34. J. G. Hemphill, “Free Coinage and the Loss of Southern Statesmanship,” Forum (May 1892): 295-99.


Criticism of Southern Democrats for supporting the effort to take the United States off the gold standard. It was assumed at the time that the free (i.e., unlimited) coinage of silver would cause inflation and thereby ease economic pressure on indebted parts of the country, such as the agrarian South.