Vermont phÅ“nix. [volume] (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1834-1955, 1896-08-28
FREE SILVER FALLAOIES
Laid Bare by Charles Emory
Smith,
Ex-Minister to Russia, at the Closing
Rally of the State Campaign.

Ex-Mlnister to Russia, at the Closing
Rally of the State Campaign.
The closing rally of the state campaign
on the Republican side brought out an
audience Tuesday night which packed the
auditorium. Gen. Estey presided He
spoke of the necessity of a rousing vote be-
ing cast by Vermont next Tuesday, and re-
ferred to the letter of Hon. E. j. Phelps,
which showed SO conclusively that this was
year in which Democrats should lay aside
partisanship and stand as patriots. Gen.
Estey introduced the speaker of the even
ing, Charles Emory Smith, editor of the
Philadelphia Press, and eX-minster to
Russia.
Mr.. Smith began by dwelling upon the
peculiar Importance of the issues of the
campaign He regarded the coming cleo
ton as the most important one in the his
tory of this country, not even excepting
that of 1860. "Other elections" said he,
"have turned upon questions which, how
ever important, were not crucial and fund
amental. This election goes to the very
foundations upon which this government
is built and upon which the whole social
and business fabric rests. At such times
party differences sink into nothingness."
The question is no longer whether we
are Republicans or Democrats, but Ameri-
cans and patriots. In 1892 our country
was at the very zenith of prosperity. Never
were our mills so busy or labor so well en-
ployed and paid or our producing and con-
Stunning capacity so great. We were manu-
featuring one-third of all that was being
manufactured in the world, and we were
using and consuming it ourselves. Since
1892 we have had hard times. We want to
get back to the prosperity we enjoyed be-
fore this depression, and the obvious way
to do it is to retrace the fatal step and re-
verse the mistake we made in 1892.
But just at this point comes along the
boy orator of the Platte, and says the way
to get out of our difficulties is to repeat
the blunders which got us into them and
to add to them the free and unlimited
coinage of silver at the ratio of 10 to 1.
This policy means that we must 60 abso-
lutely to a silver basis, like Mexico China
and Japan, or else that we must lift up the
entire value of the silver of the world to
full equality with gold at Is to l.
Mr.. Bryan says that this will be done.
He first pleads that the debts will be paid
in cheap dollars and then insists that there
will be no cheap dollars because silver will
be fully equal to gold.
To lift silver to an equality with gold,
that is, to make it worth Sl.29 an ounce
throughout the world, is manifestly i'm
possible. The same claim was made when
the silver purchase law of 1890 was passed.
Under that law we bought j4,000,000
ounces of silver a year, practically the en-
tire product of the United States. India
was at the same time coming as much sill
yer as we were. When this law was
passed silver was worth "A cents an ounce.
The effect of the law was to raise the price
| temporarily to 81 cents, but it Immediately
fell to y and has been falling ever since.
Free coinage would draw the silver of the
world to the United States. Mr. Bryan
says not, because the silver is employed in
circulation where it is. That is not al
together true. There are $50 millions
worth of silver in nine banking houses of
Europe. 1t is not in circulation at all. 1t
is simply the metallic reserve for paper
money, and they could safely carry twice
the volume of money on gold reserve.
The result would be that they would send
their silver to this country.
The speaker quoted the authority of
Cernuschi, the great French bimetallist,
in support of this position. He also re-
lated what the Russian minister of finance
told him on this subject when he was
minister at Russia.
All these things show that it would be
| impossible to raise the value of the 1000
millions of silver in the world TO an equal
| ity with gold, and therefore that free coin
| age would inevitably carry us to a silver
| basis. This means that we should practi-
cally abolish our present dollar and make
! 81 or 52 cents dollar. The speaker ex-
hbited a Mexican dollar in comparison
with 1.-THE American coin. The Mexican
has eight grains of silver more than the
American dollar, and Mr.. Smith bought it
for So cents. 1t is quoted in London at
that price, while the American dollar is
quoted at 100 cents.
Why? said the speaker. Because Mexico
has free coinage of silver and we have not.
Because the American dollar has gold be-
hind it, and the Mexican dollar has not. 1t
is claimed that the silver dollar stands up
on its own feet and has not gold behind it,
because it is not actually redeemable in
gold, but the silver dollar and the silver
certificate are eXchangeable for greenbacks
and the greenbacks are redeemable in gold.
The law of the United States pledges the
government to maintain all its currency at
par with gold. This is why it so care.
fully keeps up the gold reserve and why,
when that reserve falls below the danger
| line Iue SONeIuHuelI IcpleLlSueS IL.
Some of the consequences of the silver
standard were then portrayed. And why
is free coinage urged? Because it is claimed
that by the so-caled crime of 1873 we de-
monetized and outlawed silver, that this
caused fall of price, the addition of bur.
den to debtors and the depression we have
suffered, but as a matter of fact the entire
number of silver dollars coined in tho
United States from the beginning of the
government down to 1873 was only SS,000,
600, while since 1873 we have either coined
or purchased 1886, 100000; that is, We
have done 70 times as much for silver
since 1873 as we did in all the previous
history of the country. What then be
comes of the claim that our ills are due t.
the decentralization of silver?
But it is claimed that the depression il
the prices of farm products is due to thi
alleged prescription of silver. The repor
of the Senate committee in 1892, which
was the ablest report ever made on the sub
ject, and which was entirely non-partisan
the two leading members being Senate
Aldrich of Rhode Island, a Republican
and Senator Carlisle of Kentucky, Demo
crat, showed that from 1878 to 1891 tn,
reduction in farm products had been onl,
ten per cent, while the reduction in tn
price of clothing had been 80 per cent; il
building materials 20 per cent in hous,
furnishings p per cent; and implement
80 per cent. The real need of the farme
is not in silver, but the general prosperit,
and industrial activity which will increas
the consuming CAPACITY of the people TIL,