Hot Springs weekly star. (Hot Springs, S.D.) 1892-1917, 1897-09-10

money metal. This is proven By the fact
that every country which has attempted
TO retain the silver standard or the con-
current free coinage of both metals mt n
ratio widely different from the commercial
ratio of the two metals has lost all of it's
gold and retained only silver currency and
true mOnOmetallism, while other nations
making gold the standard and coming
silver on government account circulate
both metals in, large quantities. approach
ing thus more nearly to true bimctallism
than those which by the free and unlimit-
III coinage of silver at Il ratio widely
different from the commercial ratio of the
Two metals obtain only silver monometnl-
ism. The condition of the people of the
countries maintaining the gold standard,
or what the trainers of this platform term
gold monomctallism. is one of vastly
greater prosperity than that of the peo-
pie OF the countries maintaining the silver
standard. There is more money per cap
ita, better wages, better homes. more COM
forts of life. more education and more
general intelligence among the people of
the gold standard countries than among
those of amy of the countries having the
silver standard. Mexico. which is prob
ably the most prosperous of the silver
standar countries, has Il total of S4.3o
per capita for its people, the South Amer
lean States Il per capita of less than ~
aside from the uncovered and deprecated
paper. China S3.333. the Central American
States S3.Gi. while Germany has S11.50
per CAPITA. Great Britain SPOTS per cap
ita. United States $22.577 per capita. Meth
crlands S24.25 per capita. and France
S35.II per capita. "Monometallism' has
indeed "locked fast the prosperity of an
industrial people in the paralysis of hard
times" wherever it has been established
by the process proposed by this platform,
viz: the unlimited coinage of both met
ais ut n ratio widely differing from their
relative commercial value.
G%d monometallism is a British policy
and has brought other nations into financial
serv1tude to London.
1t is also IL German policy, a French
policy. a Belgium policy. an Austro-Hun-
garian policy, a Netherlands policy. a
Danish policy, "A Russian policy, a Gillian
policy, Il Peruvian policy, Il Japanese pol
icy. II in fact the policy of the most
enlightened and progressive nations the
world over. Ii the United States were to
her present system and under
take a greatly enlarged use of silver with
out the cooperation of other nations she
would abandon the company of the most
intelligent, enlightened and prosperous
nations of the world and join the ranks %:
the weakest and least intelligent nations.
all of which are fastening to adopt the
gold standards as rapidly as possible.
1t is not only un-American but a%nti-Ameri-
can, and 1t can be fastened on the United
States only by the sitting Of that spirit and
love Of liberty which lrorlaimed our politi-
cal independence in 1916 and won 1t In the
war of the Revolution.
The spirit and love of liberty which
proclaimed our independence in 1876" and
which is still strong in the minds of the
people of the United States is not in favor
of reducing the citizens of this country to
the level of poverty, degradation, ignor-
ance and practical enslavement which
characterize the condition of the masses
i'll the few remaining silver standard coun-
tries of the world to-day. The only at
tempt to ''stifle the spirit of love of lib
erty" ever made i'll the United States be-
gan i'll 1861 by the very party and the
very leaders who are now proposing to -
grade the working people of this country
to n level of those least intelligent and
prosperous on the face of the earth.
We demand the free and unlimited coinage
OF both silver and gold at tine present legal
ratio of 10 to / without waiting for the aid
or consent of any other nation.
a policy which all the intelligent nations
of the world have abandoned since the
enormous production of silver has brought
it to IL ratio of 81 to 1 with gold and the
divergence still increasing. The product
of the silver mines of the world since 1873
is practically one-half as much as that
produced from the mines of the world in
BOO years preceding that date, as shown
by the highest official authorities.
We demand that the STANDARD silver dol
lars shall be full legal tender equally with
gold for all debts. public and private.
1t is now "a full legal tender for all
debts. public and private" except where
such men as William NJ. Stewart, John Z.
Jones, Arthur Sewall, John p. Altgeld,
John II. Mclean and other silver leaders
deprive it of its full legal tender value by
making their contracts and loans and
rents and interest payable by the poor in
gold only. Every one of the 45O,OO0,O0O
standard silver dollars which we now
have is Il full legal tender for all debts,
public and private, and the party which
asserts even by implication that this is
not the fact intends either to discredit
those dollars or to deceive the people, or
both.
We favor such legislation as will prevent
| for the future the demonstration of any
kind Of legal tender money by private con-
tract.
An excellent plan; but the fact that the
leaders of the party proposing this now
refuse to follow that plan in their private
affairs, casts a suspicion upon the good
faith of this public assertion.
We are opposed to the policy and practice
OF surrenderlng to the holders Of the obliga-
tiOns of the United States the option re-
served by law to the Government Of re.
deeming such obligations in either silver
coin or gold coin.
Every holder of obligations of the Unit
ed.States can receive his pay for them in
silver il he desires or in gold if he desires.
If the Government were to insist on paw
ing in one metal to the exclusion Of the
other it would Immediately discredit it's
obligations and at the same time iniure
the standing of q large share of the money
which it has itself issued and promised by
implication or in words to keep as good as
the best. While these obligations call for
payment in %''coin," that term, when the
acts authorizing the bonds were passed.
.ojo+,J only tn that which v,oo tho oo,,:.