The Irish standard., 1896-08-15
.PAILAClES OF {. <. DAVIS.
His Resent Speech on Present Issues
Full of Errors and Hiss
tatements.
wRona on CURRENCY QUESTION
Facts and Figures Concerning the
Demonstration of
Silver.

Believing that the questions before the
American people are frausht with too
! much Importance to let matters stated
as fact go unanswered, when misstated,
whether by mistake or otherwise, CONF
pels me to ask space in your columns to
reply to some Of the leading points in
Senator. Davis address, and correcting
many erroneous figures. He says: Snail
we for our own interests stand along with
those with which we have classed our
selves, and who are leading the march
! of humanity, or shall we 60 with Mexico,
South America, China and Japan, the
| rearward half of the great army OF hui
man progress, and join those Imperfect
and rudimentary civilizations, which are
an ocular demonstration that NO nation
ever undertook alone the coinage OF free
silver, that did not deprive itself OF gold
entirely" No Senator, we do not intend
to class ourselves with the countries
named above, and we most decidedly o.
ject to being classed with the nations,
| "who are are leading the march OF hui
NATIVITY" as exe1nplified in Egypt, Fin
land, Liberia and Turkey, amongst which
which the United States now stands on
a 1non ometallic gold standard, but we pre-
fer and intend to stand alone upon an
American ideality of the march OF hu-
nanity upon a bmetallic standard OF
both gold and silver, as we stood for e1gh-
ty-four years prior to 1873; during all OF
those years the white metal never hung
it's head, but proudly stood alongside the
yellow, and during the whole period stood
at par or premium, and that too at a
ratio Of from Is to for forty years, and
during the balance of the time at 16 to
/. and challenge Senator Davis to prove
the contrary. He says: II make another
proposition. I appeal to history and to
contemporary facts which no man can
dispute that every free coinage country
is on a silver basis. Isn't that so?" And
why senator, is it SO? Simply because
there is not country on the face OF the
globe whose minis are open to the free
coinage of silver except those countries,
who only use silver in their monetary
system; and even India, a silver using
country only, has by British influence
had it's minis closed to the coinage OF
gold.'' make another statement for you
to think of, for am not going to elabor-
ate it, every gold country uses silver and
gold country uses silver and gold in
amounts nearly equal by money nations,
Isn't that so? Isn't that SO in the United
States? I make another statement for
your calm and cool reflection, that no sill
yer country has any gold money what
ever" It is lamentable fact that the
United States having currency Of some
thing over 81, 500 100000, of which there
is something over $500,00O,00O in silver,
and which is dependent upon $500 ,O00, 900
of gold according to Secretary Carlisle)
for final redemption. Prior to 1868 silver
did not need gold to stand sponsor for it,
but was a legal tender, even to the half
dime, in payment for all debts whatsoev-
er in any amount; and because it was bet
ter than gold, congress in 1853 reduced
the half dollars from 206N grains to 1872
grains of standard silver; and the coin-
age of the standard dollar of 4127s grains
was only continued in small quantities,
from this time until 1873, for this reason,
that it being at a premium over gold, was
melted down into bullion, and in 1873 it
was dropped from the act of that year,
and repeating clause stopped its coin
age. and not dollar was coined until
the act of 1878 providing for the purchase
of silver bullion not to exceed 1000, O00,-
900 ounces per month and it's coinage into
standard dollars Of 4127s grains, and
which was made a legal tender in any
amount, Except where other wise ex-
pressty stipulated in the contract" and
since then nearly all the makers OF flu
ture contracts have otherwise expressly
stimulated in the contract" Now il it is
tue q will not go into reasons for it, if it
is true as concrete abstract fact, that
no silver country which has adopted the
silver standard has any gold circulation
whatever, say that it follows that the
only practicable bimetallism on the. plan
ct is by the nations with which the Unit
ed States has classed itself" The Senator
saws he will not give any reasons why,
but Immediately gives the exact reason
why silver using countries do not have
any gold circulation, which is because
they have adopted the silver standard
and do not give gold coinage at all in
their minis. "The Dimetallism which
this country, and the nations Of which
I have spoken enjoy is the binletallism
Of fact and actual enjoyment, extending
to that full extent which human juds-
ment. human experience, human appre-
hension-call it what you will-teach is
the proportion in which the metals can be
emn.oyed in a degree that one will not
destroy or drive out the other, and that
both can co-exist together. For there
is. my dear fellow citizens, an unquestion-
able dividing line. ''shall prove it fur
Their along. though it is not necessary, for
men who have read history, even cursor
ily, for me to prove it, there is divfd-
ing line beyond which you cannot pass in
the employment of the metal OF the less
value without it's driving out the other
and entirely supplanting it. And say
that he, who insists Il say it logically
that the United States shall or can, act
ing alone. coin silver without limit, as
required by the Democratic and Populist
platforms, is not bimetallist; he is a
silver monometallist, who after spending
years il, attacking what he deems the
dark idolatry Of monometallism ends by
immolating himself upon its altar" Now,
let us examine the facts of history that
the Senator appeals to and see il they
rrove the statement Of the Senator; he
will not deny rhe fact that by all ciinage
laws prior to 1853 silver and gold had
equal rights in the law to unlimited COIN
age in the minis of the United States at
ratio Of Is to and later 1 to l. and all
gold and silver brought to the minis was
given free coinage; under this regime
both metals were coined for eighty years,
and If ct any time one of the metals went
to q premium by reason of an unusual
demand made upon it. the other came in
so that the country had the full use gof
both as primary money or money of final
redemption; but now the whole burden
is placed upon gold, which has, in con-
<1u.s,,% dow