put of gold, might have been justly taken as vindicating the quantity theory of money value, prosperity being precisely the result which the silver people of 1896 prophesied as certain in case the stock of hard money were amplified. Bimetallists could solace themselves that if they had, with all other people, erred touching the geology of the money question, in not believing there would ever be gold enough to stay the fall of prices, their main and essential reasonings on the question had proved perfectly correct. Good fortune, it might have been held, had removed the silver question from politics and remanded it back to academic political economy.

Probably a majority of the Democrats in 1900 felt this. At any rate the Kansas City convention would have been quite satisfied with a formal reaffirmation of the Chicago platform had not Mr. Bryan flatly refused to run without an explicit platform restatement of the 1896 position. His hope, no doubt, was to hold Western Democrats, Populists, and Silver Republicans, his anti

imperialism meanwhile attracting Gold Democrats and Republicans, especially at the East, who emphatically agreed with him on that paramount issue. But it appeared as if most of this, besides much else that was quite as well worth while, could have been accomplished by frankly acknowledging and carefully explaining that gold alone had done or bade fair to do substantially the service for which silver had been supposed necessary; for which, besides, it would really have been required but for the unexpected and immense increase in the world's gold crop through a long succession of years.

The Republican leaders gauged the situation better. Mr. McKinley, to a superficial view inconsistent on the silver question, was on this point fundamentally consistent throughout. With all the more conservative monetary reformers he merely wished the fall of prices stopped, and such increment to the hard money supply as would effect that result. The metal, the kind of money producing the needed increase, was of no consequence. When it became practically

certain that gold alone, at least for an indefinite time, would answer the end, he was willing to relinquish silver except for subsidiary coinage.

The law of March 14, 1900, put our paper currency, save the silver certificates, and also all national bonds, upon a gold basis, providing an ample gold reserve. Silver certificates were to replace the treasury notes, and gold certificates to be issued so long as the reserve was not under the legal minimum. If it ever fell below that the Secretary of the Treasury had discretion.

Other notable features of this law were its provision for refunding the national debt in two per cent. gold bonds-a bold, but, as it proved, safe assumption that the national credit was the best in the world-and the clause allowing national banks to issue circulating notes to the par value of their bonds.

Our money volume now expanded as rapidly as in 1896 advocates of free coinage could have expected even with the aid of free silver. July 1, 1900, the circulation was $2,055,150,998, as against $1,650,223,400

four years before. Nearly $163,000,000 in gold certificates had been uttered. The gold coin in circulation had increased twenty per cent. for the four years; silver about one-eighth; silver certificates oneninth. The Treasury held $222,844,953 of gold coin and bullion, besides some millions of silver, paper, and fractional currency.

The Republican victory was the most sweeping since 1872. The total popular vote was 13,970,300, out of which President McKinley scored a clear majority of 443,054, and a plurality over Bryan of 832,280. the Northern States Bryan carried only Colorado, Idaho, and Nevada. He lost his own State and was shaken even in the tra

Of

ditionally "solid South." Unnecessarily ample Republican supremacy was maintained in the legislative branch of the Government.

CHAPTER XVII.

THE TWELFTH CENSUS

THE plan for a permanent census bureau was not realized in time for the 1900 enumeration, but the act authorizing this provided important modifications in prior census procedure. Among several great improvements it made the census director practically supreme in his methods and over appointments and removals in his force.

Initial inquiries were restricted to (1) population, (2) mortality, (3) agriculture, and (4) manufactures. Work on these topics. was to be completed not later than July 1, 1902. During the year after, special reports were to be prepared on defective, criminal and pauper classes, deaths and births, social data in cities, public indebtedness, taxation and expenditures, religious bodies, electric light and power, telephone and tele