The daily morning journal and courier., 1897-10-29

lures, but large sum yearly in reduc- | tion of the public debt.
 'To secure this desirable result the republican party must be sustained, | not only in Ohio, but in the United | States.
 Another question of public policy of equal importance to the tariff is what is known as the free coinage of silverI without regard to it's market value or the action of the great commercial na- tions of the world. Silver and gold have, since the framing of the constitu- ton, been the standard coins of ourI country. but the relative market value of each has changed from time to time. The coinage ratio of the dollar is one ounce of gold as the equivalent of six teen ounces of silver.
 'In the coinage of parts of dollars the ratio of silver to gold is about four
 teen ounces of silver to one of gold, but the legal tender of such minor coins is limited to ten dollars. Within the past twenty years the market price of silver bullion has been reduced more than one-half, so that one ounce of gold
 is now equal in value to thirty-nine ! ounces of silver Notwithstanding this wide diversity of the market value of
 the two money metals, the United
 States and all leading commercial na-
 tions of the world have maintained their silver coins without change. This was done, and could only be done, by l limiting the use of the cheaper metal
 and by coining only on government ac-
 count.
 is oS tho on nf,6i Tn al
 principle of scattered parties, that the
 holder of any silver bullion, without
 regard to it's market value, may present
 it to the mint and have it coined into 1 dollars and made legal tender for all
 debts, public or private At present the silver in dollar is worth about forty
 one cents It would seem that this bold
 and transparent proposition of repudi-
 ation of more than one-half of all debts, public and private, in the United States
 would shock the public sentiment of 1 honest people and secure it's prompt re- | jection. But, strange as it may seem, | it is defended by so many that we are
 bound to consider their reasons before
 we denounce it as fraud.
 | "It is said that free coinage would
 bring up the price of silver bullion to | the ratio of 16 to 1. There is not the l slightest ground for this opinion Sil- yer has gone down in price precisely
 as tin, iron, copper or, indeed, of all the 1 metals except gold. The development I in the process of mineralogy has kept ] pace with the cheapening of nearly all
 the productions of skill known as man.
 ufactures. Even gold may decline in I 1o+f fUn q c tbn rnc111t nf IA l development of mines in several parts
 of the earth, but from it's superior value l in the smallest space, and being less ] affected by corrosion than any other
 money metal it Is now, and will con- l tinue to be, the standard of value in
 the chief nations of the world Silver
 will be largely used in all countries for | minor coins-and if limited in amount
 and redeemed at it's coinage value, or made legal tender for limited sums, 1 it will be largely absorbed for minor | transactions-but its free coinage for | all who demand it would at once make
 it the sole coin in circulation prevent
 the coinage of gold and place our great
 and powerful country in financial oper- | ations among the minor and poorer na- tions of the world This is the issue
 that will largely control the vote of l Ohio next week.
 l "Aside from this important measure | the people of Ohio should bear in mind | that one of the most eminent citizens | of the state is now president of the | United States. He is especially entitled 1 to your kind and considerate favor and | deserves praise for the careful selec- | tion and appointment of officers of the l United States. There has been no ! abrupt haste in making changes, and i while from the nature of things he could not appoint all who applied for l offices yet the changes he had to make | met with and deserved the approval of | the republican party. It is impossible | for any executive officer charged With | the duty of appointment to meet the | wishes of all. Many must be disap- l pointed, but they will all concede that | they have had a fair hearing, for no | president would have given applicants
 more kindly and patient attention, nor
 could any president have felt more | keenly his inability to comply with the
 wishes of his friends. As to the issues
 of the future I can say with absolute confidence that in the future as in the
 past the mode of levying duties on im- ported goods and the free coinage of
 silver will be the dividing lines of the | two great parties.
 Tt may be that the benefits of pro-
 lection will be so apparent that the
 south, now already becoming a manu-
 featuring community and the west fill- ed with mineral resources of untold value may be converted to the policy | of protecting their industries by tariff laws. And it may be that the manu-