er, and the payment of all bonds of the United States in
coin, were preserved.

The free coinage of silver is still upheld by a large body of those
who are interested in mining it, or who want to pay their debts
with a depreciated coin; but the danger of the adoption of this
policy is lessening daily. It received a severe blow by the action
of the Ohio Democratic convention in 1895 in rejecting it by a vote
of more than two to one. The bimetallic system of maintaining all
forms of money at par with gold will probably soon be fully
established. To complete this system and to extend it to our paper
money it would be wise to gradually withdraw treasury notes and
silver certificates and replace them with United States notes
supported and maintained by large reserves of gold. Thus all kinds
of paper money issued by the United States would be of the same
form and value. The great mass of standard silver dollars, amounting
on August 1, 1895, to $371,542,531, now held in the treasury
represented by $320,355,188 of silver certificates in circulation,
is the one great disturbing element in our finances. But 51,746,706
standard silver dollars are in circulation, and experience has
shown that a greater amount cannot be kept out among the people.
The certificates representing the silver dollars are in circulation
and a legal tender for customs dues as well as for all debts, public
and private. They must be treated as United States notes, and
maintained at par with gold coin, or the parity of our coin and
currency will be endangered. They now enter into the general
aggregate of our legal tender money and are largely used in the
payment of customs duties, and when received are paid out for the
current expenses of the government. While supported by the aggregate
silver dollars in the treasury, and the pledge of the public faith
to maintain them at par with gold coin and United States notes,
they are a safe and useful currency, but any measure to increase
these certificates, based upon the coining of more silver dollars
from bullion alleged to be gain or seigniorage, would seriously
impair the ability of the government to maintain their parity with
gold. The great depreciation of silver bullion has resulted in a
vast loss to the government and its disposition is the most serious
problem pending in Congress.

During the entire extra session of 1893 the body of the Democratic
Senators and Members were placed in an awkward pos