VOA建国史话(翻译+字幕+讲解):格罗弗·克利夫兰总统支持采用金本位制解决经济衰退
日期:2019-10-25 14:37

(单词翻译:单击)

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Welcome to the MAKING OF A NATION -- American history in VOA Special English. In March of eighteen eighty-nine, Grover Cleveland left the White House after four years as president. He had been defeated by Benjamin Harrison. As they were leaving, Cleveland's wife, Caroline, spoke with a member of the White House staff. She said: "I want you to take good care of everything. I want to find it the same when we come back. And we will be back -- in four years." Caroline Cleveland was right. She and her husband moved back into the White House after he became president again in eighteen ninety-three. Grover Cleveland is the only man to serve two terms separated by the administration of a different president. This week in our series, Shirley Griffith and Frank Oliver begin the story of Grover Cleveland's second presidency.
Grover Cleveland did not want to be president again. But he was worried about the future of the United States. He did not think President Harrison could solve the serious economic problems the country faced. President Harrison had approved very high taxes on imports. He also had approved an increase in the supply of silver money. Grover Cleveland said both actions had hurt the economy. He also feared that Harrison was not strong enough to oppose the demands of special interest groups in the Republican Party. Cleveland believed he was the only Democrat who could defeat Harrison. He won his party's nomination. And he was easily elected to a second presidency. Grover Cleveland immediately turned to the nation's economic problems. The country seemed headed for a serious depression. Only a few days before Cleveland's second inauguration in eighteen ninety-three, a major railroad failed. Then another big company declared failure. This set off a selling panic on the stock market. In the next few months, almost eight thousand businesses failed in the United States. Four hundred banks closed. One million workers lost their jobs. The prices of farm products fell lower than ever before. And thousands of farmers -- unable to pay their debts -- had to give up their farms. Experts offered a number of different reasons for the depression. Some said it was a plot by members of the stock market to ruin farmers and seize their land. Some said it happened because American factories were producing more goods than people could use. Still others said the problem was caused by the government's money policy.
For many years, the United States and other nations used both gold and silver as money. Paper money was used to represent a nation's gold and silver holdings. The value of silver was tied to the value of gold. In the United States in the early eighteen hundreds, fifteen ounces of silver had the same value as one ounce of gold. This value did not change until after eighteen sixty. That was when mines in the western United States began to produce large amounts of silver. The extra silver caused the price of the metal to fall. In eighteen seventy-one, Germany declared that it would no longer support its paper money with silver. Instead, it would use only gold. Other European countries quickly did the same thing. The United States did, too. In eighteen seventy-three, Congress passed a law that stopped the government from using silver as money. Western silver producers protested. They put great pressure on lawmakers to change the law. Five years later, Congress passed a compromise bill. The compromise bill said the government could issue limited amounts of silver money. It said the government must buy two million dollars' worth of silver each month for that purpose. Twelve years later, during President Benjamin Harrison's administration, Congress passed a new silver purchase bill.

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It said the government must buy four-and-one-half million ounces of silver each month. The Treasury Department would buy the silver with new paper money that could be exchanged for silver or gold. The new law increased the amount of silver money used in the United States. The country soon became sharply divided on the issue of silver money. Wealthy businessmen and bankers did not want to use silver money at all. They wanted the country's economy to be based only on gold. This was what was known as the "gold standard." They believed the gold standard would keep the value of the dollar high. Using silver, they said, made the dollar less valuable. Farmers, laborers and others wanted to use silver money. And they wanted an unlimited supply of it. Without silver, they said, the country's money supply would be too small. Gold would increase in value. People who had borrowed money would be hurt. They would have to pay back loans with dollars that were more valuable than those they had borrowed. President Cleveland supported the gold standard. He opposed any use of silver for money. He said the United States should use only gold, as other nations did. President Cleveland was sure the silver purchase law of eighteen ninety had caused the economic depression. He explained the situation in this way: The law had caused businessmen and investors to lose faith in the government's money policy. They were afraid their money would drop in value, as more silver money was put into use.
Investors began to withdraw their money from businesses. Banks began demanding early payment of loans. Everyone wanted gold. They took their paper money and their silver to the government and exchanged them for gold. In eighteen ninety, when the Silver Purchase Act was passed, the government held almost two hundred ninety million dollars in gold. After two years, withdrawals had cut that amount to one hundred million dollars. President Cleveland and other administration officials began to worry. It was possible that gold holdings might fall so low the government could not support the dollar. Cleveland decided the only answer was to get Congress to kill the silver purchase law. Then the government could stop buying silver. It could return to the gold standard. The Congress was not in session, however. It would not meet again for several months. President Cleveland did not want to wait. He believed the problem was too serious. So, he called a special session of Congress. The president did not expect an easy time with the Congress. Many congressmen supported silver money -- especially those congressmen from silver-producing states in the west.
President Cleveland believed he could get Congress to kill the silver purchase law. But if he showed any weakness, the fight would be lost. Then, just before the congressional debate, he learned he would need an operation. He felt a rough spot in the top of his mouth. It got bigger and more painful. Doctors examined the spot. It was a cancer. President Cleveland asked how long he could wait to have the cancer removed. "If it were in my mouth," one of the doctors said, "I would have it removed immediately." Cleveland agreed. But he said the operation would have to be kept secret. News from the White House often affected short-term activity on the stock market. News that the president's life was in danger could cause the nation's economic crisis to become worse. Cleveland decided to have the operation on a friend's boat in New York Harbor. Newsmen were told he was going sailing with his friend. Doctors made final preparations. They were not afraid of the operation. But they were afraid of what would happen if news of the operation were leaked to the press. One of them spoke with the boat's captain. "If you hit an underwater rock," he said, "hit it good and hard, so we will all go to the bottom." As the boat moved slowly up the East River in New York, the doctors put President Cleveland to sleep with an anesthetic drug. Then they began the operation. That will be our story in the next program of THE MAKING OF A NATION.

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重点解析

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1.take care of 照顾;照料

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Don't worry yourself about me, I can take care of myself.

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你别担心我,我能照顾好自己SKg,|q2=sLi

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2.no longer 不再;再也不

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They no longer had him as a friend.

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他们再也不把他看成朋友了MZ^2GmDt,Jigv[F.Rs

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3.be exchanged for 被用于交换某物

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Money can be exchanged for goods or services.

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钱可以用来换取商品或服务fXLt9ZBl+Qi6ZLAzf)r

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4.lose faith in 对......失去信心;不再信任

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They're beginning to lose faith in the unions.

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他们开始对工会失去信心了mZIEl!gE4,pTY-6FmD

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参考译文

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欢迎收听VOA慢速英语之建国史话节目,ywAp6.LIvDQsC。1889年3月,格罗弗·克利夫兰在担任总统四年后离开白宫DIdmib~u.@7Z)l%。他被本杰明·哈里森击败y_Ly7!GS_c)~eyD。他们离开时,克利夫兰的妻子卡罗琳与白宫的一名工作人员交谈时说:“我希望你把一切都照看好,当我们再回来时,我想看到它们都和之前一模一样=(KeysXr3FEHcAGNw。四年后我们会回来的LyfyA*|+,5jwyv。”卡罗琳·克利夫兰说对了,她的丈夫在1893年再次当选总统后,他俩又搬回了白宫SdQEb2^*^pJr1。格罗弗·克利夫兰是唯一一位不是连任的总统,其两届任期被另一届总统隔开了+8xQ4euWe3a4Jx@_+T。在本周的系列节目中,雪莉·格里菲斯和弗兰克·奥利弗开始讲述格罗弗·克利夫兰在第二任总统任期中发生的故事UXD~ofRt]1a8C55T.#
格罗弗·克利夫兰不想再当总统了,但他担心美国的未来+XVkZyxGp96,X)ATI。他认为哈里森总统无法解决美国面临的严重经济问题ezxO|H|3|LF_aQFx)。哈里森总统已经批准对进口商品征收高额税款,他还批准增加银币的供应wHRV%U2+PGTQ1;=。格罗弗·克利夫兰表示,这两个举动都损害了经济__y#4w4Z)TwmWiKvs%jw。他还担心哈里森不够强大,无法反对共和党特殊利益集团的要求]u,pAil&n7@Ci。克利夫兰认为,他是唯一能打败哈里森的民主党人,他赢得了党内提名F+57AyR&8pd5w。他很容易当选为第二任总统W2l|C9yjF!R(zHj。格罗弗·克利夫兰立即开始解决国家的经济问题,美国似乎正走向一场严重的萧条4tDt4nqBfM(f!。就在1893年克利夫兰第二次就职典礼的前几天,一条主要的铁路出事了,还有一家大公司宣布倒闭,这引发了股市出现抛售恐慌ZEZZo8UPmI。在接下来的几个月里,美国几乎有8000家企业倒闭,400家银行关门,100万工人失业|k6UUzz(s&k[m#+U。农产品价格比以往任何时候都低,成千上万的农民无力偿还债务,他们不得不放弃自己的农场Qz7FAHA8ZetZu1ImZL。专家们提出了许多导致经济萧条的不同原因rkpk)|QT39xKm@kU4kF。有人说,这是股市成员损害农民利益、夺取土地的阴谋Od(*Tq4ucbXtS。一些人说,这是因为美国工厂生产的商品超出了人们的使用范围h~AJZ2,igo4+2V。还有人说,问题是由政府的货币政策造成的Z.5#t-25E~4+T=2
多年来,美国和其他国家把金银都当作货币,纸币被用来代表一个国家的金银储备m11GK=5;-is%。银的价值与金的价值挂钩m@gneg3zrn]7_J^+*ldd。在18世纪早期的美国,15盎司的白银和1盎司的黄金价值相同,这个价值直到1860年才发生变化Qxj~Bg#3lo4W。那时,美国西部的矿山开始大量生产白银,额外的银使金属价格下跌^,=yM!eLP1[。1871年,德国宣布不再用白银支持纸币,而是只使用黄金,Th4Z79pu8)Ard)L7Udw。其他欧洲国家很快也采取了相同的做法Z#xT3Vt91ZmB7|&。美国也不例外^AYJ+aYwaQ[SPR[!n-[。1873年,国会通过了一项法律,禁止政府使用白银作为货币dsRJNiQfFcRT|!。西部白银生产商对此表示抗议,他们向立法者施加巨大压力,要求他们修改法律1&EM*N(#C]psG5eM。五年后,国会通过了一项折衷法案vT,Q7Uf5P52[(j!Ufc。折衷法案表示,政府可以发行有限的银币,政府必须每月为此购买价值200万美元的白银HnZ|!@D89p2oShyxzFc。12年后,在本杰明·哈里森总统执政期间,国会通过了一项新得白银购买法案%v43CST|CP
法案说政府每月必须购买450万盎司的白银,财政部将用新的纸币购买白银,这些纸币可以兑换成白银或黄金,新法律增加了美国银币的使用量!XOd3&+O|l8N&=。这个国家很快在银币问题上出现了严重的分歧CGvZqCa4Sm_pJ.。富商和银行家根本不想使用银币,他们希望美国的经济只以黄金为基础,这就是所谓的“金本位”,他们相信金本位会使美元保持在高位7Un8(OZZcrp。他们说,使用白银会使美元贬值hY3q9*AtzHP。农民、工人和其他人都想使用银制成的钱,想要无限量的供应7P]3E1Yq~RYU3m*K。他们说,没有白银,这个国家的货币供应量将太少A4ll[ZAM!(R,@@Tq#。黄金会增值,借钱的人会受到伤害,他们必须用比借来时价值更高的美元偿还贷款8V%9Tc572=|7h&)。克利夫兰总统支持金本位制,他反对使用白银换钱NPc_^HL--MXj@&fy。他说,美国应该像其他国家一样,只使用黄金gy,R4&Z;fdlHAW+ICq。克利夫兰总统确信1890年的白银购买法导致了经济萧条,他这样解释当时的情况:这项法律使商人和投资者对政府的货币政策失去了信心,他们担心随着更多的银币投入使用,他们的钱会贬值-^#vojSog;,l95
投资者开始从企业中撤出资金,银行开始要求提前还贷sRC7Z%a2inBiH&X%p9R7。每个人都想要黄金,他们把纸币和银币交给政府,换成黄金jULqbuFrL79d1!4。1890年,《白银购买法》通过时,政府持有近2亿9千万美元的黄金m+r&ae%zS0VGOGj.。2年后,提款额已减至1亿美元E7TV;jw7]sA]L9nzE。克利夫兰总统和其他政府官员开始担心,黄金持有量可能会跌至低谷,以至于政府无法支撑美元,Nb4fMbY7Neni[|。克利夫兰决定唯一的解决办法就是让国会废除白银购买法,那么政府就可以停止购买白银了,可能返回到金本位制@_|^#[]XjA!&B^K。然而,国会没有开庭,好几个月都不会再会面了NghP[Q9r6dRq5OgR7U。克利夫兰总统不想再等了,他认为问题太严重了6vUk;PUI=gsPZQoEBbd。所以,他召开了国会特别会议GKllS^;8j5。总统没有料到与国会的相处会很轻松,许多国会议员支持银币,特别是那些来自西部产银各州的议员q+IM+BWIrpds|-8dyJ9
克利夫兰总统认为,他可以让国会废除白银购买法案%1V!OYBCqD。但如果他表现出任何弱点,这场战斗就会失败cGFe8RiP(_=G。而就在国会进行辩论之前,他得知自己需要动手术Pw,.R0Br5dPFNdv。他感到口腔顶部有一个粗糙的斑块,它变得越来越大,也让他更痛苦pm3hX6Y9=,。医生检查了那个斑块,是癌症un4|5B*t)dDy#d3H。克利夫兰总统问他可以等多久再把癌症切除uVL8qecMJ5h。“如果它长在我嘴里,”其中一个医生说,“我会立即将它移除05TXZ+XB6Vp#hdXvslPn。”克利夫兰同意了,但他说手术必须保密kJnrxcZ]39rjBi。白宫的消息经常影响股市的短期活动,总统生命垂危的消息可能导致国家经济危机恶化_9MU),=Vr%QIKfc。克利夫兰决定在纽约港的一位朋友的船上接受这次手术,新闻记者得到的消息是他要和朋友一起去航海r_q^d(R3+YAxd(。医生们做了最后的准备,他们不怕实施手术,但担心如果手术的消息泄露给新闻界会发生什么事情8Oi*84xyuqk.9K^。其中一位医生和船长谈话,“如果你撞到水下的岩石,”他说,“撞得准一点、猛一点,那样我们就都会沉入水底4l)Cjt3pV77%UK。”船在纽约伊斯特河上缓慢行驶时,医生们给克利夫兰总统注射了麻醉药Y-27rAJq]Hmz9n]#。然后,他们开始实施手术wAJ6Fpa&=07qa*Lom。这将是我们下期建国史话要讲述的故事Rw_cZL%LE*Z(zpWB

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译文为可可英语翻译,未经授权请勿转载!

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