The friends of "sound money" in America are rapidly organising
themselves, and the ideas of the two parties as to the currency are becoming clear. The silver men want silver in unlimited amounts to be made legal tender at a ratio of 16 to 1; while the "sound money" men advocate the English system,—gold as the only legal tender for large amounts; paper to be convertible on demand into gold, and silver to be legal tender up to about £2. The numbers of the two parties can only be guessed, but the visible signs point to equality, varying greatly, however, according to the district. The voting will be exceedingly confused, as the Republican party includes great numbers of "sound money" men ; and the Democrat party as many devotees of silver. This will make the choice of a President on either side excessively difficult, and almost certainly result in the election of "a dark horse." We fancy that as bodies the wage-earners are in favour of gold—that is, of cheapness—and the freeholders of silver, which they think will bring back high prices.
Previous page
