The enterprise. [volume] (Wellington, Ohio) 188?-1899, 1898-02-23
HOW sILvER MEN s1ANn.
Efforts to bring About a Single sill
yer standard


Since the silver resolution has been
passed by the senate and beaten in the
house, it seems in order to ask it's ad-
vocates what they have gained. They
nave not disturbed the money markets
nor alarmed public feeling in regard to
the condition Of the treasury. They
have made no progress toward bank
ruptlng the government or forcing it to
silver basis. They have not shown
greater strength in the senate than was
expected, and in the house they have
1allen much behind their expectations.
The solid resistance of, the republican
majority in that body shows a much
flrmer adhesion to the principles of the
republican platform than any of the
silver men anticipated. What has been
gained in this latest campaign against
the gold standard? Nothing in votes,
and much less than nothing in argu-
ment, for the debate in the senate left
the silver men in less defensible posi-
tion than they have ever before occu-
pied.
There is no indication of increase in
the popular demand for silver coinage.
On the contrary the prevailing temper
in all business centers, even at the west
and south, has been steadily turning
against the advocates of that policy.
The monetary conference at Indianap-
oils showed a much stronger support
from Iowa and other western states
than appeared year ago, and even
from the south there came ADLER and
more fully representative delegations
from commercial cities The truth is
that the silver. men are concentrating
the opinion of the whole, commercial
world against them, and they do not
appear to be gaining outside of COM
mercial centers. Neither the farmers,
who want something 'better than 40
cent dollars for their wheat, nor the
wage-earners, who prefer honest dol
lars for their wages, are leaning toward
the free-silver policy, In the western
mining camps it retains it's hold, but
everywhere else it appears to be losing.
This is natural, becaGse the silver in
terest has broken away from it's BIZ
metallic associations. The fight of the
silver men. has in large measure ceased
to be an effort for bimet etallism, and has
become more. openly an, effort for sill
yer monometallism. 4, 1t is no longer
denied, even in debate in the senate,
that the purpose is to bring about pay
ment of debts in silver, without regard
to its depreciation in value. Not long
ago it was always claimed by silver
men thatthey desired,no debasement
OF the monetary standard, and believed
that free-silver coinage would lift sill:
yer to par with gold in tAe, worlds mar
kets. That pretense has been almost
wholly abandoned, and instead there
appears the claim that the Accent dol
lar may be properly paid to creditors
because coin, and not gold coin, was
in the bond.t!.
Efforts for international bimetallism
are greatly embarrassed by this new
attitude of the silver forces. 1t can no
longer be claimed that they are seek
ing union of commercial nations on a
bimetallic basis. Instead they are
Fisibly leaning toward abandonment
OF every such effort, and toward prefer
ence for a silver monetary standard
alone. 1t is already plain, too, that this
change in the attitude of silver men has
its influence upon the tone of public
opinion. Many thousand men who
were earnestly in favor of bimetallism
have found themselves altogether hos
tile to the more recent attitude of the
silver men, because they are COM
PEELED to realize that the effort of the
silver party is no longer for bimetal-
ism, but for silver monometallism.-
n. Y. Tribune.