Santa Fe new Mexican. [volume] (Santa Fe, N.M.) 1898-1951, 1898-01-20
Senator WoIcott's Speech.

Senator Wolcott's speech ON the cur
rency question, made in the senate
chamber OF Monday, contains much that
has important bearing on the subject of
bimetallism, and will, when the silver
monometallists have had time to thor
oughly grasp the meaning of the words
uttered, go far toward removing many
erroneous ideas concerning the ability
of the United States to restore the white
metal to- a primary money value, and
maintain that value, in the face of eX-
listing conditions in the rest of the
world.
The major part of the speech consist
ed of an explanation of the work of
the commission while in Paris and Lon
don, and an account of the many diff
culties encountered in bringing the
matter of international action before the
British government. In France, Mr..
| Wolcott and colleagues were warmly
welcomed and the French authorities
gave them all the assistance within
their power. These are matters well
known to the general public and possessed
nothing within themselves that was
new, but the remainder Of the speech
covered much that is of Importance.
In the first place, Mr.. Wolcott refuted
the charge made in many OF the free
silver papers last fall, that President
Mckinley was quietly undoing all that
had been accomplished, and was secret
ly working to bring about a failure of
the object for which the commissioners
were sent abroad. He said: From
the day of first entering upon the full
fllment of our duties until now, the
president of the United States has e.
tended to the commission his unsWerv-
ing support in all it's efforts to bring
about an international agreement.
There has been no moment that we
have not known that back of our efforts
was the earnest desire of the chief
executive to carry out in its integrity
the provisions of the platform of the
Republican party pledging it to every
effort to bring about an intermediary
bimetallic agreement" The efforts OF
the free silver papers and leaders to
impugn President McKinley's honesty
l ne Sr%n,,ttnv IN br;nr about on ;ntorra
tional agreement are thus refuted by
one high in authority, and one who has
had every opportunity to learn the de-
sires of the president.
Mr.. Wolcott takes the position that
free coinage of silver is impossible with
out the cooperation of the great ma
tions. To support himself in this opin-
ion he says that France, the country
most friendly to silver, ''insists that the
problem is one which demands inter-
national action and the cooperation to
some adequate extent of other leading
commercial nations of the world" The
rank and file of the Republican party
holds to the same position, and if the
free silverites will cast aside prejudice
and carefully consider the question in
the light of actual conditions, they will
readily see that that is the only way to
rehabilitate silver.
Mr.. Wolcott is firm in the belief that
an international agreement is not a
myth, a chimera, and that there is
hardly a statesman in Europe who be-
lieves the last word has yet been said
upon the question of the reconciliation
Of silver, and that the desired agree
ment will come much sooner than many
people are willing to believe.
Mr.. Wolcott certainly placed a strong
er faith in international %bimetallism
and stated the true position Of the Re-
publican party before the country in its
proper light.