Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1898-10-13
AN HONEST DOLLAR.
Gold Alone Does Not Constitute SuE.
Client Money for the People
of This Country.

Rejecting the shallow, insufficient
and irrelevant definitions of our gold
standard friends, let us propose you
definition of an honest dollar. Ny
definition of an honest dollar is this:
1t is a dollar of unchanging value, q
dollar which is worth the same to-day
as it was 20 years ago, which
will be worth the same 20 years from
now as it is to-day. That is the only
honest dollar the wisdom of a con-
gress can devise, the only dollar that
can look an honest man in his face and
say, I never robbed a human soul in
all my pilgrimage throughout the COM
merce of the world. If it is dollar that
has gone down, then it has robbed
the creditor for the benefit of the
debtor. If it is dollar that has gone
up, then it has robbed the debtor for
the benefit of the creditor. A dollar
that goes either way robs somebody
for the benefit of somebody else, and
the only dollar that never robs any
body is the dollar that never changes
value. Now, is the gold dollar one of
that kind? If it is. it is an honest dol
lar, and the gold standard ought not
to be abolished. My gold standard
friends ought to find themselves able
to agree with me in that. Their objec-
ton to using both gold and silver is
that it would make money go down.
My objection to using gold alone is
that it would make money go up. In
other words, we say that the gold
standard makes money so high and
everything else so cheap. They say
the double standard will make money
SO cheap and every thing else so high.
Now, of course, a low price of money
means higher price ofproperty. High
prices of money means a low price of
property. And when our gold stand
ard friends tell US we are going to
make money too cheap by using both
gold and silver, what do they meant
They mean that we are going to make
property and all the products of Ia
Dor too high. Not only so, but they
mean that we are going to make money
too plentiful. They must mean that be-
cause nothing ever became too cheap
in all the history of this world un-
til it first became too plentiful. If
they will find in all the history of the
world a single country and a single
generation where any country ever
had too much money, will give up this
controversy. In all the thousands of
years through which the world has
passed, not one single nation in any
age of the world ever had too much
gold and silver money. l have no fear
that that which has not happened in
all the years which have gone is going
to happcn-in all the years to come.
But have a deep-seated fear that even
with gold and silver both, instead
of having more than you want, the
most of you will have less than you
need. Knowing that gold alone does
not constitute sufficient money for
the people of this country, I demand
that we use both gold and silver. and
when we have used them both it would
still be necessary to supplement them
by the use of paper. Our gold stand
ard friends, recognizing that there is
not gold enough on which to transact
all the business of the country, say
you 90 not need the money; all you
need is a standard, and then you can
have credit for the balance of it, and
they propose to supply it how? Ny
friend. Mr.. Burke. has aptly said they
stole an idea from the populists, and
that is the only idea the middle-of-the-
road populists ever had.
HON. J. W. BAILEY.