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:
THE REPUBLICAN PARTY BELIEVES THAT THE COINAGE OF SILVER SHOULD BE
RESTRICTED BY LAW AND COINED ON GOVERNMENT ACCOUNT. MR. BYRAN AND HIS
FOLLOWERS BELIEVE IN THE FREE AND UNLIMITED COINAGE OF SILVER ON PRIVATE
ACCOUNT. WHEN THE GOVERNMENT COINS SILVER, UNDER EXISTING LAWS, IT GETS
THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THE COST OF THE BULLION AND THE STAMP THAT IS
PLACED UPON IT. THIS IS KNOWN AS THE GAIN OR SEIGNIORAGE AND IS PAID
INTO THE TREASURY OF THE UNITED STATES THE SAME AS IS PROVIDED BY LAW
REGULATING SUBSIDIARY COINS. IN THIS WAY EVERY MECHANIC, EVERY FARMER,
EVERY LABORER, IN FACT EVERY CITIZEN OF THE UNITED STATES GETS HIS
PROPORTIONATE SHARE OF THIS GAIN.