Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1896-09-03
THE BATTLE OF THE STANDARDS
Champions Tilt in the Tourney for Gold
and for Silver.

SOME RECENT STATEMENTS.
MIR. siddons Considers Portions of the
Speech of MIR. Henry e. Davis.
To the Editor of The Evening Star:
In your report Of the address made by
Mr.. Henry E. Davis to the Non-Partisan
Sound Money League the following re-
markable utterance is credited to him.
What Is 1t makes gold dollar worth
hundred cents?' said Mr.. Davis. TT Is be-
cause God Almighty made it so, while sill
! yer cannot be dollar except by the super
vision of men," This was greeted with
loud applause, &c. To person trying to
reach some approximately accurate conclu-
siohs on the all-absorbing question of the
day statements such as Mr.. Davis is re-
portea 10 nave made come with startling
anu olStufDlng effect. Here Is a question
OF currency, a politico-economic problem
winch TINS nation Is trying to solve to its
own advantage, and about which honest
lleh diner radically. 1t Is generally sup
poseo mat 1t Is question left to morsals
10 determine according to their best irdp
L,eht ana Tor their best good. 1t is a per
picking and intricate question, and in it's
1e,svussion the most astounding and un-
.ouuoeu cialms are made by the dispu-
eants. indeed, the student of the suhiert
unless cool-headed. Is very apt to be caught
III the maelstrom of the surginy waters of
national debate.
To searchers after tho +r,t, ,,a ,,
=
ers OF Mr.. Davis ability, and there are
many such In the District, he owes IT to
sn nt ana himself, since he assumes the
role OF expounder, TO make clearer than he
has done the connection between the Al.
mlghty and the value of the United States
gold dollar. If he can prove that ths
tha e OF the Universe has decreed that
the gold dollar alone should be worth ono
hundred cents. then Mr.. BRYAN ami his
cause are hopelessly lost. II he cannot
h taea slch an assertion should never have
b bteh MADE, 1or the revarent will charge
| hlin with lrreverence. and the people who
peneFe That the oyerrulnE Providencs
| iea'es SUCH questions to be settlsd Nv rho
s nm OF the earth themselves will
mort has has MT II laws Is misleading. Your re-
sIeeted with loud applause" 1t is SIT.
| piisins tnat the audience was not petrifled
t m.,n asstof constituent. Had MIR. Davis con
| .s.su ElInself with the modest claims
| usually made by the adyocates of tho ..nIS
Standard. the reader could understand tha :
an auoieEce OF sympathizers would b,~a
S.e,eu MS remarks with loud applause ,,
os surrey SUI mere Is limit to rhe modesty
| money" sou1io
! One further comment. Your renort
| states that "he (Mr. Davis said free coin
age mad great element of dishonesty and
| every man who embraces it with the idea
! that he will pay his debts so cents on the
Dollar had canker worm at his heart, and
| ne feared the outcome of such morals" OF
course that statement involves the as
sumption of the accuracy of the position
taken by the gold standard people, and it
suggests immoral motives on the part of
those VINO embrace the free coinage idea
l nave looked in vain to discover if the
free silver parties were operating upon the
voters with such ignoble appeals as Mr.
Davis suggests Is the case The nearest
approach l can find to such a charge is the
promise held out that under a system CT
free coinage Of silver money will be more
plentiful and will circulate more generally
| The paradox Of a 40 or 53-cent dollar I
! nave observed is always put forward by
! those who stand on Mr.. Davis platform,
| and they. assuming that 5O-cent dollars are
| to be the vogue under the free silver
| regime proceed to charge that this is a
| scheme on the part Of a considerable per-
centage OF the population to get rid of
| 90 per cent of their debts. Without in
tending to argue what the effect of free
| silver Will be, for I do not know and cannot
| guess, l do wish to deny with all the
| 1ervor at my command that such base mo-
| tives as those Mr.. Davis intimates ex-
| plain the present popularity of the free
| silver movement And as one of Mr. Da-
| Wis admirers, believing him to be a man
| OF generous impulse and of ready SYM
| pathy with the mass of the people TODAY
struggling under hard conditions and CROP
Ing to find a way out of situation rap
| Idly driving them to desperation, l am
| more than sorry that he treated his subject
| with less much less, of that judicial meth
| cd which we had right to expect from
| the thoughtful student of human affairs.
| F. L. SIDDONS