New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1896-08-15
A BRYAN SOPHISTRY.

In his speech accepting the nomination Tor
the Presidency. delivered at Madison Square
Garden, Mr. Bryan made many statements
which have no foundation In fact, and drew
from them many upwarrantabe conclusions.
His speech IA OF value to the friends Of sound
money, because 1t puts In accessible and official
form the arguments Of the Popocrats, and makes
possible a refutaton, point by point, OF the sill
yer doctrines as they are now expounded II
has hitherto been difficult to reach the mass OF
people unacquainted with finance and show
them the error Of statements which, like the
Irshman's flea, when pinned down were not
there But Mr.. Bryan's speech, II not Silk
ngy original. Is mt least n Capitalization OF Sill
yer IDEAS and offers something to meet which
cannot always be shifting. One paragraph or
that speech reads as follows
We are not asking that experiment be
tried; are insisting upon return 10 imam
cial policy approved by the experience or MIS-
tory and supported by all the prominent states
men OF Nation from the days or the hrst
President down to 1878. When We ask that our
minis be opened to the free and unlimited coin
age Of silver into full egal-tsnder money. we
are simply asking that the same mint privileges
be accorded TO silver that are now ACCORDED 10
gold When we ask that this coinage be at the
ratio of 16 to |. simply ask that our gold
coins and the standard silver dolar-which, be
II remembered, contains the same amount or
pure silver as the first silver dollar coined at our
mints-retain their present weight ana nhenesS'
The answer to the statement that he Is not
asking for new experiment 10 simply that II
Is not true. lie Is not asking for return 10 the
policy Of the first President, or TO the Govern
ment's practice ut any subsequent period Alex
ander Hamilton, the first Secretary Of the Treas
ury, when he came TO establish the Mint IN
Qured carefully into the relative values or Sill
yer and gold in the markets of the world, and
the first gold and silver coins represented actual
bullion value as nearly rs 1t could be ascer-
tanned. subsequently changes were made in the
ratio, so that the nominal value Of the COINS
should correspond with the market price OF the
two metals This practice was continued until
the Civil War drove specie from circulation
Mr.. Bryan does not ask a return 10 the hnan-
cial policy of the past. Then both metals were
stamped with certificates Of their actual value.
He asks that a piece Of silver shall be stamped
with a certificate that It Is worth one hundred
cents whel, in fact, it is worth only fiftythree
cents Never from the days Of the first Pres-
dent down to 1873 did this Government do any
thing like that.
The answer to Mr.. Bryans statement that he
asks only the same mint privileges for silver
which are now accorded to gold is simply that
It is not true The Government puts into a gold
dollar the actual amount Of gold which sells as
bullion for a dollar in the markets Of the world.
If it gave the same privilege TO silver it would
make a dollar containing about rs 1-3 grains
of standard silver and worth one hundred cents.
Mr. Bryan asks it TO stamp as a dollar 4l2l2
grains Of silver worth fifty-three cents. Mr..
BRYAN does not ask the same privilege for sill
yer as for gold He asks for 1t almost double
privilege.
The answer to his third statement, that he
only asks that gold and silver coins retain the
weight they had at the beginning. IS that 1t IS
n dlslngenuous conclusion from the previous
false statements. The fact that n free-coinage
dollar would weigh the same as the first Ameri-
can dollar would not in the least make 1t the
same so long as the market value Of the metal
was only about one-half as much. II it would
make It the same. then the gold dollar must be
the same now as then. if it weighs the same, and
Mr. Bryan did not tell the truth when he said
In another part Of his speech that 1t had in
creased in value Free coinage in the United
States has always been based on actual value
of metals coined. In the old days the ratio was
changed from time to time 10 correspond with
the average state Of the market. Mr. Bryan de-
llberately ignores this fact and considers solely
the question of weight. His conclusion cannot
be more true than his premises.