Conservative. 11 >
if , it does not possess requirements for
exchanges bet ween nations , or exchanges
between individuals of the same nation.
As a supplemental money , it cannot bo
too highly commended. The silver dollar
lar , for every-day small transactions , is
far superior to the gold dollar , but to
coin silver in twenty-dollar pieces would
make these coins inconvenient and un
desirable for use iu small transactions.
Silver has not and will not longer stand
tlio tests required of it as a national and
international money standard metal.
The advocates of silver , through some
legerdemain of legislation , insist that the
United States
FUEE COIN-AUK
FALLACIES.
Qf
vor equal to one of gold , or in other
words , that one ounce of gold should
not be worth more than sixteen ounces
of silver. Approximately , at this time ,
an ounce of gold is worth thirty-two
ounces of silver. In other words it
takes twice the labor to produce one
ounce of gold that it docs sixteen ounces
of silver. That there are very many
students of the money question who
firmly believe that if the great nations
of the world could be allied , and there
could be an agreement among these na
tions to throw open their mints to the
free and unlimited coinage of both gold
and silver , a predetermined ratio of
sixteen grains of silver to one grain of
gold could be maintained.
Efforts have been made by several of
the great nations to secure such an inter
national agreement. Commissioners of
the great nations have mot more than
once in convention , clotlied with auth
ority to act in the consideration of the
ratios of the metals , and to determine
whether it would bo possible to arrive at
an agreement to open mints to the free
coinage of both metals. Each conven
tion , however , in its deliberations , so fai
as we can determine , has gotten furthei
away from an agreement than when the
first convention mot in the city of Paris
in 1878. It is plain to be seen that the
great nations of the world have reached
the conclusion that has been forced upon
i them by nature's laws , namely , that
gold is the best standard , and it is
equally significant that they have no in
clination to retiirn to a silver standard
or to a double standard.
Since Braddock's defeat in Pennsyl
vania , in the last century , there has
been a constant
THE SIAUCH
pushing out towards
OF EMl'IKK.
wards the West by
an aggressive , irresistible people , willing
to endure hardships , willing to struggle
with obstacles , willing to venture all in
the building up of now states , to become
a part and parcel of the American sys
tem.
tem.Great
Great empires have been builded ; first
of these may bo known as comprising
the Middle Western States. The Missis
sippi was reached in the first half of the
century. The western boundaries of the
tates on the Mississippi wore soon
rossed. The population rapidly scat-
; ered over the entire area of the trans-
Mississippi country. The acquisitions
of California and the territory now oc
cupied by the states of Oregon and
Washington made these aggressive peo-
) le almost jump across a country as
argo as all the then settled portion of
: he United states. Great states have
) een founded and admitted as a part of
; ho American Union. The growth of
; he intermediate country between the
Mississippi and the Pacific ocean has
been very rapid. The discovery of pre
cious minerals in many places in the
rans-Mississippi country added greatly
; o the incentives and inducements for a
forward movement of that over-restless
class that has been common in the
United States since the foundation of
ho national government. So rapid was
; he growth of the Pacific states that the
government , in the stress of a great war ,
'elt the need of a continental railroad.
tt lent its credit and made large dona-
; ions of the public domain to secure its
juilding. This was but the foremiiner
of other continental lines which have
succeeded it , making no less than six
great lines now crossing this continent ,
all of which are sustained by the com
merce of the world and the commerce
of the country which these roads tra
verse. Not only railroad enterprises ,
but other great works and undertakings
have been initiated and fostered by the
people in the extreme eastern states of
the nation. Thej- have loaned their
capital , given their energies and best
abilities to the development of these
great enterprises in the country lcno\vn
as the West. The interest of the people
of the East in the states of Nebraska , of
Wyoming , Montana and Idaho , is just
as great as that of the people living in
those states. A railroad board of di
rectors living in the state of New York ,
the banker in Boston , and the manufact
urer in Philadelphia each day read the
crop reports of the great wheat and corn
belts of the United States with the most
intense interest. With the greatest care
they anticipate and measure what the
harvest will be. They study the prices
current to determine whether the farm
er will have much to ship , and whethei
the prices will justify the agriculturist
in making large demands upon the trans
portation companies. The railroad ofll
cial is extremely anxious that the crops
shall be large , and that the prices pau
the farmer shall bo remunerative-
upon these two things depend whethei
he can make successful returns to those
who have invested capital in the trans
portation companies. The banker ii
Wall Street is equally interested , because
the crops and price therefor determine
whether the transportation companie
can refund their obligations , meet the
operating expenses and interest on thoi
bonds promptly. The manufacture
watches to determine , if possible , to
vhat capacity he shall run his plant , as "
his soles to the merchant will be deter
mined by the condition which the agri
culturist shall be in after ho has har
vested and marketed the crops of the
season. Hence , it will bo scon thrtin- . . .
stead of there being distinct interests , $3 $
there is a common interest , and ho who if ?
is known as the manager of a corpora
tion , the president of a bank , or the'head
of a great manufacturing plant , instead
of being opposed to the farmer and try
ing to destroy him , has his highest and
best interests at heart ; indeed , his own
success depends upon the success of
him who cultivates the earth , and ex
torts from it its annual crops. Every /
class , be it the humblest who works in L
the mine , the poorest and least intelli
gent in the field , or the herder of the
flocks , or the capitalist possessing mil
lions in the eastern cities , has the same
interest in a standard of money which
shall have the least fluctuation , which is
the best in the making of exchanges
throughout the world ; a standard which
has the most qualities to commend it ,
and is the least objectionable from all
points of view.
The speaker has believed that a double
standard might be maintained through
international
NO IXTBUXATIOXngreemcnfc. . Such
AL AGKEEMENTjm
jm R r Q m QU
POSSIBLE.
however , appears
no longer probable. The gold standard
is rapidly being accepted by all the na
tions that have heretofore clung to sil
ver. That the displacement of silver
and the supremacj' of gold as a standard
has been brought about by conditions
not the result of legislation , or the re--
suit of any effort on the part of banks ,
banking institutions or individuals , but
from natural causes , is rapidly becom
ing a fixed conviction. It has come as
all advancements and improvements
come. In the end we adopt instruments
and appliances which seem to bo the
best adapted for the work wo have to do.
This has been none the less true with
reference to money. The change has
been gradual. One nation has followed
another until gold has become the well-
nigh universal standard of the world.
Bimetallism was adopted in Great
Britain early in the eighteenth century.
It was tried , but unsuccessfully.
Though there were enactments , and
every effort was made , silver and gold
were not maintained at a parity , at any
fixed ratio , and after the trial of nearly
a century , Great Britain , in 181(5 ( , aban
doned bimetallism and wont to mono
metallism , and it is scarcely possible
that Great Britain will over in this re
gard retrace her steps.
In the United Status , after great con
sideration and careful tests as to the val
ues of gold and silver wore made , bi
metallism was es-
HIMKTALL1SM 1MtrtbijshJl. . ft Wa8
PUACTICABLE. licccssarv subsequently -
quently to change the ratio fixed , but