Show THE riBSIDET AND FINANCE The portion of the Presidents message mes-sage which more than any other Interests In-terests the masses of the people of this region is that which relates to the financial question There will bp few outside of those who are Interested in the national banks who will approve ap-prove of the Presidents project to retire re-tire the greenbacks and treasury notes without any substitute in national na-tional currency To take so large an amount from the money circulation would cause a contraction which could not fail to be disastrous to the masses of the people If it could be supplied by free silver coinage a Very different view of the matter would obtain But the President views such a policy with the alaim that is common to most advocates of the single gold standard and he gives what he and they consider are good reasons for their fears The President talks of free silver coinage as a rash experiment It would be perhaps a violent change in our monetary system but it can scarcely be regarded as an experiment experi-ment In Iew of the fact that gold and silver were freely coined without limit or discrimination between the two metals from the beginning of our government down to 1S73 and that the demonetization of sliver was an experiment ex-periment which > two decades have proved to be disastrous No one advocates what the President calls a blind and headlong plunge In free coinage Silver men ask for an enlightened and steady return to real bimetallism believing that when the cause of the fall In the price of silver which more correctly speaking is an appreciation 1n the price of goldIs fully removed the effect will also be remedied Let silver be remonotized and its market price will advance till it reaches Its coin value For it is not likely that silver will be sold in the market for any price less than its value at the mints if its free costIess and unlimited coinage Is assured There will then be 110 talk of cheap money nor of an unstable standard I The dollar will be the standard of value whether it be counted in sliver or in gold The President says Twice in our recent history we have signally failed to raise by legislation the value of silver That is true But that Is no argument against the free coinage of silver Neither of the laws to which he refers restored silver fully to its former money status The act of 1S7S providedfor the purchase of a limited quantity of silver by the government to be coined The act of 1800 provided for the limited purchas ot ilver only a part of which was to be coined They were experiments and the last was so much worse than the first that every sensible man of each political party wanted it repealed But the fact cited that under both those laws silver rapidly and steadily declined in value is no objection to free silver coinage which is another thing entirely en-tirely The President like all antisilver men Ignores the real cause of silver depreciation and the irresistible argument argu-ment that If gold was to be demonetized demone-tized its market price would also depreciate de-preciate and bring on the collapse of our entire monetary system which ho so greatly fears if silver were restored The President asks the advocates of free silver to weigh again and again the consequences of such legislation as their efforts have invited That is all right It is their opinion that if the President would weigh again and again the reasons they have for their efforts he might possibly change his opinions on the subject but that is something they do not expect We look upon the Presidents attack on the silver situation as likely to do the silver cause much harm and It is evident 1at the cloud that has come over our financial firmament does not at present disclose any silver lining |