The Goodland republic. [volume] (Goodland, Kan.) 1891-1907, 1897-10-15

n5gLs use aifu TIE zen eEst-l-5sl- y
the intensity q competition il obtain
ing i. ia no possible way could Mex /
sc0 By changing 5es ssanderd increase
the quantity Or lessen the demand for
gold. On the contrary, and most OBJ
viously, by the adoption Of a goldssand-
ard she would increase the demand and
aggravate the present seEers compete /
stion ior seeuTiug it. Then, again,
Mexico is siiver-produeing country.
Her principal export has been silver
coined into Mexican dollars. She large
Il relies upon this silver expectation
to purchase the gold with which to
meet the interest on her foreign obi
cations.
To say that for her TO discard silyeras|
standard money would still further di-
minish the demand for it and require
more of It to purchase the needed gold
to satisfy foreign creditors is like stat
ing a sum in simple addition. I'm
dou5tedly If she could collect the same
amount Of taxes il gold that she now
does in silver her treasury would be re-
lieged AS TO the interest upon this pub
lie debt, but it would be equally relieved
By doubling the present silver taxes,
and Of the two, if either were necessary,
the latter would be infinitely preferable.
The addition Of seven millions Of taxes
would be 4 burden which would be felt
but would in no serious way interfere
with her industrial activity or the mu-
tuaI equities Of her citizens. To go to
gold standard or even to approach it
would only be adding another compete
tor in the struggle for gold, increase
the difficulty Of paying her foreign in
terest, but would be fatal to the business
prosperity of her people. For the Amer
lean people nothing can be more in
structive than a careful study of the
economical progress in Mexico in con-
nection with her monetary system,
What she has done and is now doing is
the result Of an infexible adherence to
double standard of silver and gold
without regard to the parity Of the two
metals. By refusing to follow other ma
tons in a change of a monetary system
by accepting the cardinal principle of
double standard in adhering to the use
of that one of the metals which for the
time and for any reason L. cheaper than
the other, she has not only preserved
but most conspicuously advanced the
development of her national resources.
By adhering to silver she has not only
added to her wealth, but has secured
higher rank among nations. She has
attracted from other countries pursuing
different policy not only capital but
in a large measure enterprise and bust
ness talent driven inevitably from a
field OF contraction to one Of expand.
ing industry. To our people her expert
ence points out plainly the path Of duty
and policy, Return to the double stand
ard and business prosperity and defy,
or rather welcome, the highest premi-
um on gold which the money pOtentates
may choose to place upon it.
More than nineteen-twentieths of our
citizens do not care, and have 10 inter
est in caring, whether there is or is not
any gold in the vaults Of the banks OF
treasury of the United States, and no
where else is it or has it been for a
years. The other less than twentieth
are the usureTs and receivers of fixed
money incomes, the enemies of general
prosperity, because it lessons the dis
tinction between themselves and the
great mass of their fellow-citizens. If
Europe wants the little gold which we
have, let her take it. We do not want
it, and no one but a few interested gath
erers will miss it. With us it is a ques-
ton between gold on the one hand and
prosperity on the other, and I hope we
are wise enough to choose the latter
In many respects we are superior to
Mexico, but all our advantages were &C
quired under the same money system
which she retains, and which powerful
influences are being exerted to induce
us to discard. The test of the value OF
a national policy is not the actual level
of civilization, but the rate of progress
The lesson which Mexico teaches is
this: That nothing is to be feared from
a premium on gold; that it can never be
harmful, and under present conditions
will be to us, as it has been and is to her
! a positive benefit; that disparity in mar
ket metal values is no drawback to the
efficiency or value of a double standard;
that the nation which maintains a lega
double standard and uses always the
coin Of the cheaper will secure in the
highest degree possible stability Of
prices and the equities between cred
itor and debtor, and the financial indie
pendenee essential to national prosper
ity.-C. J. Hillyer, in Silyer-Knight
Waterman.