The Lambertville record. [volume] (Lambertville, N.J.) 1872-1968, 1897-05-12
WHAT JACKSON DID.
CRUSHED BANKS IN ORDER TO RE-
STORE GOLD TO CIRCULATION.


STORE GOLD TO CIRCULATION.
Changed Ratio From Fifteen to sixteen to
One to Bring Gold Back-Was One Who
Thought That All Mankind Had n Pred
Election For Gold SiIverites Who EuIo-
gIze jackson should Read History.
The silver Democrats have been I'M
usually ITOfuse this year i'll 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's oppo-
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 II recent speech
ex-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 bimetallism regardless Of nat
ural ratios, spoke at some length upon
Jackson position on money and cur
rcncy Here is what he said;
Nothing within the range of po-
litical absurdity could equal the spec
taele 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 i'll their assault ON the pros
perity of the country 10 inquire why it
was during Jacksons administration
the ratio was changed from 10 to 1G to
/? If, as they teach the people, we had
the concurrent circulation of gold and
silver from the passage of the act Of
1872 down to the suspension of the coin
age of the silver dollar in 1878, why
was this change made? Arc they igno-
rant, or do they disguise the fact that
after the act Of 1902 gold relatively to
silver was underyalued and went out of
circulation because it was worth lit
| tie more as bullion than rs money? Do
| they forget or do they suppress the fact
that gold remained out of circulation
for moro than 80 years prior to 1892
Arc they uniformed, or do they
conceal the fact that statesmen illustri-
Gus i'll Democratic annals for many
years prior to the administration of
jackson advocated tho 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 selfishly opposed
the restoration because the people would
prefer its bank notes to currency so
bulky and inconyenient ms silver? 1t
was Jackson who saw tho necessity for
action, and who struck tho blow which
crushed tho bank and brought hard
money to tho pockets of the people. 1t
was Thomas ii. Benton, speaking for
the administration of Jackson, who de-
olared i'll the senate that the only way
to crush tho power of the bank was to
restore gold to circulation. Here was
the necessity and the only reason for
the passage of tho act of 1884 establish
ing the ratio or III to /.
Tho similarity between tho discus
sion which took place i'll 1884 and the
discussion which took place i'll 1896 is
striking and instructive. Hard money
Democrats, in supporting the policy of
Jackson, advanced the same arguments
which the sound money Democrats nd
vanced i'll supporting tho policy of
Cleveland. If tho hard money Dem
ocrats insisted that the differentiation
of gold by tho act of 1892 forced it out
of circulation, the sound money Dem
oerats insisted that the proposition in
the Chicago platform to overvalue sill
yer, if carried into effect, would bring
about the same result.
If tho hard money Democrats recog-
nized that the act of 1899 had no per-
cephble 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 tho ratio Of 10 to l
when tho market ratio was 30 to
would result inevitably in silver mono
metallism. IL the hard money Dem
ocrats commended THAT all mankind had
apredilection for gold, the sound mon.
ey Democrats contended that 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 10 to l when
the market ratio was 10. So to /, the
sound money Democrats resisted the
scheme TO overvalue silver SO as to
force the retirement Of gold. II 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 i'll warning their ooun-
trymen Of the disaster which would fol-
low its retirement
THE truth is the country is indebted
to the hard money Democrats, of whom
jackson was the chief, for the gold
standard. l could go ON and show how
the act of 1884 had an effect exactly OPP
posite TO that of 1909, how under the
operations of the same infexible eco
monte law gold went out of circulation
under the one and silver under the 9TH
er, how congress i'll 1858, ON account of
tho retirement of silver, was forced to
coin it us subsidiary money i'll order to
supply the people with small change,
and how the silver dollars ceased to
flow from the minis and gold was coin.
ed i'll great quantities. But this is for
eign TO my text
MY purpose is to show that the ad-
voeates Of the Chicago platform have
no right to conjure with the name of
Andrew Jackson. That platform has no
precedent in the history and traditions
OF the Democratic party. 1t promises a
new dispensation in monetary science
| never dreamed of in the philosophy OF