The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1900-07-04
SEN. TELLER'S SPEECH
Assuming Temporary Chair
manship of Silver Repub-
Iican Convention.

Grave questions are presented % t1lS
American people for their consideration
and determination in the coming cam
paign- Questions Of foreign ana uornesSlc
policies growing out of or incident TO the
last Spanish war, have especially attract
ed the attention OF the people curing ms s N
last two years and VIII continue 70 10 -
Questions new TO US and involving HuSn
70 others as well as ourselves. can not ,, es
readily disposed OF, but great as ~, IhsSs So
questions are they must not and VIII not
be allowed to obscure the great and sIll
unsettled question, w hat Snall De the
financial system CT the Republic?
I say still unsettled question. because
no great economic question can De SET
tied until IL IS settled in a way 10 do Jus
tice TO AL We do not believe the action
of a Republican administration IN est4 o-
fishing the gold standard with a carefully
prepared plan to destroy the greenbacks
treasury notes, silver certificates. and sill
Yer dollars. and turn over to the ma
tional banks tbs issue OF all paper money
that the commercial needs of the people
NAV demand. meets with the approba tien
Of the people The people believe that gold
and silver coins are the money OF the con
stitutior and that if paper money is 10
be issued. il should bear the stamp OF
the government and haze back OF II the
wealth and power of the nation and not
that OF d private corporation
States government is better able to- sup
port. regulate and control a paper issue
poration may be. OF however wise may
He CRITICISED the gold standard legisla-
ton of the last session OF congress and
surely with this. and the establishment
of the gold standard. making all other
money redeemable in gold, and thus max
ing gold the only real money of the coun-
try IL is not unreasonable to suppose the
people may still believe the financial ques-
ton is one in which they still have deep
Cold and silver constitute the worlds
money. whether We have the gold stand
yer standard. These two metals have al
ways been and always will be sought af-
Neither can be wholly dispensed with
whatever be the financial system With
to go with il Both metals possess in
trinsie beauty-bOth exchangeable value
Their intrinsic qualities make them val
liable as money Cold ana sllEer are me
things that no man has ever mad q sur
plus Of Has he much or little. ne wants
more be ne young or old. ne sNchshsss
his dearest possessions for gold and Sll-
Yer. To secure these metals men riSk
health, honor life itself, and even their
hope OF heaven In pursuit OF them they
NIT to cold munger ana GsprlEati1SIs OF
all kinds There IS no place so not or
Will not GO TO II II silver ana gold af5 g
be had Tropical and frozen zones ankle
are sea- Sieu IIt e1As-Al- - - -.--e
are high enough, no rocks hard enough
TO hide and 70 hold from the miners eye
the precious metals he Knows, as Joe
did, That there IS VEN Iof silFer anu
place for gold He appreciates that the
pursuit may be dangerous to health and
life and that GlSappolnIInenl may oe as
reward for a life Of toll. but he knows
that success comes to some and ne hopes
It may come TO him He circles the world
in the pursuit of the precious metals and
if he is successful. his success is at
mans expense If wealth comes TO him
by the discovery OF mine he robs no
man. but adds TO the world : wealth He
find; all the world are helped by his sue
cess. What he produces belongs to man
kind and performs an office without
which commerce would sink into fnsig-
nificance-without which civilization and
culture would shrink and shFIgel and the
world retrograde instead of progress his
production Of these precious metals IS an
unending benefaction. because the pro
a
day only Their indesLrucCible character
gives them almost an Immortality of
fitness and amid the changes Of time
they will still be the most useful and de-
sirabIe possession Of man
He concluded that the pursuit of the
ana asked if We Should place obstacles
in the way of those who search out hid
den riches OF the earth and dedicate them
to the use OF mankind
The senator reviewed the action of the
national Republican convention of 1896
and the SUBSEQUENT legislation and said:
when congress assembled in 1897. the
Senate was a free coinage body not Yet
under the control Of the Republican
party. and the administration. taking ad-
vantage Of a law proE1sIng Tor an inter
national conference passed under the
sion TO Europe. professedIy to secure in
terna tional birnetallisrn in accordance
commission to the United States. the
chairman in speech in the senate,
with having opposed the efforts of the
commission and with having injured if
success He failed to mention the stin
more effective efforts of the president to
defeat the commission, by a message to
congress declaring for the gold standard.
No further attempt has been made to Sc
cure international birnetaIlism, and all
pretenses that the party Is In favor or II
have been abandoned during the last two
years
majority Of both branches of congress
the gold standard bill was pressed In con-
greSs, ana received the vote OF every Re,
publican in both branches, save one, and
that one from New England
THE party is now declaring that 1t kept
all the promises made at St Louis, by
establishing the gold standard It did not
gold standard: if it had done so it would
not now be in power. II promised TO main
tain the then existing gold standard a
very different thing from the present gold
standard The party has not kept It's
promise and has not made good It's
pledges as to the financial system Of the
country; on the contrary. it has done
what its opponents declare II would do
and its supporters declared il would not
The Republican party has thrown OF
the mask and no longer preten1s to favor
even international bimetallism. It Is
we'll that it should do so, for the pledge
of 1896 was made to secure votes, as was
frankly admitted by leading Republicans
as soon as the campaign was over. The
speakers at Philadelphia, in nominating
their candidates. gloried in the gold stand
achievements, the destruction OF silver as
The claim was made that the stimulus
TO business experienced in the last few
years was due. largely to the increase Of
the gold output and the continued produc-
ton OF silver, thus confirming the bin1et-
aIlists cumulative theory of money.
During the last four years" he said.
s'the world has produced over one thousand
million dollars of gold and about eight
hundred millions dollars of silver. This
great production of gold and silver has
stimulated business throughout the world.
The gold standard countries have apprO-
priated the gold and the silver standard
countries the silver and the result has
been as we predicted an Improvement of
inc = r1~.~w
of the world. Even our opponents now ad-
NIT that the increased production of gold
IS n blessing 70 mankind and profess to
hope that the production may grow
larger and not less This IS vindication
of our contention Of 1895 that The business
world was suffering because OF a lack Of
metallic money