
Chairman Turpie announced that Hon. Alexander Del Mar of California, the distinguished writer on finance, was present and would address the Convention.
Mr. Chairman:- Amidst the conflict of monetary theories, doctrines and assumptions which divide the American people - nay, the entire civilized world today - I can discern but a single principle upon which all parties unite. That principle is stability. Those who hold that like other measures the measure of value should be of dimensions prescribed by law; those who would leave such dimensions to the chances of mining discovery, the vicissitudes of war, or the caprices of fashion; those who are willing to trust the government with the regulation of money; those who have no faith in the virtue of prudence of congress and demand a metallic pledge behind each fraction of the monetary measure; those who regard the whole number of dollars as the measure of value; those who regard the material of each separate dollar as the true measure of value; those who regard money as a legal institiution, as well as those who view it only as so much metal - all these agree in the cardinal principle that a monetary system, if it is to be just and equitable in its operation, should be stable.
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Mr. Del Mar was greeted by much applause and proceeded to the discussion, confining his remarks chiefly to the historical aspect of the question. He said:
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