"In a letter addressed to me on August 26, 1896, Secretary Carlisle stated as follows: 'So far as I have been able to ascertain neither the Treasury Department nor any sub-treasury has ever been called upon to redeem silver dollars in gold, and no such dollars have, in fact, been redeemed in gold.' This statement from the head of the Treasury Department, made to me on August 26, 1896, shows that the holders of silver certificates or silver dollars have never entertained the opinion that the contract on the face of the certificate, which expressly provides for their redemption in silver dollars, should be construed by the Executive Department as entitling the holders to demand gold dollars, and much less had any one ever conceived the idea before that the silver dollar, made by law a legal tender in payment of all debts and in the discharge of all obligations, and designated in the statute as 'the stand ard money of the country,' should be redeemed in any other coin.

"So late as July 1, 1896, there was issued, under authority of Mr. Carlisle, for the information of the people of this country, Treasury circular No. 123,' in which the policy of the Government and the Treasury Department was announced over Mr. Carlisle's own signature. In this circular, on page 12, under the head of 'Redemption,' he says:

"Gold coins and standard silver dollars, being standard coins of the United States, are not redeemable. Silver certificates are receipts for standard silver dollars deposited, and are redeemable in such dollars only.'

"What has produced the change in the mind of Mr. Carlisle since the 1st day of July, 1896, to cause him to reverse the entire policy which he then announced as Secretary of the Treasury in this official statement? No intimation has come from any source that the purchasing power of the silver dollar, or of the silver certificate, its representative, is not equal to-day to that of the gold dollar or gold certificate.

"Will not this public declaration, made for the first time in the history of the Treasury Department, of a course which reverses its entire policy as to this part of our circulating medium, tend to force a depreciation of that character of our currency? Will not those interested in forcing the Treasury Department to carry out this policy proclaim at once to the country and to the world that the hundred millions of dollars of gold reserve placed by law in the Treasury for the purpose of redeeming United States notes cannot meet the demand upon it, and that more bonds must be issued, not only to maintain it, but to enlarge it, as there has been imposed upon it the additional burden of the redemption of $331,259,509 of silver certificates and $52,175,998 of silver dollars now in circulation, aggregating $383,435,947, which, with the United States notes and Treasury notes under the act of 1890, place a total burden upon the gold redemption fund of $859,799,823?

"Under the former rulings of the Treasury, providing for the redemption of United States and Treasury notes, aggregating $476,364,316, out of the gold reserve of $100,000,000, it was questionable whether the redemption fund was not too small to give confidence as to the ability of the Government to sustain this policy; and now, having doubled the liability upon the gold reserve, what

effect will this announcement by the Secretary of the Treasury have upon the confidence of the people in the ability of the Government to maintain it? "United States notes have become scarce, and are not so easily cornered for the purpose of drawing large sums of gold from the Federal Treasury, but the silver certificates and silver dollars are the money found almost exclusively in circulation at this time, and can be easily and rapidly accumulated for the purpose of demanding of the Treasury their redemption in gold under this new declaration of the future course of the Treasury Department. It presents more definitely and clearly than any action ever before taken by the Treasury its intention to place this Government absolutely under the control of the bankers of this country and Europe, and to leave to them the determination as to the time and amount of the increase of the interest-bearing bonds of the United States to maintain the gold standard. I have no hesitation in saying that if this is the policy to govern the United States in the future under the gold standard, I am more determined than ever, and I believe the people will be, to see that this annihilation of values and destruction of property by executive construction of the currency laws, and turning over the financial interests of 70,000,000 of our people to a half dozen bankers in this country and Europe, shall come to an end. This emphasizes the necessity, as well as the duty, of those who believe in American financial independence to support the American policy represented by the Democratic ticket."

Mr. Bryan's Protest.

In his Washington speech Mr. Bryan said:

Redemption of Silver Dollars.

Now, my friends, I want to call your attention to one other subject. Our opponents are doing as much for us in this campaign as we are able to do for ourselves, and of all the public documents recently issued the most important one is a letter just given to the public by the Secretary of the Treasury, from which I desire to quote one sentence: "It is the duty of the Secretary of the Treasury and all other public officials to execute in good faith the policy declared by Congress," and mark these words, "but whenever he shall be satisfied that a silver dollar can not be kept equal in purchasing power with a gold dollar, except by receiving it in exchange for a gold dollar, when such exchange is demanded, it will be his duty to adopt that course."

I want you to mark those words, because in those words the Secretary of the Treasury tells you that whenever the Secretary is satisfied that it is necessary that he will commence redeeming silver dollars in gold. I call your attention to it, my friends, because I want to emphasize the deception that has been practiced by this administration on the money question. When this administration advised the repeal of the Sherman law you were told that the repeal of the Sherman law would remedy the difficulty, and

yet as soon as the Sherman law was repealed the same authority which promised relief, as soon as that law was repealed, came to Congress with a demand that the greenbacks and Treasury notes must be retired by the issue of gold bonds in order to stop the drain on the Treasury's gold, and now the Secretary of the Treasury informs you that even if the greenbacks and Treasury notes were all retired, so there can not be a dollar of paper money presented for gold, that yet it would be his duty-whenever in his opinion it became necessary-it would be his duty to commence to redeem silver dollars in gold and start another endless chain that would drain the Treasury.

Nothing but Gold would Remain.

According to the doctrine laid down in Mr. Carlisle's letter, you can not stop the drain of gold from the Treasury until you retire all the silver dollars and silver certificates and leave nothing but gold as the money of this country.

I am glad that this declaration has been made. I am glad that our opponents are step by step revealing to the public their heartless, merciless, criminal policy. I am glad that they have told the public that we must have gold alone and then confess to the public that we are in the hands of two banking syndicates and must pay them for that gold whatever they want. Talk about monopolists, talk about trusts, my friends, here they propose to establish the most gigantic of all trusts, a money trust, and let the few men who hold the gold dole it out at such prices as they will to all the other 70,000,000 of free-born citizens.

I denounce the policy as more cruel and heartless than political domination of a foreign power. I would rather-as some one has said-I would rather put our army in the hands of a foreign general or our navy in command of a foreign admiral than to put the Treasury Department in the hands of a Secretary who would barter it away. I would resist such a financial policy with as much earnestness as I would resist the progress of an invading army coming to attack our homes.

My friends, one time, when Lincoln was a candidate, some one said to him that they hoped the Lord was on their side, and he replied that he was more anxious to be on the Lord's side. I am glad that in this campaign we have so many evidences of the over-ruling Providence, and in no one incident that I know of has the over-ruling Providence manifested itself so clearly as it did in this case, my friends, when it opened the mouth of the Secretary and disclosed his money policy.

OPINIONS OF EMINENT EUROPEANS.

(From the New York Journal.)

So much has been said about the unscientific nature of the American free coinage propaganda, and its disrepute among genuine bimetallists abroad, that the Journal has induced some of the most famous European economists of that school to write their views upon our political situation. The discussion is opened by Dr. Otto Arendt, who has received many flattering certificates of character from the monometallic press on account of his recently published opinion that free coinage by the United States alone would be disastrous to bimetallism in Europe. It will be seen that Dr. Arendt has now changed his views, and is an enthusiastic advocate of Mr. Bryan's election.

Otto Arendt.

"The people of the United States have never been called upon to decide a question so important as that of the coming Presidential election.

"Persons and parties do not count in this campaign at all-the great fundamental principles of modern national life are at stake. Shall these be upheld, or shall they be trampled under foot? This is the all-absorbing question.

"Europe, the mighty grandparent of the young Colossus, feels in her old bones that the ballot boxes which are soon to be set up in the cities and villages and hamlets of America will speak the destinies of her leading nations.

"Never before was the dividing line so sharply defined, and we understand that the sovereign people of the United States mean once for all to solve the social question which has in late years caused so many disturbances and unhappy conditions.

"Look at the two sides and mark the striking contrasts. McKinley and his votaries representing the party of so-called 'honest money' and dishonest profits, the party of trusts and monopolies, the party that brought the pillage of national resources for the benefit of capital to a fine point and into method, on the on side.

"Their opponents we find under the proud banner of Bryan. These are the productive classes--workingmen and farmers, who refuse to permit themselves to be bled in future for the cause of the gold standard.

"European bimetallists, who have been fighting the gold standard for many years past, regard international bimetallism as the true solution of all the questions involved.

"My own views on that subject I have laid down in an essay published in the June issue of the North American Review, when I gave it as my opinion that the question of free silver should be settled only after an iuter. national agreement regarding the relative values of gold and silver had been arrived at; for at that time I took it for granted that both parties would favor silver in their platforms, though not to the extent of free coinage.

“With respect to the possible candidates, bimetallists, taking McKinley to be a thorough silver man, certainly regarded him with much favor.

"What sad disappointment, however, came with the St. Louis convention! It was obvious that the spirit of that convention was inspired by Wall Street, while Mckinley himself deserted the people's cause and closed an alliance, offensive and defensive, with all-grasping capital.

"Heaven-high above him, unfettered and unmercenary, rose Bryan, who at once gained the respect and sympathies of bimetallists the world over.

"If I were an American citizen I would unhesitatingly vote for the people's champion. A free coinage President appears to me a lesser evil than a Stock Exchange Fresident, who would walk in Cleveland's footsteps. There are superficial people in this and other countries who imagine that if Bryan is elected in November free-silver coinage will begin next March. They forget that Congress must finally decide the question. Even should President Bryan, as will be most probable, call an extra session, it would take several months before free silver coinage would be legalized.

"It is fully appreciated in Europe that free coinage would prove a more formidable menace than the proposed suspension of the Bland and Sherman acts. European financiers and monopolists have had a taste of the fluctuations in American values, and fear them more than even McKinley's prohibitive tariff.

"America offers us the tantalizing alternative between a prohibitive tariff and a silver standard. But our money monopolists in this case harvest the storm where they have been sowing the wind. Their long-continued opposition to international bimetallism is on the eve of receiving its proper retribution.

"Bryan's victory will no doubt prepare the way for an international agreement.

"Should Bryan be elected, we, the bimetallists, would gain formidable allies, while American bankers would certainly do all in their power to forestall the depreciation of American values by backing our cause of international bimetallism.

"Now, as to the prospects in Europe. The possessors of American values, fearing depreciation, would influence the Bourse to such an extent as to cause capital to reconsider its attitude toward bimetallism, whereupon the European governments may be obliged to adopt bimetallism in order to restore confidence and equality.

"All Europe has formally declared that bimetallism shall not be introduced without Britain's co-operation. The English Cabinet, at Balfour's instigation, decided on March 17 that nothing should interfere with the gold standard. Balfour represents the remarkable and questionable view that no change of coinage should be imposed on financial men.

"In other words, the world of finance rules-the thief is jailer.

"Balfour waits and hopes patiently for the bimetallic conversion of London. That famous debate of March 17 has clearly shown what is thought of the question in the city. The Shylock standpoint was never presented