Story of the Gold Conspiracy

Chairman Turpie announced that Hon. Alexander Del Mar of California, the distinguished writer on finance, was present and would address the Convention.

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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Excerpt:

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.