The copper country evening news. [volume] (Calumet, Mich.) 18??-1907, 1897-05-20
WHAT JACKSON DID.
CRUSHED BANKS IN ORDER TO RE-
STORE GOLD TO CIRCULATION.
Changed Ratio From Fifteen to sixteen to
One to Bring Gold Back-Was One Who
Thought That All Mankind Had "A Pred
Election For Goid-siiverites Who Euio-
gize jackson Should Read History.


gize jackson Should Read History.
The silver Democrats have been un- |
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 oppo-
sition to cheap money and reputation
of debts and his advocacy of 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-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
Jacksons position on money and cur
rency Here is what he said:
NOiulllS Nltuln tIo lahSO VI Ec7
litical absurdity could equal the spec
tacle presented by the followers of Bry-
an when they met on the Sth of Janua-
ny 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 the country to inquire why it
was during Jackson's administration
the ratio was changed from Is to 10 to
/? If, as they teach the people, we had
| the concurrent circulation OF gold and
| silver from the passage of the act OF
1902 down to the suspension of the coin
age of the silver dollar in 1878, why
was this change made? Are they igno-
rant, or do they disguise the fact that
after the act Of l792 gold relatively to
silver was undervalued 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 out Of circulation
for more than 80 years prior to 1884?
"Are they uniformed, or do they
conceal the fact that statesmen illustrl-
GUS in Democratic annals for many
q. 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 selfishly opposed
the restoration because the people would
prefer its bank notes to currency sc
bulky and inconvenient as silver? II
was jackson who saw the necessity fol
action, and who struck the blow which
crushed the bank and brought hare
. money to the pockets of the people.
was Thomas ii. Benton, speaking TO
, the administration of Jackson, who de
clared in the senate that the only wa.
to crush the power of the bank was t
restore gold TO circulation. Here wa
, the necessity and the only reason TO
the passage of the act of 1884 establish
ing the ratio Of 16 to /.
1.-The similarity between the discus
sion which took place in 1884 and tn
discussion which took place i'll 1896
striking and instructive Hard mone
: Democrats, in supporting the policy
jackson, advanced the same argument
| which the sound money Democrats ad
vanced in supporting the policy G
Cleveland If the hard money Dem
q ocrats insisted that the undervaluatio
. of gold by the act Of 1872 forced it GU
a of circulation, the sound money DEN
r ocrats insisted that the proposition l
4 the Chicago platform to Overvalue 81
4 yer. if carried into effect, would brin
s about the same result.
: IF the hard money Democrats recoe
nized that the act Of 1892 had no pei
ceptible influence on the commerce.
value Of either gold or silver, and tn
n only way to restore gold to circulatio
!. was to change the ratio, the sound MOI
e ey Democrats recognized that the ire
o mintage of silver at the ratio OF II to
4 when the market ratio was 32 to
O would result inevitably in silver mon'
: metallsm. If the hard money Den
= ocrats contended THAT all mankind ma
IS prediction for gold the sound MOI
: ey Democrats contended that gol
r. standard was preferable to silv'
|. standard. If the hard money Democrat
n in order to maintain the gold currenc
;. when restored, undervalued silver b
making the coinage ratio IL to VINE
the market ratio was 1913 to /, Il
sound money Democrats resisted q
If scheme to overvalue silver so as
"a force the retirement of gold. If the hal
Ia money Democrats, after the passage
a the act of 1884, pointed with pride al
is exultation to the prosperity which fo
r. lowed the restoration of the gold Gu
Or rency, the sound money Democrats ha
il never faltered in warning their cou
a trymen of the disaster which would &c
Id low its retirement.
or 1.-THE truth is the country is indebt
G. to the hard money Democrats, of who
= jackson was the chief, for the go
standard. / could go on and show he
the act of 1884 had an effect exactly 0
posite to that of 1892, how under
r operations Of the same infiexible &c
v. nomio law gold went out OF circulati
n. under the one and silver under the OF