Emerson on Sound Money / A Speech, 1896

by Willis George Emerson

Personally, I am a bimetallist, and confidentially believe the republican party, guided by its wisdom and patriotism, will during the McKinley administration, devise ways and means by international agreement of autimatically adjusting the unsolved problem of true bimetallism, and keep both gold and silver on a parity at some given ratio. Silver will then be lifted from its place as one of the commodities of the earth and dignified as money, side by side with gold. To-day, I am a bimetallist, an ardent and devoted one, in the sense that I desire to see both gold and silver circulating side by side as money, and in the sense that we can have a greater per capita of money in this country by using both gold and silver as currency, than we possibly could by driving gold out of circulation, but fellow citizens, I disbelieve utterly in the possibility of a double standard. The phrase, "double standard" is a contradiction of terms. Standard means "correct measure," and you cannot have two different correct measures of value any more than you can have two different correct yard sticks, or two different correct results from a mathematical problem, or two different correct cyclometers on a bicycle. It one is right the other is wrong, and that is all there is to it. England tried the imaginary double standard for 470 years, and never succeeded in keeping the two metals circulating side by side, and finally gave it up as an utter failure. France with all the ingenuity of her inventive people, changed the ratio of gold and silver 118 times in twelve years in trying to balance on the double standard tight rope. We commenced trying it in 1792, and went on to a silver basis and remained there for 42 years, or until we changed the ratio from 15 to 1, to 16 to 1, in 1834. This change of ratio placed us on a gold basis, where we remained for a number of years. In 1861 we went on a paper basis and remained there for a number of years, and finally went back on to a gold basis in the common accepted understanding of the question, where we have since remained and the progress and prosperity of the United States during the last third of a century has been without a precedent in the history of the civilized world, and yet, I believe with my whole heart, that in the evolution of this financial question, hastened on by agitation, a plain of understanding will be reached higher and beyond that which has ever heretofore obtained in any of the civilized nations of the earth, and it will come through deliberations and councils in the republican party—the party of progress—and when it comes it will lighten the burdens and bless humanity.

THE CRIME OF '73.

Mr. Harvey and all silver advocates talk to us about the crime of 1873. Let me say here and now there was no crime committed in 1873, directly or indirectly.

IF THERE WAS A CRIME COMMITTED, SENATORS JONES AND STEWART OF NEVADA, THE PRESENT HIGH PRIESTS IN THE SILVER MOVEMENT WERE THE CHIEF CONSPIRATORS, FOR THEN, AS NOW, THEY WERE AMONG THE LARGEST SILVER MINE OWNERS IN THE UNITED STATES, AND THEY VOTED FOR THE BILL.

Prior to 1873 we had coined in this country, all told, about 8,000000 of silver dollars, since 1873 we have coined up to January 1st, 1896, $547 914,340 of silver, about $426,000,000 of which are standard dollars. Since January 1st, 1896, we have coined over $13,000,000 of standard dollars. During last August we coined 2,650,000 of silver dollars, and the profit to the government—the people—was between $800,000 and $900,000.

WEBSTER SAYS: "DEMONETIZATION IS TO DEPRIVE OF VALUE, OR TO WITHDRAW FROM USE AS CURRENCY."

Does it look very much as though we had withdrawn silver from use as currency? In what way have we deprived silver of value? It is a full legal tender for all debts, public and private, and without limit as to amount, and has been for the last eighteen years. These, fellow citizens, are facts which you will not find within the covers of "Coin" Harvey's books, it looks as though we had added value to it, since the silver dollar circulates side by side with the gold dollar, notwithstanding its bullion value is 48 cents less than its nominal or face value.

CONSISTENT FRIEND OF SILVER.

THE REPUBLICAN PARTY HAS EVER BEEN THE CONSISTENT FRIEND OF SILVER AND TO-DAY IS IRREVOCABLY COMMITTED TO THE DOCTRINE OF INTERNATIONAL BIMETALLISM, BUT IS UNALTERABLY OPPOSED TO SILVER MONOMETALLISM.

For one, I am not willing to see all the gold in this country driven out of circulation and the purchasing power of silver reduced to its bullion value. In other words, I am not ready to see the per capita of money in this country reduced fully one-half and our nation doing business on a Mexicanized silver basis. Wages are the last schedule to advance, and as fully 95 per cent, of the male adults in the United States are wage, salary or fee earners, there would be almost universal want, misery and suffering bequeathed to these people, because of such a reckless, unpatriotic and unbusiness-like experiment. What party then is the real friend of silver? The party that is trying to maintain the parity of the two metals, or the party that is protesting friendship in unstinted terms and yet committed to the folly of reducing silver to its bullion value? Fellow citizens the proposition in a nutshell is this: