The silver messenger. (Challis, Idaho) 1890-1912, 1902-08-26
An Illinois democrat. who de-

NIL 1lOBhlASs dohS NIL DIydLi
whether he still believes in free
coinage at 16 to /, and whether
he would favor such a law if he
were president. Yes. The doc
trine of bimetallism is as sound
today as it ever was. The reas-
ons for it are not altered by a
temporary Improvement in in
dustrial conditions. In fact, bet.
ter times in the United States
are due to an increased volume
Of money, and better times,
therefore, vindicate the conten-
ton of bimetallists and establish
the quantitative theory of money.
Bimetallism is not a wild scheme
suggested as a possible relief
from a panic; it is a system of
finance approved by centuries of
experience and calculated to pre-
vent such panics as are due to
the scarcity of money. The in
creased production of gold has
to some extent lessened the strain
upon it, but this nation has been
receiving more than its share
and the recent expectations of
the yellow metal indicate that
the work of equalization has be-
gun. Less than half the world
nses q gold standard today, and
il India and China were driven
to the gold standard the rise in
the purchasing power of the dol
lar would again become marked.
The man who becomes a convert
to the gold standard because of
the unexpected increase in the
production of gold is as short
sighted as a man who would stop
work because his neighbors got
up a donation party and gave
him a weeks supply of food.
Fluctuations in the production of
the precious metals have occur
red before, and they give sup
port to the bimetallic theory.
Other questions are for the
time being more important than
the money question, but that fact
does not justify an abandonment
of the party's position on the
.snbiect. If one child is sick the
parents can give it special atten-
ton without putting the other
children out of the house. So a
party meets new issues, but it
cannot afford to abandon its posi-
ton on any question if that posi-
ton is right. 1t may be added
that the enemies of b%imetallism
never fought an open fight and
are as deceitful and treacherous
today as they ever were. They
are now scheming to secure,
without the knowledge of the
people, an asset currency, a
branch bank and a redeemable
silver dollar-each proposition
a part of the gold standard
plan to turn the entire country
over to the financiers; and those
democrats who want to drop
the money question" are either
intentionally or ignorantly aiding
and abetting the Wall street
And the ratio /? There is no
practicable ratio but 16 to L.
Those who oppose that ratio
never have done anything to re-
store bimetallism and never will.
1T is the ratio at which gold and
silver circulate in this country
today and other countries have
substantially the same ratio. The
republican party is in power and
has within three years coined
more silver than has ever before
been coined in this country in
the same length of time, and yet
no republican has proposed to
change the ratio. The republi-
bans should either change the
ratio or cease to find fault with
Vt. The man who opposes BIZ
metallism usually favors the
god standard in it's place, but
the man who opposes 16 to 1