The Jasper weekly courier. [volume] (Jasper, Ind.) 1858-1922, 1898-11-04

In replying 10 the question, what
does the bill propose! IL should be said
its purpose Is 10 copy the Laws Of Eng
land. France, Germany and other coun-
tries and establish IN the United States.
regardless Of all Interests, except the in
terests OF the rich. a gold standard.
And this gold standard is secured in the
first section Of the bill as follows:
THAT the standard OF unit of value
shall. as now. be the dollar. and shall
consist of twenty-five and eight-tenths
grains OF gold. nine-tenths fine. or
twenty-three and twenty one hun
dredtns grains Of pure gold, as repre-
sented by one-tenth part of the eagle. "
That is the gold standard. if the bill
becomes law. and a law it will become
unless the Democratic party defeats the
Republican party at the polls in Novem-
/ Der.
That there shall be no misunderstand-
ing regarding the gold standard. which
Section tablishes. the fact is chnched
as follows:
Section 2. That all obligations for
the payment of money shall be per-
formed in conformity with the standard
provided for in section l."
/ Here il Is seen that section provides
gold standard and section provides
that all obligations for the payment Of
money shall be in accordance with that
gold standard.
Besides. section 2 destroys existing
contracts between the gov vernment and
the bond holders. At present all gov
ernment bonds are payable. principal
and interest, in "coin." either gold or
silver or both. but section Of the bill
under consideration says:
THAT all obligations of the United
States for the payment of money now
existing or hereafter to be entered into
shall, unless hereafter otherwise ex-
pressly stipulated. be redeemed and
held to be payable in gold coin of the
United States. as defined IN the stand
ard aforesaid.
In this is seen the hand Of the bond
holder. He was sufficiently potential
In the indianapolis monetary conven-
ton TO provide that his bonds, princi-
pal aud interest, now payable in ''coin. "
shall be payable in gold coin, and
his influence was felt to the extent that
he had it inserted in the bill that there
should be free coinage only in gold, as
follows:
"Section g. That there shall con.
tinue to be free coinage Of gold int
coins OF the denominations, weight
fineness and legal tender quality pre-
scribed by existing laws"
I The bill deals curtly and contemptu
ously with the silver dollar, to the ex
I tent. if the bill the convention concocted
and which was introduced in congres:
by Representative Overstreet becomes a
law, as Sec. s provides,
"No silver Dollars Shall He Hereafter
Coined"
In so far az the bill relates TO metallic
currency, it eliminated in the declara.
ton that mo silver dollars shall be
hereafter coined" II the bill becomes
law, which will be the case il the Re-
publican party wins victory at the
polls in November, bimetallism will
cease to exist in the United States. ard
the gold standard advocates, the pluto
cratic class. will have won q victory
far.reaching and disastrous to the wei.
fare of the country. Whyl Because
one Of the primary. original. irredeem-
able coins OF the country will have been
struck down and struck out of existence
as primary money. and gold substituted.
which by increasing the demand for
gold makes IL dearer. and by reducing
the demand for silver makes 1t cheaper.
What is meant by the increased value
Of gold consequent upon the demoneti-
zation Of the silver dollare This ques-
tion is answered by Mr.. Shafroth Of
Colorado in his speech In congress. May
26. 1898. in which he says:
THE increase In the value of gold
cannot be estimated in dollars and
cents, because it Is the unit Of measure
ment. This increase In value can only
be estimated by increased purchasing
power. What we mean by increased
purchasing power is that IL buys more
Of commodities and property. That
means that the owner Of commodities
and property must yield up more Of
them in order TO obtain q given guam
tity upon the gold valuation than before
the increase in value of gold, and that
means he must sell ut q loss price.''
Suppose farmer has mortgage on his
farm for 81. 900. which is due and must
be paid. 1t Is not the contention that
the gold standard has increased the
amount OF this debt. but that the in.
creased value Of gold by the demoneti-
zation Of silver makes it more difficult
for the farmer to obtain the gold to pay
of his mortgage. Before the increase
in the value Of gold l.0O0 bushels Of
wheat would have sufiiced to pay of
the mortgage, but as the value Of gold
has appreciated. he finds that his wheat
has deprecated from tl a bushel to.
say. 75 cents a bushel. in that case he
would have to sell 1888 bushels Of
wheat to pay of his mortgage.
That farmers have been subjected to
such losses by the demonetisation Of
silver is shown by the most reliable sta
tistics. prepared and circulated by the
United States department. Of agricul-
ture, and will not be denied
II Is true. as the goldbugs contend.
that England. France, Germany. Italy.
Spain and some other countries have
the gold standard. And 30 1t may be