The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1898-01-18

commission had to contend was tariff
legislation To ask the commercial ma
tons to join us in an effort to estab-
lish bimetallism and at the same time
to enact a tariff wall that would pre-
vent them deriving any benefit from hi
metallism, so far as trade with the
United States was concerned, was at
least an incongruity.
Senator Wolcott says that the mem
bers of the commission insisted that
letters said to have been written by
the secretary of the treasury must be
forgeries and that interviews purport-
ing to emanate from him were fictit-
ious; and he says he trusts they were.
Why does he trust? Why did he not,
SO soon as he returned, ascertain from
Secretary Gage himself whether or no
the letters were forgeries and the in
terviews fictitious? Then he would
have been underl no necessity to trust
or mistrust.
He says it is his sincere conviction
that IAN international bimetallic agree
ment is still feasible. by the terms of
which certain countries will join and
age of silver and others will contrib
ute to plan an enlarged usage of the
metal as money" 1t is really TO be re-
GREETED that he did not mention the
names of these certain countries" Are
these certain countries" the ones to
which President Mckinley referred in
his message to congress when he said
negotiations, looking to a bimetallic
agreement were still pending? And
are they the leading commercial. ma
tions" referred to in the St Louis
platform? Whatever countries they
are. he thought that change of ratio
might be necessary, and suggested 20
to l.
Senator Wolcott takes occasion, near
the close of his speech, to go for"
Secretary Gage and his financial plans
But why go for Secretary Gage and
not for President Mckinley? In other
words, why beat the devil around the
bush? He says that what the president
said in his message of December on
the subject of international bimetal-
ism is utterly at variance with what
Secretary Gage said before the COM
mittee when he presented his finan-
cial plan, the avoW ed object of which
was Ito strengthen the gold standard"
Most certainly they are at variance,
but they are not one bit more at va
rance than were the presidents special
to congress, in special session,
asking the appointment of a monetary
and his message of De-
cember Z. The secretary of the treas
istration on financial questions, and |
when he speaks in his official capacity !
he speaks authoritatively. If the presi- |
dent and Secretary Gage are not in |
full harmony on the financial question, |
why is Secretary Gage in the cabinet? |
The simple truth of the matter is that |
on the silver question the president /
has been Janus-faced. To those who /
think otherwise is left the task of re-
conciling his various attitudes.
Senator Wolcott says that the time |
when this country will submit to the
final imposition of gold recommendation
is far away. What does the attempt of
the administration to strengthen the
gold standard mean but the final i'm
position of gold recommendation upon
the country?
The senator's speech shows that he
wants to stand by silver and the adj
at the same time. To do
his is to attempt to ride two horses
1t the same time. each going in an OPP
)osite direction from the other.