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7, Tha Democratic Platform Strikes at the Government's Foundation. FREE SILVER NOT BIMETALLISM. Condition of Affairs Worse than War Would Result from Dem­ ocratic Success* In, a speech delivered at St . Paul Au­ gust 4. Senator C, K. Davis pointed out very clearly the fact that free si lver is not "bimetall ism .and showed what evil results would follow Democratic suc­ cess. He said that for the first t ime since the election next preced­ ing the groat Civil , war, we ar« ' required to guard the very founda- ' t ions.and bulwarks of national stabil i ty, of commercial honesty, of f inancial . . Con­ duct . _ The Democratic party which met at Chicago in convention in July suffered . a wonderful change in that convention. The old oracles and guides of the party were rudely turned aside. I t was occu­ pied and demoniacally possessed by a new spiri t--something which has not raised i ts head in the poli t ical conventions of ei ther party for thir ty years. If there was any one thing which the 2,000.000 of men who went out to defend this coun­ try thir lv years ago thought that they had entirely obli terated when they re­ turned, i t was the malign doctrine of s tate r ights, which lay at the bottom and was the impetus of the greatest rebell ion which ever reared i ts head against a civil ized government. Lo and behold, in that convention, from the state of South Carolina, as of yore, you find the declaration of the same state rights, in the same spiri t as in the an­ cient t i i i ie . and done in a connection, my follow cit izens, which, must appeal to the resentment and repugnance of every l ib- erty-Ioving and country-loving man. Ev­ eryone who knows anything about me knows that I am not a poli t ical admirer of Grover Cleveland? but if there was nny one act of his administrat ion which, after the contentions of history have ceased to rage about his acts and his memory, that will remain star-bright , forever, i t was his action, when the pulse of business beat low, when com­ mercial intercourse was cut oft" by r ioters in Chicago, by wlrieh, upon principles^ and precedents laid down by George Wash­ ington 100 years before, he evoked the strong arm of the United States to re­ store law and order in this country. [Anrdause and cheers.] This act is covert ly (and covert ly is too mild a word) denounced in t l ie Chi­ cago platform. More than that . If there is anything in this country or in any na­ t ion upon which the stabil i ty of the gov­ ernment depends, the very keystone of the great arch upon which the ranged empire stands, the ult imate principle of nbsoluteism that must exist somewhere in al l governments, i t is the courts of our laadf-where -kh-» -seq u e s t or cd f-r-om-poli th cal concerns and poli t ical ambitious, holding the scales of just ice even be­ tween contending passions and contend­ ing rights, decide for their fel low cit izens what the law is. And for more than 100 years the Supreme court of the United States has sat in that exalted posit ion, midway in the capitol of the nation be­ tween the Senate and the House of Rep­ resentatives, a typical object lesson of their posit ion and of their sublime ra­ pacity to restrain ei ther, and has done more to conduct the government to ihe high plane which i t occupies, 1 was going to say. than all the statesmen which this country has ever produced. (Applause.) The Chicago platform str ikes , ' i t that court , s tr ikes at al l courts , and enun­ ciates i ts malign prophesy of the reor­ ganization of that court and of any otner court if necessary, to register the fi tful and passionate and repudiating edicts of mistaken and misguided men, of mistaken and misguided part ies. A Crisis is Impending. And worse than that , my fellow cit i­ zens--worse than that! If there was another thing which the veterans of the last war thought they had achieved and which the loyal sentiment of the North thought i t had achieved, i t was the ob­ l i terat ion of al l sectionalism in this coon- try; we were to have no South, no North, no East , no West, any more. The whole country was to be a unity. But in these late. days, we see the solid South com­ ing up to the banks of the Ohio and the Missouri as before the war, and with sectional demands upon an economic is­ sue, precisely stwh us was made before t_e Rebell ion. And now, with the pitch­ fork of Til lman st irr ing up the doctrine of s tate r ights, witf t ' fhe bomb of Altgeld in t he denunc ia t ion o f ou r cou r t s a n d o f President Cleveland thrown under the very fabric of our government, they have chosen to put forward as an issue some­ thing which touches more immediately the conviction, the passions, the cupidity and the honesty of men. and wliieh' in i t­ self contains more disintegrating influ­ ences t o ou r p rospe r i t y t han ' a l l t h e causes combined t ha t I have m e n t i o n e d ! The Democra t i c conven t ion , ( ) r t h e Democra t i c pa r ty , a s now o rgan ized , h a s ioined the Populist party in bonds of un­ holy wedlock upon the demand that the United States shall take a posit ion upon the currency of this country which 1. speaking to you under the responsibil i ty of a man who is speaking to his neigh­ bors, Kay that I believe is fraught" n*!th more disaster to this country than the greatest foreign war could possibly b ' iu" about. (Applause.) And that is the subject that I have been asked to talk to you tonight about I am going to do so, as I said in the be­ ginning, not with any at tempt at deco­ rat ive speech, not denouncing any men who may choose to differ from rue, for I tel l you, my fellow cit izens, that l i iany md many a thousand men who differ from us today on this matter one year from now will be wondering whv "and how they came to do i t . (Appiause ) And so I shall go on. I may be tedious I am going to give you facts and in­ u res . I am r io t go ing 10 d raw on m y own imagination for my facts at •i l l Tihe facts that I shall give you will be impregnable. I t is for yoi ' i to. , jut l-o whether the deductions I s l j ; , | ] j r a \v from them can be refuted. Now what is the question? For a cor­ rect understanding of the question' is al­ ways the first s tep towards the solution of the controversy. The question is not whether there ' should be the free and unlimited coinage of s i lver in t | I 0 mints of al l the nations, by the consent of the principal commercial nations of the globe upon a rat io to be agreed upon. That is not the issue. "We al l might agree that when this is brought about, as it wil l be if the United States conducts i tself with judgment upon this question, I pay we might al l agree that that would be an excellent thing. The Republican party has pledget! i tself in successive^platform's to labor to bring about i i^ernational agreement. The most advanced think­ ers Upon financial questions in both hemispheres are advocating, especial ly in foreign lands, the resumption of the eoin- • age of si lver, by united action of nations who, before we did, long ago. independ­ ently of us, and uncontrollable by us suspended or l imited the„ further coinage of si lver; and I .want to say one thing "to you--that not one of these professors in foreign universi t ies, not one of these economists whose name and fame are world-wide, and not one of those great f inanciers who have given days and years of thought to this subject ,-not one, and nobody except the leaders of the modern Democracy and Populism, has ventured to advise his own country in Europe to undertake that task alone. (Applause.) The question is this , and nothing more: Shall the United States, alone, under­ take the free and unlimited coinage of si l­ ver at a rat io of 10 to 1? (A few cries of "yes" and "no," and repeated cries of "no.") Now, see you gentlemen over there who called "yes/ ' , and you gentle­ men here who called "no," shows the difference of opinion upon this subject ( laughter) , and to you over there who come to l isten to me, you will , l is ten dis­ passionately, you will digest my argu­ ments, and I hope . f inally that by the t ime you ha've done so, thoroughly that you will be inclined to shout "no" with • ; th§ gentlemen who responded when you responded. . "(Cheering and applause.) Now, let us be entirely good-natured about this . 1 am going to try to give you the facts , and \ repeat ' i t , the issue- is whether the United States shall at­ tempt to do that thing alone, in the face of the controll ing fact tha§ every civilized commercial natioiv upon the face of the earth, except the Central Amer­ ican and South American states, years ago and before we did abandoned i t ut­ terly. And if I shall succeed in con­ vincing any of our fr iends that we are not in posit ion to do i t without infl ict ing upon the country and upon us nil injuries which i t wil l take a generation" to re­ pair , 1 shall be more than rewarded £or the pains that 1 have taken, the ob­ servations thafTl have made, the studies ITiave gone through and-the reflections which have brought me to my present convictions. (Applause.) Shall We Go Backward or Forward? Shall we, for our own interests stand along with those nations with which we have classed ourselves and who are lead­ ing the march of humanity, or shall we go with Mexico, South America, China and Japan, the rearward--half ot the great army of human progress, and join those imperfect and rudimentary civil iza­ t ions, which are an oeoti lar demonstra­ t ion that no nation ever undertook alone the coinage of free si lver that did not de­ prive i tself of gold entirely. (Applause.) And you have but to g l a n c e upon the map of your school boy or school gir l , your l i t t le son or daughter, to see the fact recorded there for the education of •youth, to know that every one of those nations stands upon a lower scale of progress than the nations which have declared the policy upon which the Unit­ ed States now stands. My fellow cit izens, t-hc warnings of his­ tory are al l .against i t . The present ex­ amples of nations who singly are endeav­ oring to sustain themselves under a single standard forbid us to enter upon a voy­ age upon, I was going to say. untried waters, but no, upon a voyage which we can plainly see other nations are making at the present t ime, where we can plain­ ly view rocKs of distress, the shoals and quicksands of their course from the se­ cure mainland upon which the American people now stand, and from which our opponents ar<? at tempting to lure them by false l ights and false alarms. (Ap­ plause.) Now we have got to tako facts csaCtly as they are. We are not dealing with gli t tering and glowing generali t ies. We are administering society and human con­ cerns: society, a being perfectly concrete, infinitely practicable, somewhat self ish, and I am going to appeal to the self ish­ ness of this audience to know whether they will assist in bringing about that which I think I can prove will result from the arts of the gentlemen who are at tempting to mislead them. Now, my friends, the world is divided, just as sharply as i t is by oceans and mountain chains, between the gold coun­ tr ies, who employ concurrently with gold more si lver money than all the si lver countries contain or circulate. (Ap­ plause.) I say that the gold countries of this world, including Ihe United Stales (and I call them gold countries for the purpose not of definit ion, but of clear­ ness of expression), employ and circulate more si lver than all the si lver countries of t in; world employ, contain or circulate. I make another proposit ion. 1 appeal to history and to contemporary facts which no man can dispute, that every free coinage country is on a si lver basis . Isn ' t that so? (Cries of "Yes.") I make another statement for von to think of. for I am not going to elaborate i t--I am going to get into the figures pretty soon --every gold country u s e s si lver and gold "in amounts nearly equal by m o n e y na­ t ions. Isn ' t that ' so? (Cries of "S'e«."t Isn ' t that so in the United States? 'Cries of "Yes. ' ) In Uranee? (Voices "Yes.") I make another statement for your calm and cool reflection, that no si l­ ver s tandard country has any gold mon­ ey whatever. (Applause.) Don' t take my word for if . (Jo and investigate this subject . I say that no si lver country has any gold money whatever, and you ran search from Mexico to ("Jape Horn and f i n d t h a t t h i s s t a t e m e n t i s c o r r e c t . Another statement and I make if up­ on a sense of inv responsibil i ty after an exhaustive examination of stat ist ics, in­ vestigations ami records-that in every si lver standard country wages are pressed down to the very minimum of a wretched subsistence. I t is so in Mexico, i t is so in Julian, i t is so j n South America. 1 say that in every si lver com Now if i t 1 li** I 'easoiiH, is i rno (I wil l r u n W.MiTPS are pressed down to the very minimum ol a wretched subsistence. pr< , net go into the reasons for i t) , but if i t i s t rue as a concrete, absolute fact , that no si lver country, no country which has adopted the si lver standard has any gold circula­ t ion whatever. I say that i t fol lows that the only practicable bimetall ism on ihe planet is by the nations with which the United States has classed i tself . . and it is this bimetall ism in the U n i f e d States which the new Democracy and Popu­ lism aro endeavoring to destroy -by"sub­ st i tut ing a si lver nfoUotnetal l isni/ (Ap­ plause.) The bimetall ism which this country and the nations of which I have s p o k e n e n j o y i s t h e b i m e t a l l i s m o f f a c t and actual enjoyment extending to ihat full extent which human judgment, hu­ man experience, human apprehension - call i t what you will--teach is th port ion in which the metals can 1 ployed in a degree that one will 'not de­ stroy (Si1 drive out the oil ier and ihat b o t h c a n c o - e x i s t t o g e t h e r , ( A p p l a u s e . ) For-there is , my fel low - ci t izens, an un­ questionable dividing line--• I shall prove i t further along, though i t is . not neces­ sary for men who have read historv. even cursori ly, for me lo prove . i t -- there is a dividing l ine beyond which you can­ not pass in the employment of (he metal of less value without i ts driving out the other and entirely, supplanting i t . And 1 say that l ie who insists (I say if logical­ ly) that the United States shall or can. acting alone, coin si lver without l imit , as required by the Democratic and Pop­ ulist platforms, is not a biinotall ist : he is a si lver monometall ist . who. after spend­ ing years in at tacking what he* deems the idol of the dark idolatry of mono­ metall ism. ends bv immolating himself upon i ts al tar . (Applause,) Now let me right hcre^-nof exactly i n the logical connection-- thrpvv out . a thought which to me has a great deal of consequence. I t is represented that gold has become a tyrant , that i ts power has become omnipotent .absolutely Selfish and cruel; that i t has become a metal which great combinations, perhaps of nations, perhaps of capital ists , hoard and gather for the oppression of mankind. Now let mo call your at tention to one fact . The free-coiners assert , when they are told that the increased output of gold is going to tend very much and by natural pro­ cesses to solve this questiou. that from one-half to one-third of the gold annually produced in the world goes into the arts . This statement is probably an exaggera­ t ion. I t is ,probable that one-quarter of the gold of the world produced annually goes into the arts , and it : has been doing i t for centuries. Consider lor a mo­ ment, my fellow-cit izens, what an enor­ mous sum, enormous aggregate--three bil l ions, perhaps four bil l ions, of dollars are lying in the shape of golden orna­ ments, thousands of dollars of them in this room tonight. Now I want to ask, you this question, if there Is a gold fam­ ine. if the power of gold is so absolute and tyrannical as i t "is claimed, if i ts possession i t i the shape Of coin gives i ts owner such sway over the destiny and fortune of his fel low man, how is i t that this , enormous amount of gold, per­ haps one-third of that"whieh is i l l exist­ ence, has t*ot shown the least symptom yet of going into the melt ing pot to be turned into coiriV But we hear a great deal about the,de­ monetization of si lver, and one would think to hear otir free-coiner fr iend's de­ claim that si lver 'had been entirely de­ monetized, that by sorpe malign influ­ ence the money , function of si lver throughout the world. had been entirely abrogated, and i t is i t very catching phrase. I t has been, a very catching assumption, for I will not call i t an argu­ ment. Now, I say, my fellow cit izens, that , properly considering facts , that state­ ment is inaccurate, not to say untrue. I assert that si lver l ias never been demon­ etized in the sense in* which that charge has been made. • (Applause.) Demone­ tization means to divest of s tandard value as money, and I say ibis has not been done with any dollar of si lver coin that was ever minted at any mint. (Ap­ plause.) I t is t rue that many nations who have approached the danger l ine of which I fpoke a few moments ago, when one metal drives out another, that many nations have tohl the owners of si lver which lay concealed in the earth we will not longer buy i t a t a certain rat io and, at a certain price. Even that has not been entirely done, and I repeat my statement Ihat the assert ion that si lver has been demonetized is one calculated to mislead, and is not t rue in fact . "Tlie ( rime of "7:5." All our woes are dated from 1 S7f!. tTie period when the free-coiners persuade their , disciples that , to use their stock ex­ pression, si lver was demonetized, or that one-half of the aggregate wealth of l i re world was struck down at a blow. Now let us bring this statement, to the crucial , absolute lest of f igures, of what records find stat ist ics say upon this subject , and not t rust to 1 Ik? vague declamation of any person. The value (and 1 will give you my authori ty for this statement in a moment) , the value of al l s i lver coin in the world in 1873 was $1,877,000,000. In 1895 i t was $4.100.001 >.000. The value of al l the gold coin in the world in 1,S7. 'S was .$, '1,0to,000,000; the value of t i l l the gold coin in the world in 1805 was $4.200,000,000. Of this quanti ty of si l­ ver current in the world in 1805, $o,43S>,- nOO.OOO was full legal tender, Now at­ tend to me for a moment while the math­ ematical deduction is made. By this statement i t appears that the quanti ty of gold Ii i the world increased,"between 187- ' ' . and 180.1, only .$1,200,000,000, while the increase of si lver coin for the same period was .$2,28.". 000.000--more coined in the twenty-three years since 1S7."> than remained up to that t ime of al l the coinage of the world since Noah left the ark. (Applause.) And nearly double more si lver has been coined than gold since 1S70. What becomes, then, of the assert ion of the equal and equable production of si lver and gold from year to year since t ime began, and of the de­ monetization of si lver since J ST."I . in the face of this showing that , between 187. ' j and 1895 the coinage of si lver was near­ ly twice greater than that of gold? They talk of the demonetization of si lver since "187:! in the lace of a si lver coinage throughout the world since that year of over $2,000,000,000. of which $5. 'J8,- 444.-107 was minted by ' the United States! (Applause.) And of gold the United States minted during the ' same period $037,4(10.(>o3. And here, also, is answered a statement confidently made and plausibly maintained, and yet erron­ eous in fact", that there- l ias in al l this l ime, been an cnoFinous contraction of the currency all over the world, yet these f igures conclusively demonstrate that that statement is not t rue. Now, my friends. 1 have not taken this from Ihe stat ist ics of any oil ier speaker or from any other book. 1 know where the stat ist ics are gathered with the care which commands the respect and confi­ dence of the civil ized world; , and on the 20th of July (only a few days ago) 1 telegraphed to the director of the mint regarding information upon these sub­ jects . and ho answered tnc: "Hon. ( ' . K. Davis, St . Paul, Minn.: The total value of al l s i lver coined in the world in 187." 1 est imate to have been $1 ,S 17,000.000 and ISO.". $4.100.000,000. The world 's stock <-l gold in 1S7. '1 is es­ t imated t.5 have been $.".015,000,000 and 1805 about $4,200.(100.000. I{. f t . Pres­ ton. director ot the mint ." And these f igures 1 have ju. ' t given you are the fig­ ures. which 1 have just read in the t ide- gram of the director. The greatest busi­ ness transactions in the way of f inance on the face of the earth are made upon statements l ike that , and when what I have said is discussed the- only answer that wil l be made to i t is probably that Mr. Preston and the United Slates gov­ ernment is one general universal ' gold bug. (Laughter.) Now let me give you another state­ ment. The coinage of the nations of the World in 1802. 180". and 1804 was as follow s: ( iold, $172.47.",124 • s i lver $155,517. .147: ISOT gold, $11." 12 420.517 : si lver. $1.",7.052,000: in 1.804, gold $"27 - 021.0:12: s i lver. SI 13.005.7.N. '{, A total in three years of $1 ,<K10,.°>80,408. With all deductions for reeoinage this output of coined money is of immense volume. Now 1 have thrown out these sugges­ t ions and will pass from that branch of t he discussion and call your at tention to another assert ion of tho free coiners; 1 al luded to it vnrsori ly a few moments atro, but I propose to now treat i t in the same manner in which I have treat­ ed 1 he last preceding question. The free coiners assort that contraction has in- Hictcd ad the financial and economic miseries that mankind has endured since 1S7". Now I say that they themselves cVoily propose to bring about a eon.trac­ t ion'of currency in the United States un­ exampled in the world s history. 1 sav ihat they propose to bring about a con­ traction in the United Slates .unexampled in the world 's history and fraught with more evils than are recorded in the an­ nals of human woe. in that case, i f that is the logical result and inevitable des­ t iny of what they propose. 1 want to " 'know wherein the goldbug is worse than the si lver eel? Hero is l l io I 'roof , Now you ask me for my proof and I will proceed to give i t . The miliar tod and free coinage of si lver in this oouiury will drive out the. gold. This is as indis­ putable as any law of physics, such as the law ot gravitat ion. I t has driven out gold in every country which has unlimit­ ed ly coined si lver. Do you want the his­ torical and clear proof "f i t? Jn fact , there is not t in enlightened* gentleman who will talk to you in advocacy of free coinage of s i lver who does not admit that this will l ie the inevitable result , but they say i t wil l only last1 tW<$ or three years, that the patient wil l probably survive two or three years, and will probably survive to take the uew medicine in abundance. But 1 say that they admit themselves--any intel l igent speaker upon that subject admits that the inevitable and irresist ible tendency and result of the free coinage of si lver in this coun­ try will be to drive out the gold. Now let us see how they propose to obviate i t . I t ' has always struck me that one of their most enlightened champions was Mr. St . John of New York. He has beeu largely and copiously quoted by them-- he was president ' of a national bank and was president of the recent si lver con­ vention at St . Louis and by the bil l which he procured to be introduced in Congress nnd which had the endorsement of the si lver and Populist sentiment there, they proposed to bridge over this yawning chasm which they themselves admitted would open beneath their feet by issuing interest-bearing treasury notes of the United States, secured by deposits Of uncoined si lver or gold bull ion, or by deposit of United States bonds to be is­ sued of course for that purpose. Now let us look at this coolly and calmly and'f ig­ ure upon i t a l i t t le ," l ike men ot sense who, are infinitely interested in this matter as one of business concern and let l is sec how this project would-work; wheth­ er i t would not merely Skirt and fi lm the ulcerous sore. \ \ " .1st rank* corruption mining al l beneath Infects uiiseea. We have $020,000,000 of gold in the United States. 1 think more. • I t would disappear at once in t l ie face of free si lver coinage, or . even the certainty of i t . Let this election go Democratic- I opulist , let the American people record their wil l that the eoinage of si lver shall l ie free and unlimited, long before Mr» Bryan and his cohorts could place the edict into the form of law", the just f inan­ cial fears of mankind, of people here in this audience and of people every­ where, at home and abroad, would draw that gold from every vault wherein i t l ies protected and i t would sink into the earth as the waters which came down from heaven last bight . I sav i t would disappear at once. This bil l of Mr. St . John so admits, and that disappearance is the very ai lment which he proposes to remedy. But in this universal ab­ sconding of gold there would be no gold bull ion to deposit , people would not take i t out of hiding to exchange i t for any paper money whatever of the govern­ ment which proposed to make all these obligations payable in si lver. (Applause.) This remedy is counteracted so far by the assumption and admission that gold will disappear. Now as to deposits of si lver bull ion. The world 's product of s i lver in 1804 (commercial value) was $210,802,200. If we could got the world 's entire pro­ duct (as wo could not) , i t would lake three years to fi l l the void of $020,000.- 000 of vanished gold. The nations of the world will not melt down their coined si lver to deposit i t in the United States treasury and receive merely a si lver cert if icate. Some of the Kyi Is . Rut the third al ternative is one of most malign portent . I t is proposed to use the interest-bearing bonded debt of t in.1 United States in order that the miner or owner of si lver may take his bull ion to t in1 mint meanwhile and get evidences of public debt two for one--a privilege not granted to or claimed by any farm­ er. art isan, manufacturer or producer upon Cud's heri tage. 1 say i t is pro­ posed to use the interest-bearing bonded debt of the United States. Now, what does this mean? I t means an increase of the bonded debt. People who have got their bonds as investments to get their l iving from in the way of their an­ nual income, or anyone else, are not. going to put their bonds on deposit in the treasury to get a treasury cert if icate. . - And so the chasm could not l ie f i l led in that v\;ay. neither by gold, by si lver or by the i l l imitable issue of bonds. So this chasm could hot be fi l led. They admit i t wil l last three years. What will take place meantime, in the very face of the danger of i t? Wo are in the midst of commercial distress almost unexampled in our history: a panic such as the world has seldom seen. I t would throw 3.000,000 of men out of employ­ ment. _ I t would depress and starve the wage-earner, and i t would deprive him of being the best consumer and purchas­ er that the American farmer has. and by' that reflex action infl ict unexampled misery upon ' jur agricultural population. (A pplause.) In that s tate of things the abyss must be f i l led. No nation could stand such a contraction. The most radical remedy would be absolutely necessary to re­ store i t . and there would only he two- one is to get back to the honest , solid s tandard on which all the commercial nations, including the stand now, or to use paper .money, perfectly i imitable in i ts amount comes to pass si lv face of paper a United States, in irredeemable l imitless or i l- And when that r wil l vanish in the old vanished in the lace of si lver. (Applause.) And then you would have another chasm, another is .snc of money. The wreck is complete, and the United States stands entirely on ati ' /drredcemable paper money basis , precisely the place we occupied before the war, and from which we struggled with so much passion of honesty and love of national honor to emancipate ourselves. Do yon want that again? (Cries of "No. t in.") But. my friends, lo look a l i t t le deeper into this subject . The misery goes fur­ ther that would be infl icted. 1 have been talking heretofore about lawful money, and 1 mean by that , money issued by the governments of the world, the United States included. But did you ever think how li t t le of the business of this world or of any community l ike St . Paul and Minneapolis is done on what is c. i i led lawful money? Statist ics would seem to show that 1)5 per cent , of the transac­ t ions between inan and man in civil ized nations, especial ly in the I ni ted Stales, is by w.ay of checks. In ci t ies they are balanced against each other in the clear­ ing bouse, and a few thousand dollars balanced money closes the day's transac­ t ions. Where clearing houses do not ex­ ist-- I mean in towns and vil lages the deposit ing of the checks in the banks, and the collections of the banks adjust bal­ ances in t he same way. Now. this is the greatest currency of civil isat ion. Numbers are inadequate to express i ts infinite superiori ty in numeri­ cal relat ion to the lawful money of which we have been talking. This is the currency that no statutory fiat can ex­ pand. al though it can contract i t . But i t is a currency which will contract instan­ taneously to i(s very minimum bv tke operation of the Defiiocratic and Popu- list ic theories as announced in their plat­ forms. Now what does that mean? It means simply that the merchants, the manufacturers, the employer, the man of every kind who pays out money -o fii.s f e l low-men for labor, or for material wil l cease so far as he is concerned to emit that currency which rules ai l business The lack of confidence will produce that contraction in that currency. The clear­ ings in the United States last week were $811 , 000 .000 . Jn the clearing houses alone, mind you. and not through the in­ fluence of interposit ion of the banks where there are no clearing houses. The clearances of the ci ty of St . Pan! last week were something over $4,000,000. Does any man think that such amount of money as that was used in St . Paul last week--$4 ,000 .000--or in ihe nation, $811,000,000, to transact their business? I t was done by this currency of civil iza­ t ion which no nation can produce, winch no nation can regulate or control , and I say that this currency, more important than si lver or gold or national paper will be struck down at a blow if the shal­ low projects 'of the Democratic and Popu­ list -platforms be realized. " But ' you have heard from our free coinage fr iends here that other nations have donejhis. And there are many good people; who believe that France is doing i t , and that the Latin union--so-called--is doing i t . Now, I w«#nld l ike to know why they can' t tel l the entire truth about this matter . Let us not deceive each other and let nobody deceive us. The Latin anion is composed of France, Belgium, I taly, Switzerland and Greece. I t was formed in 1865 by treaty between,those powers, whereby each agreed unti l the year 1SS0 to take the. coins of the ether powers at the rat io of 15Vj to 1. But Germany demonetized si lver; she had ceased to coin i t . and so, in 1S73, those great nations, headed by France (the most scientif ically-governed country in the world, and the one which has the most accurate financial ideas), I say those countries, , a f ter Germany had demone­ tized si lver- in 1*873, l imited1 theirvsi l vcr coinage, and by 1870 they -suspended i t entirely. They, those great European .nations---France, the strongest ^monetary nation jn the world, with her ' .All ies--un­ dertook with al l their power to do pre­ cisely what the free coiners of the Unit­ ed States- _ ar te, asking this government to, undertake in the l ight of such con­ spicuous fai lures of. other nations. Invariable Stn.inlands NoeiieU. Now, everybody admits--I think the most- rampant free-coiner declaimer would admit-^-that the money unit should remain as nearly invariable as possible. Now. I say gold has so remained. Sil­ ver has ffl l len commercial ly l ike other art icles. This is denied. They say si l­ ver has not fal len, that gold has r isen; Now, that is the way you look at i t . You can look at i t through the deluding glass of idealism, and i t may appear that way, but i t is an optical i l lusion. Now let me put an i l lustrat ion from nature. The waters of Lake Superior, that great inland sea which floats so much of our commerce and is such an element in our prosperi ty, have for many years been fal l ing, unti l now they are lower than they have been at any t ime for f if ty years, and everything on their surface has lal lon. The waters of Lake Supe­ rior. l ike the universal , spread-out plane of humanity, bearing everything upon i ts Surface--those waters bear the fleets , vessels and craft of al l kinds, and ves­ sels and craft and fleets of al l kinds have fal len with the wafer. What would you think ol a man standing on the deck of one of those vessels saying. "This ves­ sel has not fal len; this vessel s tands just where if did. but the universal shore of Lake Superior has ' r isen?" [Laughter and applause.] Now, I say, my friends, that since the Latin union, from 1873 to 1870. aban­ doned free coinage, there has existed in European nations and the United States the only practical bimetall ism. Let mo repeat this . ] feel that I cannot bear i t into your minds too often or too urgently that these nations, - including ours, are the only, nations on the face of the earth that have any bimetall ism whatever. And why? Because they went to the danger l ine, as we went, and then stopped. I Applause.] The universal teaching of history demonstrated that there was a dead l ine, beyond which si lver conid not be pressed without the immediate annihilat ion of i ts companion, gold, as a useful . Working money medi­ um. And when any man gets up and dreams and soli loquizes and philosophizes before me and tel ls me he knows i t won' t be so if we try where others fai led, I tel l hiui that an ounce of fact is worth a ton of theory, and that something bodi­ ly is worth a mill ion of disembodied ghosts. LAppIause.J What is Iiat io? And yet these gentlemen favor, in the face of these historical examples and warnings, that the United States shall make the unit of coinage the si lver dol­ lar at the rat io of 1 (i to 1. Now, 'whj. i t is rat io? I t is not $10 to $1, as some people claim. (Laughter.) Ratio means this: That there shal l be sixteen t imes more si lver in Weight in a si lver dollar than there is weight of gold in a gold dollar . Or, to put the definit ion in another form, that sixteen ounces of si lver, when coined, shall be the equiva­ lent of one ounce of gold when coined. When gold measured by si lver is worth $10 per ounce, no dispari ty in value can exist ; but when measured by si lver the ounce of gold is worth $. ' !! an ounce com­ mercial ly. dispari ty results . Such is the present condit ion, and yet the free si lver men assert Ihat i t wil l be no such t i l ing in case. , legislat ive fiat endeavors to jnak'< two and two live instead of the old- fashioned result , two and two four. T h e t r o u b l e i s ' t h a t o u r f r i e n d s h a v e c o n f u s e d t h e r a t i o o f w e i g h t w i t h t h e r a t i o o f v a l u e , a n d a r e I r v i n g t o c o n f u s e t h e p e o p l e w i t h i t . T h e r a t i o o f W e i g h t a n d t h e r a t i o o f v a l u e w e r e o n c e i h e s a m e , b u t t h e y h a v e c h a n g e d . T h e y c h a n g e d m o r e t h a n t h i r t y y e a r s a g o . O t h e r n a t i o n s s a w i t a n d o b e y e d t h e i m ­ p e r i a l h o l i e s t o f t h a t c h a n g e b e f o r e w e d i d , a n d I h e r a t i o i s n o w t h r o u g h o u t t h e w o r l d . " > 2 . o r a b o u t . ' 1 2 , t o 1 . N o w 1 s a y t h a t n o l e g i s l a t i v e f i a t w h a t ­ e v e r -- i t d o e s n o t l i e i n t h e p o w e r o f m a n ( I w a s a b o u t t o s a y s o m e t h i n g m o r e e x ­ t r e m e t h a n t h a t , w h i c h i t w o u l d n o t b e p r o p e r t o s a y ) - - i t d e e s n o t l i e i n t h e p o w e r o f m a n t o e n a c t t h a t a g i v e n d i ­ m e n s i o n . v o l u m e o r c a p a c i t y s h a l l b e a h a i r ' s b r e a d t h g r e a t e r t h a n t h e l a w s o f t h e A l m i g h t y h a v e f i x e d i t f r o m t h e b e ­ g i n n i n g . ( A p p l a u s e . ) I t" is necessary that the rat io or propor­ t ion of value should be invariable. I t is necessary for .Ihe production of ihe thing i tself cal led money, speaking of i t in i ts great volume, as the volume of money in the United States. We see analogies everywhere: we see an analogy in 'nature. Take the air we breathe. i t is a com­ pound substance, made up from oxygen and nitrogen at the rat io of about 77 to 2^5. and while this rat io lasts i t js f rom it we ail draw our l ives and have our being. Hut change to any material# de­ gree and, instead of being the vital , l i fe- giving air . i t becomes a deadly and de­ structive miasma. But the free-coiners assert that unlim­ ited coinage of si lver wil l restore i t to a pari ty with gold. I t has been tr ied by many nations of th. world. Has it done i t in a single instance? Not one. They said the same thing when Congress passed the Sherman act of 1800. They said buy of us freely 4, .>00.()0(J ounces a month, or 51.000.000 ounces a year, and you will set ' that si lver will go ; p to 8 1 . 2 0 a n o u n c e i f n i n c d i a i e l y . I n t h e f a c e of clamor, in doubt as to what might be the result , in wil l in-ncss, ( i t went too far) to give such claims every oppor­ tunity to be demoustraled whether ihey were correct or incni-feci , that legislat ion' was enacted. And si lver did g<> jn the course of about ten days to $1.10 an ounce (Applause by one man) and the free-coiners were exalted, and said, "I told you so." But. my friends who ap­ plaud at that delusive statement, i t last­ ed but a short t ime. Silver proceeded to fai l lower than i t ever fel l before. (Great applause.) 0 I t did not take it long to do i t . The an­ nual average production in the United States for ten years before that act was passed was 44.000,000 ounces, in 1S01 i t ran to 5-1.000,000 ounces, and in 1802 to 02,000,000 ounces, nearly, 20,000,000 ounces more than we produced in the average of ten years up to the t ime when that bil l was, passed, and i t was then seen by all wise men, by al l men who had the stabil i ty of the currency and the prosperi ty of their country at heart , .vi<h intel l igent vision, that that immense vol­ ume'would break do.wn--indeed i t did break down--the very theory upon \\ hi eh the bil l was passed. (Applause.) I t pro-, duced the panic of ISO. '! , put distrust inlo -the minds of men. The si lver men said before we passed that bil l in 1S00, that si lver- would go at a pari ty_ with goid if you will only give us a l imited purchase of 54,000,000 ounces a year. I t did not go to a pari ty. How can they say no^v, and look the American people rh the face with steady teye, that where i t fai led then i t is going to work entirely different and satisfactori ly now? BRW OS THE RATIO. He Sang a Different Song on the Subject When He was in Congress. On- the 10th of August , 1S03, on the floor of the House of Representatives, Mr. By ran said: "In fixing the rat io we should select that one which vyil l secure the greatest ad­ vantage to the public and cause the least injust ice. The present rat io, in my judg­ ment. should be adopted. A change in the rat io < .mid he made (as in 1834) by reducing the si ; :e of . the gold dollar , or- by increasing, t l ie size of the si lver dol­ lar , or by making a change in the weight of both dollars ' . A larger si lver dollar would help the creditor. A smaller gold dollar- Would" help the debtor. I t is not jyst to 'do either, but if a change must . l ie made, the benefi t should be given to the debtor, rather than the creditor. Let no one,-accuse me of defending the jpst- • ness of any change; but . 1 repeat it" , i f we are-given a choice between a change which will aid the debtor by reducing the sizp of his debt and a change which will- aid the creditor by increasing the amount which lie is to receive, ei ther by increasing the number of his dollars or their size, the. advantage must be given to the debtor." Legislat ion in favor of debtors or of creditors, as a class, would be class leg­ islat ion and wholly unjustif iable. Ques­ t ions between debtors and creditors are properly set t led in the courts: and every court wil l hold that what is r ight for the - one is r ight for the other also. Mr. Bry­ an. therefore, did well to disclaim ad­ vocacy of any change of the exist ing rat io. Should a change be made at any t ime hereafter i t cannot and ought not to affect contracts antedating such clia ngo. But in advocating the unlimited coin­ age of si lver bull ion, at the present rat io, for the owner and without cost to him. Mr. Bryan docs propose a change of the entire basis upon which business is t rans­ acted. Wo are informed by him that , there are three ways by which the rat io between gold and si lver coin can be al­ tered: 1. The shrinkage in size of the gold dollar . 2. The enlargement of Ihe si lver dollar . . '1. Making a change in the size and weight of both dollars. Either of these three methods contemplates a nearer approximation of the coinage ra­ t io to the commercial rat io and is so far forth honest . If this approximation of the two ratios were carried to the point of ideali ty, the change suggested by him would be absolutely honest--provided that i t is not retroactive in i ts application to outstanding debts. Th is is noi*. however, the change which would follow the adoption of free coin­ age at 10 to 1. There is s. t i . l l another possible change to which Mr. Bryan made no reference in his speech, namely, the shrinkage of the si lver dollar . A si lver^ dollar containing . ' !7134 grains of pure si lver, worth 5o cents in gold, which nevertheless passes current for 100 cents in gold, is an anomaly in f inance, unless explained. The explanation is simple. Fif ty-three cents of ihe current value of this dollar is visible; 47 cents of i ts value is invisible, and consists in credit . Free and unlimited coinage woftld destroy this credit . In advocating free coinage at 10 to j , therefore. Mr. Bryan proposes to make the si lver dollar smaller--not to the eye. but" in fact . This would be a change of rat io in the purchasing power of the •diver dollar , a* compared with a goid dollar , from 10:1 to : i l : l . To avoid this result Mr; Bryan gravely proposes ihat we should do on- of two things: double the 'weight of the si lver dollar , or else coin gold dollars half their present weight. Anybody can see that one of these would have to be done, in order that identi ty should be established between the coinage rat io and the Com­ mercial rat io. Which of these two expedients dors Mr. Bryan favor? Tie tel ls us that en­ larging the si lver dollar would help the creditor. I t could only help him by maintaining t ie ' present s tandard of value. He also tel ls us that halving the* gold dollar would help the debtor. If so, i t would be by a change in the present .s tandard of value. Finally, he tel ls us that he prefers the lat ter expedient , be­ cause the debtor has r ights superior to the r ights of the creditor. The Lesson of 1X{>2. What happened in 1802? Everybody had money, plenty of money; and then, they came to you and whispered in your ear that al though you had plenty of money and plenty of work that you were not buying what you bought cheap enough: that they were taxing the many for Ihe benefi t of the few. and too many of the American people l is tened to i t . I t was the arousing of the class of em- jjoycrs against the employed: and the employed again,st the employer: and we had the change. They gave us the cheap stuff , but in what condit ion did they leave the American people? I t reminds rue of a colored gentleman who wanted to cross the Arkansas river, and had no means. He sat down awhile upon a log and waited unti l someone should come up. Shortly a white gen­ t leman approached. l ie says: "Boss. I want to cross this r iver: wil l you please give me two cet i ls? I haven' t a cent in the world." "Well , s ir ," he said, "if you haven' t a cent in the world it . don' t make a damn ti l t of difference which side of this r iver you aro on." And so i t is with al l "heap goods that t l ies" gentlemen furnish us. They fi l l the stores with their clothing, made of shoddy, brought in under an. ad valorem law by which the importer is made to swear that i! is worth nothing, and i t is Worth nothing. I t is made out of old hats picked up out . -of the streets ' and alleys of our foreign ci t ies, of rags from Switzerland a.ud rot ion socks from Italy. I t is sent over to be placed upon American backs. That is not , the eivil- We want American clothing and Ameri- N'uw, in ISOti they had plenty of money no money. They conic to us and. say ihey are going to give "it to us; and they propose this doubling of the f.-o-e value of si lver.-- From a speech by Congressman Fowler of New York at Milwaukee. i z a t i o n w e w a n t , w a g e s . A m e r i c a n c a n c i v i l i z a t i o n , came to us . -We. b e f o r e , n o w w e h a Carl is le 's l ive Points . I . "There is not a free coinage country in the world today that is" not on a si lver basis , I I . /"There is not a gold standard coun­ try in the world today that does not use si lver as money along with gold. „ III . "There is not a si lver standard country in the world today that uses any gold as money along with si lver. IV. "There is not a si lver standard country in the world today that has more than one-third as much money in circulat ion per capita as the United States. "There is not a si lver standard country in the world today where the laboring man receives fair pay for his day's -work." TWO