New-York tribune., 1900-09-25

SIAIEEH ~ OHE.
Since Mr.. Bryan discovered the inefdcency as
a campaign bogie of his paramount issue OF So
called imperialism he has found voice once
more on the silver question. and in his letter
of acceptance he declared himself as follows:
The platform reiterates the demand for an
American financial system made by the Ameri-
can people for themselves. The purpose OF such
a system is TO restore and MAINTAIN o!rnelaliIe
level Of prices and in order that there may be
no uncertainty as to the method of restoring
bimetallism the specific declaration IN favor OF
free and unlimited coinage at the existing ratio
OF 16 to /, independent of the action OF other
nations, is repeated.
This he calls 1.-The gold and silver coinage OF
the Constitution" OF course, everybody fami-
lar with the Constitution knows that neither
bimetallism nor any ratio is mentioned In
that instrument The sole mention of either
gold or silver in the Constitution is in the
clause forbidding any State TO make anything
"but gold and silver coin a tender in payment
"of debts" To Congress is reserved the power
ito coin money and regulate the value thereon,
and Of foreign coin" These two phrases are
all that make the money Of the Constitution"
Where then does Mr.. Bryan find his con
stitutional authority for bimetallism at the
sacred ratio of 16 tC 1 or any other ratio? Ger
tainly not in the Constitution itself. and equally
as certainly not in Statute /, the coinage act
Of April 2 1892. That celebrated act, drafted
by Alexander Hamilton declared that the pro-
"portionaI value Of gold to silver in all coins
which shall by law be current as money within
1.-The United States shall be as Is to l." This
was "the dollar of our daddies"-a Is TO l
dollar, not a 16 TO 1 dollar This law Of 1872
was the first law that the Congress Of the
United States enacted on the money question,
and II said nothing about Is to 1.
How is IL that the fathers missed the magic
ratio Of 16 TO and lighted upon Is to 1?
Thomas Jefferson the father Of Democracy,
| explained II in his famous Notes on the Estab-
lshment of Monetary Unit" He said:
| The proportion between the values of gold
! and silver is a mercantile problem altogether.
Just principles will lead us to disre-
! gard legal proportions altogether; to inquire
! into the market price of gold IN the several
! connected in commerce, and TO take an average
| from them. It is not impossible that 10
to ! may be found an eligible proportion.
There was no sacred ratio in those days. The
proportion was arrived at after a careful study
Of the commercial situation throughout the
world by Jefferson, Hamilton and Morris. The
| two latter evidently agreed with Jefferson that
| perhaps we might with safety lean toward
proportion somewhat above par for gold" for
they found the commercial ratio to be 1412 to
| and accepted his suggestion of Is to 1. The rea-
sons for this choice Of ratio are found in Ham
tons report:
Perhaps. If either were to be preferred, 1t ought
! TO be gold AS long as gold, either from
/ its intrinsic superiority as a metal from its
! greater rarity or from the prejudices Of man
| kind retains considerable pre-eminence in
value over silver as 1t has hitherto had, natu-
raj consequence seems to be that it's situation
| will be more stationary. The revolutions, there
! fore, which may take place in the comparative
| value Of gold and silver will be changes in the
state Of the latter, rather than In that of the
| former.
This ratio, then, the ratio of IS to l. was
adopted after mature consideration and with a
sincere effort to keep coins minted from both
gold and silver in concurrent circulation. with
slight preference for gold as a circulating
medium, IL either metal should show a tendency
TO disappear in accordance with Greshams law
1t was an experiment-the first law ever passed
establishing double standard of values-and
1t failed to work. By 1884 the failure was rec
ognized and the cheapening of silver had driven
gold out OF circulation.
The sacred ratio Of 10 to 1 was then put on
the statute books. Why? The records of Con
gress prove that the ratio was changed for the
purpose OF inviting gold to the country and re-
ducing silver to a secondary place. Since then
no business transaction has been entered into
in the United States on any other basis than
that Of the gold dollar standard. Even while
the country was In the throes of the Civil
War and values were reckoned in deprecated
greenbacks, the depreciation of the greenbacks
was measured by their relation to gold This
ratio, adopted in 1884 to attract gold and drive
out silver, is the one with which Bryan wants
70 establish his American financial system'
it is the God-given ratio of which one enthus
astic orator asserted: God created gold and
"silver and deposited them in the Businesses OF
1.-THE mountains in the proportion of 10 to l."
Jefferson tried TO maintain A double standard
by studying the commercial ratio and adjust
ing the legal ratio thereto Bryan picks ou
the gold bug" ratio of 1894, without regard tc
the present commercial ratio, and insists tha
simple enactment Of Congress can restore
an equilibrium which did not exist in the days
Of Jefferson, which never had existed befor,
his days and which has not existed for NOR,
than twenty years But" he says "tht
crime Of 1873 destroyed that equilibrium" II
the fifth century the ratio was to l. In tn,
twelfth century 1t was TO l. Did the "crimr
OF 1873" cause the change? Two hundred year
later it was IA TO l. Was that the result o.
the "crime Of 1879? Now It is 80 to l. "Oh
yes" says Bryan, this comes from the Grim,
r Of 1S73.'" Does any sane man believe him