| Show SILVER AND THE ADMINISTRATION Director of the Mint LEECH is out in an interview explaining commending and defending de-fending Secretary WIXDCMS silver plan Director LEECIIS defense is as able and ingenuous in-genuous as Mr WIXDOMS plan and Mr WIXDOMS plan was so able so ingenous and so ingenuous that it involuntarily recalled re-called MoNTAGUE TIGGS most brilliant shemes of how not to do it Director LEECH says that it is worthy of note that the plan meets with the condemnation of the gold men of the east and the silver men of the west That such is the fact is true but the reason of this is not far to seek and is seen by all same those whose eyes are clouded by the mystifying sophistry of Mr WIXDOMS argument The reason is that the plan is neither progold nor prosilver neither antigold nor antisilver The plan standing stand-ing alone and denuded of its befogging language lan-guage is an attempt to carry water upon both shoulders and neither Director LEECH nor another can explain or expound this fact away What the silver men of the west and it may be remarked in passing that it is a popular error to suppose that all the friends of silver are found in the west ask is not that silver shall be purchased in certain quantities by a government at a certain price but that it shall have the same legislative legis-lative recognition as money that gold is given This is what the silver men whether they be producers or consumers ask no more no less Mr WIXDOMS plan reserves to the secretary sec-retary of the treasury an option upon the purchase of silver The metal out of which money is coined can have must have no option placed upon its purchase To place an option upon it is to destroy that which has been created Silver wants no favors it merely asks its rights The argument of the gold men is that in the useof a monetary stancard we must take cognizance of the fact that we are a commercial nation and cannot ignore the fact that commercial relations with other nations are maintained in accordance with the monetary standard governing such nations na-tions This is true but till it is to look upon the one side of the shield and not upon the other The error lies in this the commerce of the United States is ignored ig-nored as an important factor in thd problem prob-lem If the United States as a commercial nation cannot ignore the monetary standard stand-ard of England and Germany with whom we are most intimately connected commercially commer-cially can those countries ignore the monetary standard of the United States tHere t-Here is the point upon which the whole argument turns Secretary WIXDOMS plan and Director LEECHS exposition of it do not meet it Mr WIXDOM would have silver follow in the train of gold a humble attendant The silver men say that silver is in every way the peer of gold and that it must be given its place abreast of gold And they will never cease to fight until this fact is recognized rec-ognized by the laws of the country ALEX AXDEII subdued Bucephalus because he rode him with his face to the sun and he thereby lost fear of his shadow and when ALCXAXDEK was confronted with the knot of Gordion he cut it without any ifs ands or buts Let Congress do the same with silver and declare for free coinage and no favors |
