powers, and still we are told that we are more dependent now than we were then. We are told we are to make a pledge to England and the balance of the world now which none of the Presidents then would have recommended. This is not the only important epoch in our history. We have taken important steps before without consulting other nations. We did not consult them as to whether we should or should not have State banks. General Jackson did not consult them as to whether he should make war on the banks of his time and remove the deposits. When our civil war was raging and the country divided, did the administration ask the consent of other nations to establish national banks issuing paper money redeemable in paper? It did not ask consent to issue nearly $500,000,000 of greenbacks and $2,000,000,000 of other forms of paper. It consulted no other government on the resumption of specie payments. Whilst it has sent representatives to monetary conferences, it has never before suggested that we pledge ourselves to abstain from the use of silver or any other currency until foreign consent had been obtained. It may be safely predicted that whilst the Republican platform has recommended the pledge, the masses of the people will regard it as so dastardly that they will not make it.

This doctrine of gold monometallism is, therefore, a modern doctrine and an un-American doctrine. It revolutionizes our Constitutional currency.

The doctrine of allowing England, as "the leading commercial nation of the world," to have part or lot in determining what shall be our fiscal (or other) policy, in determining what we shall coin or when we shall coin, is not only un-American but anti-American. It is revolting to every sense of American pride and American independence, and would, in the end, be subversive of our best interests. Yet the platform of the Republican party pledges the country to the single gold standard until an international agree. ment with the leading commercial nations can be obtained. This is the pledge: "Until such" (International) "agreement can be obtained the existing gold standard must be preserved."

What nation outside of the United States is "the leading commercial na. tion of the world?" England, all will readily admit. Therefore, the Republican platform and candidate make a solemn pledge (to England) that until England gives her royal consent we will never return to the double standard of gold and silver.

If England had been writing this platform and shaping this policy she could not possibly have done it more to her liking or interest. She demonetized silver eighty years ago. From 1816 to 1873 she maintained the single gold standard despite our opposition and the opposition of the balance of the world. We also, till that date, maintained the double standard notwithstanding her opposition. The silver dollar was at a premium when it was demonetized in 1873 without warning to the American people.

If England maintained the single gold standard in spite of our opposition and the opposition of the balance of the world from 1816 to 1873, and in spite of entreaties from other nations and international conferences, who is foolish enough to believe she will give her consent to the double standard

now, if Mr. McKinley is elected on his gold standard platform, and its pledge to England that we will never adopt the double standard, never depart from the gold standard without her consent.

The silver question is almost universally accepted as the paramount issue of the present campaign. It is, therefore, well to consider first what the Constitution of the United States says on the subject, and review the action thereon by Congress during the various administrations from the time of President Washington to the demonetization of silver in 1873.

MONEY OF THE CONSTITUTION.

Section 8, of Article I, of the Constitution gives Congress the power

"To coin money, regulate the value thereof, and of foreign coin, and fix the standard of weights and measures."

Sction 10, of Article 1, prohibits the States from making "anything but gold and silver coin a tender in payment of debts."

On this subject Daniel Webster said. in the United States Senate, Dec. 21, 1836:

“I am certainly of the opinion, then, that gold and silver, at rates fixed by Congress, constitute the legal standard of value in this country; and that neither Congress nor any State has authority to establish any other standard or to displace this."

ACTION UNDER THE CONSTITUTION.

1789 to 1797–George Washington, President.

The first act passed relating to coinage was the act of April 2, 1792. It was prepared by Alexander Hamilton, indorsed by Thomas Jefferson, approved by George Washington, and provided for the free and unlimited coinage of gold and silver at the ratio of 15 parts of silver to 1 of gold.-Coinage Laws of the United States, page 4.

1797 to 1801-John Adams, President.

The law provided for the free and unlimited coinage of gold and silver at the ratio of 15 to 1.

Hamilton, in his report to Congress, 1791, recommended the use of both metals, and gave as a reason that "To annul the use of either of the metals as money is to abridge the quantity of circulating medium, and is liable to all the objections which arise from a comparison of the benefits of a full, with the evils of a scanty, circulation.

With free coinage of gold and silver the wealth of the United States increased between 1790 and 1800 72 per cent. while the population increased 25 per cent.

1801 to 1809-Thomas Jefferson, President.

The law provided for the free and unlimited coinage of gold and silver at the ratio of 15 to 1.

Jefferson wrote to Hamilton, February, 1792: "I return you the report on the mint. I concur with you that the unit must stand on both metals." With free coinage of gold and silver the wealth of the United States increased between 1800 and 1810 40 per cent. while the population increased 36 per cent.

1809 to 1817-James Madison, President.

The law provided for the free and unlimited coinage of gold and silver at the ratio of 15 to 1.

1817 to 1825-James Monroe, President,

The law provided for the free and unlimited coinage of gold and silver at the ratio of 15 to 1.

With free coinage of gold and silver, and notwithstanding the losses caused by the war of 1812, the wealth of the United States increased between 1810 and 1820 25 per cent. while the population increased 33 per cent.

1825 to 1829–John Quincy Adams, President.

The law provided for the free and unlimited coinage of gold and silver at the ratio of 15 to 1.

With free coinage of gold and silver the wealth of the United States increased between 1820 and 1830 40 per cent. while the population increased 33 per cent.

1829 to 1837– Andrew Jackson, President.

The law provided for the free and unlimited coinage of gold and silver. The ratio of 15 to 1, established by the act of 1792, was changed to 16 to 1 by the act of June 28, 1834, which reduced the number of grains in a gold eagle.-Coinage Laws of the United States, page 15.

"The Constitution of the United States," said Jackson, in his Farewell Address, “unquestionably intended to secure the people a circulating medium of gold and silver."

1837 to 1841-Martin Van Buren, President.

The law provided for the free and unlimited coinage of gold and silver at the ratio of 16 to 1.

"My humble efforts," said Jackson, in his Farewell Address, "have not been spared during my administration of the Government, to restore the constitutional currency of gold and silver; and something, I trust, has been done toward the accomplishment of this most desirable object."

With free coinage of gold and silver the wealth of the United States increased between 1830 and 1840 41 per cent. while the population increased 32 per cent.

1841 to 1845–Wm. Henry Harrison and John Tyler, Presidents. The law provided for the free and unlimited coinage of gold and silver at the ratio of 16 to 1.

1845 to 1849-James K. Polk, President.

The law provided for the free and unlimited coinage of gold and silver at the ratio of 16 to 1.

1849 to 1853–Zachary Taylor and Millard Fillmore, Presidents. The law provided for the free and unlimited coinage of gold and silver at the ratio of 16 to 1.

1853 to 1857-Franklin Pierce, President.

The law provided for the free and unlimited coinage of gold and silver at the ratio of 16 to 1.

1857 to 1861-James Buchanan, President,

The law provided for the free and unlimited coinage of gold and silver at the ratio of 16 to 1.

With free coinage of gold and silver the wealth of the United States increased between 1850 and 1860 126 per cent. while the population increased 35 per cent.

1861 to 1865–Abraham Lincoln, President.

The law provided for the free and unlimited coinage of gold and silver at the ratio of 16 to 1.

There was no coinage of money. Gold-"the only honest money"-did not fight the battles of the civil war; it went into hiding or fled to Europe.

1865 to 1869–Andrew Johnson, President.

The law provided for the free and unlimited coinage of gold and silver at the ratio f 16 to 1, but only paper money circulated.

Notwithstanding the great cost of the civil war the wealth of the Unite States between 1860 and 1870 increased 61 per cent. while the population increased 22 per cent.

1869 to 1877-U. S. Grant, President.

The law providing for the free and unlimited coinage of gold and silver at the ratio of 16 to 1 was in force until the passage of the act of February 12, 1873 (Coinage Laws of the United States, page 36). This was an act of more than sixty sections for "revising and amending the laws relative to the mint, assay offices, and coinage of the United States," and was, in 1874, incorporated into the Revised Statutes of the United States (Coinage Laws of the United States, page 44). The act of 1873 omitted the silver dollar from the list of coins and made the gold dollar the unit of value. The passage of this law was the crime of 1873. Its effect was not known by those who voted for the bill.

Honest Dollar.

To hear the clamor of some parties now being raised about "dishonest dollars," etc., one would suppose there was fear or danger that a dishonest dollar was about to be palmed off on them.

The United States has issued, and now has outstanding, gold, silver, and paper dollars, and it has no dishonest dollars.

The honest dollar is the dollar lawfully existing at the time of the contract and in view of which the contract was made. A payment in such cannot be dishonest,

The Democratic convention which nominated Mr. Cleveland in 1884 defined by the financial plank in the platform on which it placed him, what was "honest money" and what was "constitutional money." It made it so terse, so plain, that in determining our course by it, "the wayfaring man, though a fool, need not err therein."

This was the platform on which Mr. Cleveland was elected in 1884:

"We believe in honest money, the gold and silver coinage of the Constitution, and a circulating medium convertible into such money without loss." This platform established

First-That the Constitution had determined what should be constitutional

money.

Second-That there should be both gold and silver coinage.

Third-That the constitutional determination was the honest solution of the matter.

Fourth-And by inference, at least, we may conclude from it that in the opinion of those connected with this platform anything going beyond or falling short of this standard set by the Constitution was not honest.

The people believed in this platform then. They believe in it now, and no new, startling, and untried doctrine will make them abandon it. The "honest money-the gold and silver coinage of the Constitution, and a circulating medium convertible into such money without loss"-was the doctrine of their fathers, had been devised by their fathers, and tried by their fathers, and they do and will stand by it as their fathers did.

This whole campaign is run on the part of Mr. McKinley's followers as if silver were a dishonest money; as if payment in it were a discreditable act and the man insisting on it disreputable.

Where a debt may be paid in either one or two coins, or commodities, the creditor, not the debtor, has the legal option of determining in which coin or commodity it shall be paid. No lawyer will deny this.

No judge in the world, if the question were presented, would deny this right to the debtor or critisize its exercise. The creditor would be more likely to be lectured for trying to deny the right.

The States, counties, municipalities, and General Government owe vast debts, but their debts are insignificant when compared to those of the citizens-firms, corporations, and associations doing business among us. Yet the people are asked to see one-half their metal money stricken down, their means of payment impaired, their property reduced in value without a murmur, and if they refuse to pledge England and the other leading commer cial nations of the world that they will submit to it they are branded "anarchists," "socialists," "repudiators," and "revolutionists."