Rocky Ford enterprise., 1898-01-27

cans that the public generally favored
the gold standard and that the presi-
dent of the United States shared this
view.
"The statements wcre," Mr.. WolcOtt
said, "of course untrue, but III support
of them, these people assumed to pre-
sent interviews and statements of the
director of the mint. n hold-over from
the last administration, the late comp
troller of the currency, an equally pre-
.cious legacy, now out of the public
service and transpianted to a Chicago
bank, and pretended statements in let
tiers and interviews from the secretary
of tho treasury to the effect that there
was no chance for international or
other bimetallism and fnvorlng the per
manent adoption Of tue gold standard.
Nobody In Europe cared Il rap what
the two minor prophets thought Oi
said, rs nobody In this country cnres.
| but the alleged statements of the secre-
| tary OF the treasury We're different
matter. We insisted that the letters
must be forgeries and the interviews
nctitious, and ] trust they were, for
| 1t was incOnceivablc that n member of
the cabinet would seek to undermine
the efforts of mission appointed by
the President and whose efforts he was
cordially and zealously seconding.
"The commission was" he said, "nlso
attacked from time to time by state
ments from extremeists In the other
direction, insisting that our efforts
were sham and pretended; that we Ind
no hope or expectation of success: thar
the President was secretly opposing
us; that 1t was disgrace TO our
country that we Were permitted to In
vite other countries to join us in open
mints; that 1t was humiliating that We
were even consulting any other coun-
try on that subject; that failure was
inevitable and the sooner we came
home the better. 1t was n new and
somewhat ludicrOus view of the sill.
| yer question that made it humlliating
| that this country should invite other
| countries like France to join I'm open
mints, or made 1t unlmportant to as
certain the attitude of India with her
thousand millions ounces of silver In
bullion and ornaments changing handa
IN the bnZaars at bullion value and her
0IO.oOOOOO ounces of silver In silver
coins doing duty at the ratio Of about
% to l."
He excepted Senator Jones of Ar
kansas, chairman of the Democratic
national committee, from the charge,
but concluded that 1t was unfortunate.
ly true that the bitterness OF the last
campaign blinded the vision of many
men so that the thing they believed to
be impossible they came to hope would
be impossible.
| Mr. Wolcott summarized the present
situation by saying II IL apparent thnt
for the time being It is useless TO count
on any cooperation from Great Brit
MN toward bimctallic agreement, and
that while France actively desires TO
| sec silver restored TO Its old position MS
n standard of value equally with gold,
she Insists that the problem Is one
and the cooperation to some extent OF
other leading commercial nations Of
| the world.
Questions of possible future negotIa.
tions between France. the United
States and other countries and the
question OF change OF ratio are for the
moment held In allegiance. While we
hope for continued joint action, France
owes no further duty to us. She stood
shoulder to shoulder with us In our nj.
tempt to secure from England even
the concession she voluntarily offered
u few months ago.
| 'In days when the influence Of the
money lender Is potent In almost every
capital Of the world and dominates
courts and national politics, the minis.
try of France stood fearless by the In.
teres,s of the whole people and count.
ed the welfare Of It's hundreds Of thou.
sands OF small holders OF land. depend.
cnt for their existence upon the fruits
of the soil. as paramount to that OF
the powerful class which want money
dear nnd grain cheap"
Here MIR. W0lcott announced his In.
tcntion TO retire from the commission.
He said:
| "It IL my sincere conviction that an
| international blmctnllic agreement Is
still feasible, by the terms OF which
certain countries will join and open
their mints TO the unlimited coinage OF
silver. and others will contribute TO
plan an enlarged usage Of that metal
rs money. and l say this more freely
because shall give way upon the com.
mission to somebody more fitted for
| such negotiations and better able to
give them his constant time. This re-
| suit cannot he brought about without
| the expenditure of both time and pa.
| tience, and the persona entrusted with
the duty OF negotiations must have
bacl; of them the hearty support of the
President and Congress"
On the possibility Of having 10
| change the ratio Mr.. Wolcott said:
"It may also be necessary, in my
opinion. 10 make concessions In the
ncighborhood of 20 to I, more nearly
npproNimn;ing the ratios recognized by
| Russia, Austria and India. There are
many countries unvisiied where there
is Il strong bimetallic sentiment and
which would undoubtedly cooperate In
some fair plan. The Right Hon. Leon.
ard Courtcnay, In recent speech.
| stated that It was reported that the
German emperor Ind said lie was cx.
| tremcly sorry and disappointed to hear
that the India government would not
| reopen the India mints. l trust this
may bc true. and. In any event. there
are many promising fields as yet I'm.
troddcn and many avenues through
which we may hope for success.
"The cause of bimctallism Is not
dead in Europe. II is living. vital
and growing force. Wherever the
possession of land is accompanied by
The possession Of intelligence you find
n bimctallist. and In countries where
rank and ancient lineage are still asso
cinted with ancestral holdings, dcvo.
,Iou to the principles Of bimctnllism Is
not yet discrcdiiablc. nor are Its advo-
Gates clnsscd ns clods or crnnks.'
In ,,nplutiuv Mr Wp1ppft criticised