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DITOR'S NOTE: This is part of a weekly series marking the 120th anniversary of Niles native William McKinley's U.S. presidency.
One hundred and twenty years ago on March 9, the 56th Congress of the United States was working on passing the Gold Standard Act of 1900. The House and the Senate would finally ratify the bill and President William McKinley would sign the act on March 14, 1900.
McKinley's first term as president was focused on the economy through two separate issues: tariffs on foreign goods, and the gold standard. After his first inaugural address he would call into special session the 55th Congress of the United States. They were asked to deal with our economic issues at a time when the country was still suffering from the nearly four year recession that followed the financial panic (depression) of 1893. The Dingley Tariff Act of 1897 was passed very early on in McKinley's first term, but having a divided Congress approve the gold standard proved to be much harder to pass.
A monetary standard is a system where a country ties its currency value on a fixed metal of either gold or silver. The United States since its founding would use both metals to value its currency, a system known as bimetallism. Unfortunately, metals would fluctuate and hurt the value of the metal and even remove it from circulation for short periods.
In the 19th century gold became more valuable, especially in Europe where old money was based on this precious metal and those countries dropped the silver standard in their nations. America would drop the silver trade standard through the 1873 Coinage Act.
America needed to have fair trade with the Europeans for our factories and businesses to flourish. Plus, silver currency declined after the gold rush in California began in 1849 and again upon the Alaskan Klondike gold rush of 1896. This economic issue made the decision as A newer political party known as the People's (Populist) Party was born out of farmers protests of low crop prices and to seek relief from the government. According to Encyclopedia Britannica, they pushed for unlimited coinage of silver, establishing an income tax, government ownership of the railroads, and to give farmers economic parity with business and industry. The Democratic Party was split on the gold and silver question with President Cleveland in favor of gold, yet the western and southern states supported a new political face in the Democratic Party, William Jennings Bryan from Nebraska. Bryan would deliver one of the greatest speeches in American politics with his "Cross of Gold" speech which defended the free coinage of silver at the Democratic National Convention.
William Jennings Bryan would actually win the presidential nomination of both the Democratic and Populist Parties due to his stand on silver for the campaign of 1896. McKinley, who supported sound money through gold was nominated by the Republicans as eastern bankers and businesses wanted to protect against inflation and have fair trade. McKinley's campaign themes were the "advanced agent of prosperity" and "on the road to prosperity." This is where (when I give my McKinley presentations) I compare the 1896 campaign to the book "The Wonderful Wizard of Oz". This is where Dorothy is told to "Follow the yellow brick road" (Gold) to Emerald City the home of power and prosperity. Gold and silver are both measured in ounces as we know by "Oz."
McKinley wins the election and gold is set as our monetary standard three years into his presidency and lasts until 1933.
Mike Wilson is the director of SCOPE Senior Services of Trumbull County and has traveled around the nation performing as William McKinley for nearly 30 years.