing half
the money they have loaned Us. The
facts are the British bondholder is no
fool and will do no such thing.
The latest prophecy, promulgated by
Mr.. Schoonmaker in The Dalles, is that
the depositors on bank will rush in on
their bankers Just SO soon as Bryan is
elected. demand their deposits in gold,
break the banks and cause a general
panic. That is the bank depositors are
going to ruin the country, and thereby
ruin themselves, which is altogether,
This prophecy when
compared with the others and with
facts, will not strike great amount of
terror among the votes, for they all
have confidence in the patriotism of
the American people.