The herald., 1898-02-06

4
dollars.
After referring to the matter of inter-
| national agreement, the senator said:
| IF our forefathers or grand-forefathers,
| If you will allow me the expression, in
| France, in England, in Germany and the
other countries of the old world, had
waited for an international agreement
on the subject of ratio, no silver would
ever have been coined up to this day;
| and the man who now bases his support
of free coinage upon the condition that
there shall be an international agree
| ment as to ratio makes a condition
which the past has shown to be wholly
unnecessary and which the future will
show to be impracticable. have pro-
| found conviction that silver will be re-
stored to its free and full function as
money, not by any international unit
ratio, but by each country upon it's own
ratio for its own reasons, as it has been
coined for centuries before our time.'
THE CHANGE OF RATIO
The senator pointed out how infinitesi-
mally small has been the change in
ratio from the beginning Of history until
now. The ratio advanced from three to
| four points during the twelve hundred
years from the Christian era to the CEN
tury preceding the discovery Of Amer
| lea. From 1892 to 1892 1t varied from u
| to to Is to 1-only points in our own
national life of hundred years, the
ratio has changed 1 point and that half
n point at a time, from Is to 15h, and
lastly to 16. Europe, in this same hun
dred years, changed the ratio only half
a point, from Is to 151R. He argued that
silver was not demonetized because of
any fall in it's value, but by the artificial
and forcible exclusion of it from the
mints and it's lessened demand for money
use, caused by the "bulls'' in gold, who
have "beared" silver in every market.
| 80 long as silver is or can be held
| down in duresS, in chains, In fetters and
captivity, and its condition can be shown
| as an argument for its destruction, they
will continue to prolong this violent de-
preston; but they know and believe,
| and have affirmed this belief with their
| money in gold, that this price of silver
bullion is not it's real value.
THE FINANCIAL MISTRESS
''Would the Bank of England-that
ancient maidenly spinster in finance,
who issues no bills the second time but
hind the counter, who would be startled
from her propriety by mere suggestion
of suspension or non-payment or of
payment in discredited coin-make such
proposition, would it permit a law al
lowing it to be made, If it's reserve in
silver were not believed to be equivalent
to its reserve in gold? But for this they
would not allow silver to be a part of
tn fe., n,.t 80 h I. 7
reserve of the Bank of England provided
by public law, not redeemable in any
| thing, the equivalent of gold, used to
redeem the Bank of Englands notes in
silver, authorized by the public law of
the empire to be used and paid for that
purpose.
"The bank, that venerable mistress
| of the worlds finance, has perhaps not
forgotten certain passages in her own
| history. Twice she has paid over the
counter in silver her notes presented for
redemption. Not only has she paid in
silver, but she has paid in shillings and
sixpences. the very lowest denomina-
tions of her coin. And even in times
quite recent, upon the failure of the
Barings and the bankruptcy of the Ar
gentine credits, the Bank of England
would have ceased payment in gold if
that of France had not come to her as
sistance; would have paid them in silver
but for French aid. This is the reason
why the English government allows the
bank by law to cast anchor to the lee
ward, and provides especially for the
silver reserve in it's vaults. The Bank
of France came to the rescue Of that of
England by heavy shipments of gold
| coin sorely needed across the channel
This gold coin in the very moment of
the British banks emergency was sent
from France, by bimetallic France
which had at the time very large coin
age OF gold a still larger silver coinage
than ours, alike receivable and payable
for its own public dues, payable at the
| option Of the payer and not at the op-
| ton of the note holder. The gold stand
| ard, the sound money, the stable cur
| rency prevalent in the British financial
| zone, so much belauded by worshipers
of gold had all failed, totally
utterly failed. French bimetallism
came to the rescue. France came with
her gold-gold and silver, not gold with
out silver--to save the Bank of England
in her extremity.
MANY time and oft have the princes
of the palace of gold met in concave to
consider how to persuade the people of
the United States to discard
their standard silver dollar and
to issue their bonds payable
in gold-how to do this while allowing
every country in Europe to circulate
vast amount of silver coin, coin at half
point below our own. They control
legislation in Europe-why do they not
change the ratio? 1t is not conscience
which makes towards of these chief
tains They know that this pretense in
the fall of the real value of silver, based
upon the sordid and bogus price which
they have fastened upon silver bullion
is a spurious and base pretense.
INSOLENCE VS.. ARGUMENT
"The foreign Magi, the high priests in
the innermost shrine of the temple Of
gold, aliens to this government and
enemies to this republic, the rulers in
the synagogue of millionaires do not
deign to argue the question of free coin
age. Their position is not of argument
but of insolence. They are men of few
words and many dollars. When they
speak they lie, when they are silent they
steal We need not pay the slightest at
tntion to their menaces. We should
stand by existing contracts, freely coin
silver with which to fulfill these con-
| tracts and see these hra pparts of tho