The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1897-06-07

very cncouragingly received. In France the
Prime Minister, the President OF the republic, |
and tho bimetallists Of the country generally,
have expressed q hearty sympathy with the pur-
nose Of the envoys' mission and have promised
them their aid in accomplishing 1t. In Great
Britain two members Of the Government and q
host OF unofficial notabilitios havo welcomed
their arrival as an omen OF the speedy success
n, the measure they advocate. Germany they
have not yet visited. but both there and In Aus
tria they will, no doubt, bo assured OF the CO.
operation Of numbers Of men high in authority |
and Of great political influence.
All this would be moro significant were II not
merely q repetition Of what has frequently hap
penod before, and which has Is frequently failed
20 lead to q practical result. The British Par
lament moro than two years ago passed q reso-
luton urging upon her Majesty's Government
"the desirability Of cooperating with other pow
ers in an international conference for the pur-
pose Of considering what measures can be taken
TO remove or mitigate" the evils resulting
from the growing divergence in the relative
values Of gold and silver" and again, on March
II Of last year. Il resolved unanimously that
this House is Of opinion that tho instability of
the relative value Of gold and silver aimee tho
action of tho Latin Union in 1873 has proved
Injurious to the best interests Of this country,
and urges upon the Government the advisa-
bility Of doing all in their power to Sc
cure. by international agreement, a stable
monetary par Of exchange between gold and
silver" Similar resolutions had previously
been adopted both by the German Parliament
and by tho French Legislative Assembly. and
both in England and on the Continent the de-
mand for an international bimetallic agreement
has been repeated. year after year for many
years, at public meetings, in which mon highly
distinguished In finance and in politics have
taken part. Nevertheless, nothing has yet been
achieved In the way Of legislation looking to.
ward a compliance with the demand, and no
reason exists for expecting 1t to be achieved
now that has not existed for the last twenty
years. On the contrary, with the adoption by
Austria, Russia, Bulgaria, and Japan of the
single gold standard. the chances of any impair
ment of that standard by the recognition Of sill
yer have become less than they once were, and
the obstacles in the way of bimetallism with
the concurrence Of those nations greater.
The partisans OF silver in the United States
are, therefore, wise In their generation. in not
counting upon Europe to help them accomplish
their object and in insisting upon the admission
OF silver by this country, on its own single re-
sponsibility. to free coinage at the ratio of 16 to
/. They take at their word the European BIZ
metallists. who for years have been saying that
the Latin Union, of which France was the prin-
cipal member, was able by itself alone to keep
silver OF the ratio to gold Of 15la to l. and
they logically conclude that the United States,
which is a larger country than France, and has
as great a population as the whole Latin Union
combined. can either do what the Latin Union
Is said to have done, OF that 1t can make silver
tho sole standard of value, to its own special
benefit. II Great Britain will not Join vi so
much the worse, they say, for Great Britain.
How determined the silverites are to renew In
1900. or even earlier, the battle in which they
were defeated last year Is apparent from their
recent proceedings in Kentucky and in Ohio.
Tho Democratic party, as a party, committed
itself at Chicago last summer nominally to
independent bimetallism, but since it also
demanded that this bimetallism should be at
the ratio Of 10 of silver to 1 of gold. 1t really de-
clarod for the silver standard. The Republican
party, on the other hand. declared at st. Louis
against the free coinage of silver Except BY in
ternational agreement with the leading nations
of the world. which we pledge ourselves to pro
mote. and until such agreement can be OBJ
tanned. the existing gold standard must be pre-
served" Then followed a declaration that
all the currency of the nation, whether
coin or paper. must be maintained at
parity with gold. and that the party STA
vors" all measures designed to accomplish
that result. Looking only at the language Of
these opposing declarations. the British bimet-
allists assume that the question OF gold mono
netallism did not enter into the last Presiden-
tial election. but that while the Democrats con-
tended for independent bimetaIlism the Repub-
hcans advocated international bimetallism; but
everybody here who watched the progress of the
campaign knows that the issue was made in the
newspapers and in the speeches of the campaign
orators distinctly upon the silver standard as
opposed to the gold standard Still, the ambi-
guilty of the Republican declaration and the
small popular majority by which the Republican
candidate was elected made the result OF the
election ineonclusive and has left the question
Of the two standards open for another contest.
The great majority of the gold-standard Dem
ocrats, who were beaten at the Chicago Conven-
ton, either refused to vote for the candidate
which the Convention nominated, or else voted
with the Republicans. How many there were
OF these dissenters it is impossible to estimate,
although they claim to have been sufficiently
numerous to decide the election in favor OF the
Republican candidate. They entertain the hope
Of redeeming their party. at an early day, from
the advocacy Of free silver. and earnestly dcpre-
cate the introduction OF the question into local
political campaigns until another National DEM
ocratic Convention assemblies and has an oppor-
tunity Of revising the party platform. The out
spoken silyerite Democrats reply to them that
uhblI sum u TtNlblOH mas Deen maze the party Is
bound to maintain the cause OF silver. and on the
silver issue next autumn's elections, all over the
country. arc pretty certain to turn.
No election Of members of the House Of Repre-
eentativest takes place this year. but next year
the entire body will DO chosen anew by the peo-
pie. II the coming autumn's elections should
result favorably to the Democratic party, the sill
Verttes would Justly claim credit for the victory.
since they are onicially in control Of that party
and direct Its campaigns. The Democrats who
voted against them or held aloof from them last
year. should, therefore, to be consistent, follow
0 similar course this year. Republicans, too,
who for local reasons support a Democratic
ticket or refuse to support their own. incur a
risk Of strengthening the cause Of silver alto
gether disproportionate to the good they can
otherwise accomplish. For, while other abuses
may be corrected at any time. the silver stand.
am, once fastened upon the country. will never
In our day DO dislodged. II in consequence of a
division in the ranks Of the opponents OF liver
this year the silverites should elect a majority