Martinsburg herald. [volume] (Martinsburg, W. Va.) 1881-1920, 1897-05-29
WHAT JACKSON DID.
CRUSHED BANKS IN ORDER TO RE-
STORE GOLD TO CIRCULATION.


Election For Gold-Siiverites Who EuIo-
gize jackson should Read History.
The silver Democrats have been IN
usually profuse this year in eulogies Of
jefferson and jackson. They have at
tempted to make it appear to those
with Democratic instincts that it has
been the regular thing for 100 years for
Democratic statesmen to champion sill
yer and cheap money. Jefferson cppo-
sition to cheap money and reputation
of debts, and his advocacy of a coinage
ratio which should always be kept close
to the natural or market ratio, has been
made clear during the last few months.
The appeals Of the silver Democrats
to General jackson are meeting with
the same fate. In a recent speech
ex-C Congressman Josiah Patterson of
Tennessee, after calling attention to the
fact that previous to 1876 no American
statesman Of any party approved Of the
absurd doctrine that government can
maintain bi1netallism regardless Of nat
ural ratios, spoke at some length upon
Jackson's position on money and cur
rency. Here is what he said
Nothing within the range of 20
litical absurdity could equal the spec
tacle presented by the followers of Bry-
an when they met ON the Sth of Janua-
ry to eulogize jackson, who courageous
ly restored the gold currency.
Have these gentlemen ever paused
long enough in their assault ON the pros
perity of tho country to inquire why it
was during Jackson administration
the ratio was changed from Is to 16 to
/? If, as they teach the people, we had
the concurrent circulation of gold and
silver from the passage of the act of
1792 down to the suspension of the coin
age of the silver dollar ip 1878, why
was this change made? Are they igno
rant, or do they disguise the fact that
after the act Of 1792 gold relatively to
silver was underyalued and went out of
circulation because it was worth lit
tie more as bullion than as money? Do
they forget or do they suppress the fact
that gold remained cut of circulation
for more than 80 years prior to 1884?
Are they uninformed, or do they
conceal the fact that statesmen illustri-
GUS in Democratic annals for many
years prior to the administration of
jackson advocated the restoration of the
gold currency? Have they never read
history, or do they withhold the truth,
when they ignore the fact that the bank
of the United States selfshly opposed
the restoration because the people would
-, %o
bulky and inconvenient as silver? 1t
was jackson who saw the necessity for
action, and who struck the blow which
crushed the bank and brought hard
money to the pockets of the people. 1t
was Thomas II. Benton, speaking for
the administration of jackson, who de-
olared in the senate that the only way
to crush the power of the bank was to
restore gold TO circulation. Here was
the necessity and the only reason for
the passage of the act of 1884 establish
ing the ratio of l6 to 1.
"The similarity between the discus
sion which took place in 1884 and the
discussion which took place in 1896 is
striking and instructive. Hard money
Democrats, in supporting the policy OF
jackson, advanced the same arguments
which the sound money Democrats adj
vanced in supporting the policy of
Cleveland. If the hard money Dem
ocrats insisted that the differentiation
of gold by the act of 1892 forced it out
of circulation, the sound money Dem
ocrats insisted that the proposition in
the Chicago platform to overvalue sill
yer, if carried into effect, would bring
about the same result.
IF the hard money Democrats recog-
nized that the act of 1892 had no per-
ceptible influence ON the commercial
value Of either gold or silver, and the
only way to restore gold to circulation
was to change the ratio, the sound mon
ey Democrats recognized that the free
mintage of silver at the ratio of 16 to /
when tho market ratio was 32 to |
would result inevitably in silver mono
metallism. If the hard money Dem
ocrats commended .'that all mankind had
prediction for gold, the sound mon
ey Democrats contended that a gold
standard was preferable to silver
standard. If the hard money Democrats,
in order TO maintain the gold currency
when restored, undervalued silver by
making the coinage ratio 16 TO when
the market ratio was 49, 90 to 1, the
sound money Democrats resisted the
scheme to overvalue silver so as to
force the retiremento of gold. If the hard
money Democrats, after the passage Of
the act of 1884, pointed with pride and
exultation to the prosperity which fol-
lowed the restoration of the gold cur
rency, the sound money Democrats have
never faltered in warning their coun-
trynen of the disaster which would fol-
low its retirement
1.-THE truth is the country is indebted
to the hard money Democrats, of whom
jackson was the chief, for the gold
standard. / could go ON and show how
the act of 1884 had an effect exactly OPP
posite to that of 1892, how under the
operations of the same intiexible eco
lar, x.o1J xx,n,,< o,,+ Of oir,Y1 1afi