Crawfordsville Weekly Journal, Crawfordsville, Montgomery County, 25 September 1896 — Page 7

SILVER AND WAGES.

Speech of Secretary Carlisle at Chicago.

He Addresses aMass Meeting of Workingmeu oil the Currency Question.

Slakes It Clenr That Cheap Honey Alwayt Was aiid Always Will Be the Wagm Earner's Enemy—Free Coinage Means

Silver Monometallism and Reduced Purchasing Power of Wages—Such Has Been the Experience With Depreciated Silver In Chile, Japan and Mexico and With Our Depreciated Currency—Would Kob Workingnicn of Billions of Dollars Deposited In Savings Banks and Building and Loan Associations and Invested In Insurance Policies.

We reprint below in full Secretary Carlisle'* clear, forcible and unanswerable speech to the labor organizations of Chicago, at the Auditorium, on April 15:

MB. PRESIDENT AND GENTLEMEN—I am here this evening in response to a communication received several months ago from a number of gentlemen connected with various labor organizations of this city inviting me to address them and their fellow workingmen upon the curroncy and tlnancial questions, which wore then and are stili agitating the minds of our peoplo in all parts of the country. When that communication reached me, it was not in my power to designate a time when my official duties would permit me to come here, but I promised to hold tho matter under consideration and como whenever it might be possible to do so, and I now congratulate myself upon my good fortune in having at last found an opportunity to meet this great assemblage of laboring people and to discuss in their presence what I consider 0110 of the most important economic questions that can possibly encage the attention of wage earners in this or any other country. The "Wage Earner's Interest In Good Money.

Whotbor tho general business of the peoplo Ehall bo transacted with good money or bad money, whether tho wages of labor shall be paid in a sound and stable currency, with full purchasing power in tho markets where they are exchanged for the necessaries of life, or in a depreciated and fluctuating currency, having no fixed value and therefore bearing no permanent relation to the current prices of commodities, are questions which affect tlie comfort and happiness of every home and the peace and prosperity of every community. •While all are deeply interested in the settlement of these questions it is unfortunately the case that all will not bo equally affected by an erroneous decision upon them. The wealthy man, the man who has accumulated property or hoarded money, is always exempt from many of the most serious consequences of a financial or industrial disturbance. Ho has both moans and credit, and, while ho may be subjected to much loss and inconvenience, neither ho nor his family will bo pinched by hunger or compelled lo go without raiment or shelter.

It is the poor man and tho man of moderate means—tho man who has not been fortunate enough to accumulate property or money, but who depends upon his wages or upon the products of his own labor for the means of supporting himself and his family—that always feels the first and most disastrous effects of a business or industrial depression, no matter whether it results from a depreciated and fluctuating currency or from other causes. Such a man has nothing to dispose of but his labor and nothing with which to support himsolf or his family but his wages or the proceeds of his own labor, and any policy that even temporarily suspends or obstructs the industrial progress of tho country by diminishing tho demand for tho products of labor, or by impairing tho capacity or disposition of capital to employ labor, must be injurious to his interests and inflict more or less suffering upon all who are dependent upon him. Labor cannot be hoarded tho idle day is gone forever lost wages aro never reimbursed, and therefore steady employment and good pay in good money are essential to the comfort aud happiness of tlifj American laborer and his wifo and children, and he will bo unfaithful to himself and to them if he does not insist upon tho adoption and maintenance of such a policy as will most certainly preserve the value and stability of all our currency and promote tho regular and profitable conduct of all our industrial enterprises.' Ho cannot prosper when the country is in distress, when its industries ore prostrated, it commerce paralyzed, its credit broken down or its social order disturbed, nor can ho prosper when the fluctuations of tho currency are such that, he cannot certainly know the value of tho dollar in which his wages an paid or estimate in advance the cost of the necessaries of life.

Whether wo shall or shall not havo a long period of financial, commercial and industrial disturbance in this country, and whether labor shall bo deprived of jA-rmanent employment or be. partially employed and inadequately paid, are questions directly and necessarily involved in the demand now seriously made by many of our fellow citizens that tho

United States, without the co-operation of any other government in the world, and in opposition to the established policy of every other great civilized and commercial nation, shall authorize the free and unlimited coinage of full legal tender silver at the rate of 1G to 1, notwithstanding the true market ratio between the two metals is about 31 to 1, or, in other words, that tho United States aloxe shall declare by lav.- that 18 ounces of silver are equal in valuo to 1 ounce of gold, when it is an indisputable fact everywhere recognized that in all the markets of the world, in silver standard countries as well as in gold standard countries, 10 ounces of silver aro worth only about one-half ns much as 1 ounce of gold and will purchase only about one-half as much of tho necessaries of life.

What Free Coiuage Really Means. The naked proposition is that the United States shall coin, at tho public expense, for tho exclusive benefit of the individuals and corporations owning the bullion, all tho silver that may bo presented at tho mints into dollars containing 371^ grains of pure silver, or grains of standard silver, worth intrinsically about 51 or 52 cents, deliver the coins to the depositors of the bullion and compel all the other people in tho country to receive theso coins at a. valuation of 100 cents each in the payment of debts duo them for property sold, for labor and service of all kinds, for pensions to soldiers and sailors and their widows and children, for losses sustained under policies issued by life and other insurance companies, for deposits in savings banks, trust companies, building associations and other institutions, for debts due to widows and orphans by guardians, executors and administrators of decedents, estates and other trustees, for salaries of all civil military and naval officials and tho compensation of privato soldiers and seamen, and, in short, for every kind of obligation recognized by the laws of tho land, except only in cases where the prndent capitalist has taken the precaution in advance to contract for payment of debts due him in gold or its equivalent.

To say nothing of the gross partiality and manifest injustice of such a policy, its immediate effeot would bo to contract our currency to the extent of about $020,000,000 by stopping the uso of gold as money aivi putting a premium upon the coins of that metal equal, ot about equal, to tho difference between the intrinsic value of tho gold dollar and the intrinsic value of tho silver dollar, (iold coins would at once become a commodity and would be bought and sold by speculators in the market just as they were during the war, when we hod a depreciated paper currency. The value Jof the silver dollar would fluctuate from day to day, moving up and do\yn with the rise and fall of the commercial price of the bullion contained in it, as the Mexican dollar dofes now,

and the premium on the gold dollar would of course fluctuate to tho same extent, thus affording an opportunity to bullion brokers and speculators to buy and sell it at a profit. It would cease to bo used as money, because no man would pay his dobt in gold dollars or In paper redeemable in gold dollars, worth 100 cents, when the law permitted him to pay it in silver dollars, worth only D1 or 52 cents, tho sudden withdrawal of $020,000,000 from tha volume of currency in tho country would undoubtedly produce a financial and industrial disturbance far moro disastrous to tho interests of labor than has ever been experienced ia our history, and no man who has a particle oT sympathy for working men and women and tfcoir dopendent families can contemplate the possibility of such a calamity without feeling that it is his duty, whether he occupies a public or a private station, to employ every honorable means at his command to avert it.

While tho sudden expulsion of $G20,000,000 in gold from our stock of money would itself be sufficient to create a financial disturbance unparalleled in the history of this or any other country tho situation would be very greatly aggravated by tho fact that the purchasing power of all the remainder of our currency would bo suddenly reduced about one-half wo. should havo only about two-thirds as much curroncy as wo havo now, and at the same time it would bo so depreciated in value that it would requiro about twicoasmuch as we have now to transact the business of tho country, provided there should bo any business to transact.

Double Standard a Failure.

The attempt to maintain what is called the double standard of value—that is, to attempt to keep tho legal tender coins of the two metals, gold and silver, in uso as money at the same time, upon a ratio of value fixed by law —has repeatedly been made by kings and parliaments in every civilized country in the world, and it has failed again and again in every one of them, and it requires no gift of prophecy to foresee that it must continue to fail so long as self interest constitutes a controlling factor in the business affairs of men.

Without trespassing upon your patience to review tho monetary history of other countries in which this oxporiment has been made and failed it may be advantageous to refer briefly to our own experienso upon this subject. When it was determined to, adopt a monetary system for tho United States and establish a mint, Alexander Hamilton and Thomas Jefferson, two men who differed widely upon almost every public question and whoso names as founders and leaders of their respective parties will live as long as our political literature is read, agreed that in determining what should he the coinugo or legal ratio between gold and silver the true relativo commercial valuo of tho i',. metals in tho markets of tho world must first be ascertained, and that this relativo value, when ascertained, should be incorporated into the statute as the basis of tho proposed system of coinage. Although they were party leaders, they were statesmen and patriots, and when they werd called on to consider this groat business question affecting all tha private affairs of their fellow citizens they gave it- a thorough and impartial investigation upon its merits, without regard to tho effect their decision might havo upon their own political fortunes or upon tho political fortunes of their followers. Xho "Fathers" Not Disturbed by This Delusion.

These groat men were nover disturbed for a moment by the delusion that congress could fix by statuto tho actual or relative values of gold and silver any moro than it could fix by statute tho actual or relative values of a pound of lead and a pound of iron. They knew that gold and silver, like all other exchangeable things, are commodities and that their valuo will be fixed in the markets of tho world. They know that it was entirely competent, in fact necessary, for congress to declare tho ratio upon which the two metals should be coined at tho mint, if they were to bo coined at all, hut they knew equally well that if tho ratio so declared did not correspond substantially with the ratio which the commercial world had established, tho coins of tho two metals could not bo kept in use as money at tho same time, and consequently, as I have already said, they determined to ascertain tho commorcial ratio and to adopt it. They reached the conclusion that the truo commercial ratio at that time was 15 to 1—that is, that 15 ounces of silvar were equal in valuo to 1 ounce of gold and accordingly the act of IT!1-, which was our first coinage law, authorized the coinage of the two metals at that ratio.

At the ratio thus established tho silver dollar contained STlJi grains of line silver and the gold contained 2-lj*i grains of line gold, but It was soon discovered that a mistake had been made and that oTlJ.J grains of line silver were not in fact equal in value to 24 a, grains of fine gold, and the consequence was that, although tho difference between the value of a silver dollar and the value of a gold dollar was only about one cent and one-eighth of a cc-nt, silver drove gold out of use and out of the country, and from that time wo had silver monometallism until after tho passago of tho acts of 1834 and 1837.

Tho fact that tho silver was put to tho form of a coin aud made legal lender the saino as gold, and that both dollars were declared to bo worth KJO cents each, did not increase the value of tho o71 f4 grains of silver to any extent whatever. Tlio people could not be deceived by moro words printed in a statute they soon learned that tie nietul contained in tho silver dollar was not equal in value to tho metal contained in the gold dollar, and tlicy paid silver to their creditors and hoarded the gold or sent it out of the country. Even our new and full weight silver coins would not circulate or remain in tho country, because congress, by various acts, made certain foreign coins legal tender in tho payment of debts, and as they were generally so worn by abrasion as to be of less weight than tho new domestic coins they drove our dollars and half dollars, and to a large extent cur quarters and dimes also, out of use as money. Our own .coins wero exported and used at their bullion value in making purchases and paying debts abroad, and Mr. Jefferson himself, who had then become president of the United States, issued an order on the first day of May, ISO*!, stopping the coinage of silver dollars at our mints. No mure silver dollars were coined until 18 A oU yi.ars afterward, and then only 1,000 of them were issued from the mints.

Restoration of Gold Standard In 1S34. Gold having loft the country, congress, in 1834, during the administration of Andrew Jackson, determined to restore it to tho circulation and, in order to accomplish that result, the legal ratio was changed from 15 to 1 to about 10 to 1—that is. tlie law so amended as to provide that the gold eagle, or 510 piece, should contain 232 grains of pure gold, which made tho dollar consist of 23 1-5 grains, but by tho uct of 1837 it was changed to 23.22 grains,, which now constitutes tho dollar and unit of value. This was a slight overvaluation of gold in tho coinage, betuiu.se 23.22 grains of fine gold were llot in fact worth as much in tho markets as 371J4 grains of fine silver. Although the difference in value was very small, it proved sufficient to change the whole character of our metallic currency,-and under this ratio gold and silver exchanged places. Silver went out of the country, and gold cniue in, and from that time until after tho passage of the act of 1878 wo had practical gold monometallism, except during the period of tlie war, when we had no metallic money of ar.y kind. When the great civil war began, wo had no silver in circulation except the subsidiary coins authorized by tho cct of 1833, but we' hail gold and paper redeemable in golu, a:iu it- was not long before we had another practical illustration of the natural law that the iiu'orior or less valuable legal tender currency will expel tho superior or more valuable legal tender currency from circulation.

Paper Currency of War Period. Early in 18G2 congress, most unwisely, in my opinion, authorized the issue of legal tender paper to circulate as money, and the usual and inevitable result followed. Gold ceased to bo used as money apd tho banks and the treasury having suspended specie payments, the country was flooded with a depreciated currency worth at times loss than 50 cents on the dollar. Later on fractional paper currency was authorized by congress, and the effect of this was to drive out of circulation even the lightweight subsidiary coins, and for many years not a single piece of metallic money of any kind was used by the people except on the Pacific coast, where gold continued to circulate

at Its actual intrinsia volue without regard to the fictitious value which tlio acts of congress attributed to the legal tender paper.

I will endeavor to show yon hereafter what effect this depreciated currency had upon the wages of labor and upon the prices of commodities which the laborers wore compelled to purchase with their wages, my purposo at tho present moment being simply to prove, by our own experience, that it is impossible to retain in circulation at tho same time legal tender gold and silver coins of tho same denomination at any ratio which does not correspond with tho actual commercial values of tho two metals in the markets of tho world, and that, therefore, tho free and unlimited coinage of logal tender silver by tho United States alone the ratio of 10 to 1, when tho true commercial ratio is about 31 to 1, would instantly contract the currency by the expulsion of all the gold now in tho country.

If tho overvaluation of silver to tho amount of a little over 1 per cent in tho coinage law of 1792 expelled gold and established silver monometallism, and if the overvaluation of gold to tho extent of less than 1 per cent in tho acts of 1834 and 1837 expelled silver from circulation and established gold monometallism, is not tho conclusion irresistible that the free and unlimited coinage of legal tender silver at the present time, at an overvaluation of nearly 100 per cent, would at once place the country upon a monometallic silver basis? This question does not seem to mo to bo open to serious argument, and when it is proposed that the United States shall, in defiance of our own experience during a period of 89 years and in defiance of the experience of other nations during many centuries, authorize tho freo coinage of legal tender silver at such a ratio, it is tlie duty of the people and especially tho duty of the laboring people to pause before it is too late and carefully consider wiiether they will determine to overthrow their existing monetary system and substitute in its place the depreciated silver monometallism of Asia and Mexico and tho small states and republics of Central and South America, with their low rates of wages and their high rates of exchange.

Under tho coinage act of 1792 wo had silver, but no gold, and under tho acts of 1834 and 1837, with free coinage of both metals, wo had gold, but no silver except tho token subsidiary coins after 1853, while now, with gold as the standard and limited coinago of silver, we havo both gold and silver ns full legal tender money in larger amounts than ever before in our history, and tho coins of the two metals are kept equal in purchasing power by the credit and resources of the government, notwithstanding the difference in their intrinsic value. Real Question Shall We Have Silver

Monometallism?

We havo now about $020,000.000 in gold and $•113,000,000 in full^legal tender silver, besides $78,210,G77 in subsidiary silver coins, which aro legal tender in payments not exceeding $10, and the real question for tho peoplo to decido is whether they will continue to use tho coins of both metals or adopt a monetary system which always ha3 and always will drive ono of them out of tho country. I am not here, therefore, this evening to advocate the exclusive uso of gold coin as money, or to oppose a conservative and safe use of silver coin as money along with gold and at a parity with gold, but I am here to insist that we shall not abandon the present legal standard of value, expel all the gold from the country and adopt silver monometallism, with free coinage of a nominal dollar worth intrinsically only 51 or 52 cents. I am here to insist that the mints of tho United States, which were constructed and are maintained :ind operated at tho expense of all tbe people, shall not bo used for the exclusive benefit of tho owners of silver bullion under a law giving them the right to have 51 or u-' cents' worth of their silver coined free of ohargo and stamped as a dollar and compelling you aud all others to receive it trom them as a dollar.

All the mints of the United States, operated to their full capacity and doing no other work, could not coin into standard silver dollars twothirds of tho annual production of silver in our own country, but, notwithstanding this, it is seriously proposed to offer free coinage to all the silver in the world at a legal valuation almost double its commercial valuo in the markets of the foreign countries where it is produced. The annual production of silver in the world is about £210,000,000 at our coinage rate, and tho annual capacity of our mints to coin standard silver dollars is only about $40,000,001). Last year we coincd S43,H.j3,475 ill gold and S9,009,480 in silver, so that if our mints were devoted exclusively to tho free coinage of standard silver dollars the addition to our stock of metallic money would lie about $15,000,000 less every year than it is now, and it would not be good money after it was coined. More than 15 years would elapse before we could at- this rate coin enough depreciated silver dollars to supply the placo of the good gold dollars expelled from the country, and in the meantime a complete revolution would have to be effected in our commercial relations with other nations and in all our domestic business affairs, including a readjustment ol'the wage.fof labor, the price of commodities, tho rates of municipal, state and iederal taxation, charges for transportation and every other matter involving the u-e of money or credit. We should-descend by a single stop from the highest standard of value to silver monometallism, with a contracted and at the same time 'depreciated currency, a financial experiment which has no precedent in the monetary interest of tho world.

Fortunately when changes have heretofore been made in the circulation by the substitution of tho coins of one metal lor the coins of the other, the difference in their value has been very small and the process of substitution has been grudual aud created no great financial disturbance. Under the. act of 1792 the difference in value between the coins and the legal ratio was only a littlo over 1 per cent, uid jet, within less than one year after tho enactment of that statute, congress was compelled to re-enforce our stock of money by making certain foreign coins le i:l tender in tho payment of debts, and oa.tlsfiyaio day of the passago of the act, of Itfci, whitJi put the country on gold basis'by undervaluing silver alyjv.l" 1 per cent, congress pa/seu another statute making the gold coins of Great Britain, l'oru.:.-:.!, iirazil, France, Mexico and Colombia legal tender by weight in the payment of debts, thus providing as far as possible against a contraction of the currency on account of tho expulsion of silver from the circulation. During tae war, when gold was leaving the country, legal tender treasury notes were rapioly i.-.sued, under authority of congress, to take its place, mid instead of a contraction of tho currency wc had an expansion. After tho war, when it was determined to change tho character of our currency ugain by tho resumption of specie payments, the law was enacted four years in advance of the time when it was to take effect in order that amplo opportunity might be afforded to adjust tho business of tho peoplo tp the altered conditions. Now, however, all the conservative and prudential considerations that have usually controlled in the settlement of great financial questions seem to bo utterly disregarded, and wo are confronted by an organized and aggressive movement to destroy by a single blow the measures of value upon which all existing contracts are based and thus subvert the very foundations of our monetary system, without allowing a single day to prepare for the change. lu tho general confusion' and disorder resulting from such a radical measure what will be the condition of tho American laborer? Will ho be benefited or injured by reducing tho valuo of the money in which his wages aro paid aud at tho same time increasing tho prices of tho commodities for which his wages aro expended? i/vyl?

Etl'qct on the Wage workers. After struggling for more than a quarter of a century, through labor organizations and otherwise, to securo a rate of -wages which would make the proceeds of a day's work equal to the cost of a day's subsistence for the workingman and his family, you are asked by the advocates of freo coinago to join them in destroying one-half ol' the purchasing power of tho money in which you are paid and impose upon yourselves the task of doubling tho nominal amount of your wages hereafter—that Is, to struggle for another quarter of a century, or perhaps longer, to raise your wages in a depreciated currency to a point which will enable you to purchase with thorn as much of tho necessaries of life as you can purchase no*,v—and if, after years of contention, privation and industrial disorder, you should at last succoed in so adjusting wages that they would procure at the higher prices

ef comaioditirii use what they will proctiro now in tlid existing prices, .what would you havo gainod by tho change from the old to the now conditions?

Fallacy of CO Cent Dollars.

Money roccivcd for wages, liko money roccivod on every other account, is valuable only to tho extent that it can bo exchanged for the othor commodities, and it is scarcely necessary to suggest that a dollar worth 50 cents will not purchase as much in tho markets as a dollar worth 100 cents. To call a dime a dollar would add nothing whatever to its intrinsic value or purchasing power it would still buy only a dimo's worth of goods. If these propositions are correct, it is clear that when wages •re paid in a depreciated currency the rates of wages must bo increased In proportion to tho depreciation of tho money and in proportion to tho increase in tho prices of othor things, or tho laborer will suffer a loss. But I affirm that it is tho universal rule that tho rates of-wages do not increase in proportion to the depreciation in tho vaiuo of the money in which tliey aro paid, and that when tho currency is depreciated tho rates of wages do not increaso in proportion to tho increaso in tho prices of tho commodities tho laborer is compelled to purchase. If there has been a singlo exception to this rule in this or in any other country, my investigations havo not enabled 1110 to lind it, and I do not believo ono can bo found. Our War Bxporienco With Depredated

Currency.

It is not my purposo to weary you by tho presentation of voluminous statistics, or by tedious recital of facts, but tho particular proposition now under consideration is of such great importunco in the discussion of this subject. that you must permit mo to call your especial attention to the Experience of tho laboring peoplo in our own country during tho yoars immediately following the introduction of a depreciated paper currency in 1802 and also to tho very low rates of wages which now prevail in countries having tho silver standard of valuo or tlio so called double standard of valuo with coinago of silver at a legal ratio not corresponding with tho commercial valuo of the metal and, in doing this, I will mako no statement that cannot be fully sustained by reliable evidence.

On the 3d of March, 1893, a subcommittee of the committee 011 finance in tho United States senate made a report on tlio course of prices and wagos in this country for a period of 52 years, embracing the prices of almost every article of consumption in common uso among tho peoplo and tho rates of wages in almost overy industry carried on during that time and, in order that you may learn from this official and impartial investigation what effect a depreciated currency has 011 wages and prices, I will briefly state some of tho most material facts and conclusions embodied in that document. Tho subcommittee consisted of five senators representing both political parties and both sides of tho currency question, and tho investigation, which lasted nearly two years, was most thoroughly and impartially mado, with 110 purposo in view exoept to ascertain aud report tho actual facts, and, so far as it relates to questions of fact, tho report was unanimous. As stated heretofore, congress, early in tho year of 1862, inaugurated tho policy of issuing legal tender paper, gold was driven out of circulation, specie payments were suspended, tho currency began at once

Ijpreciato and before tho close of tho year tho paper dollar was worth less than 70 cents in gold. From tho time the depreciation began the price of commodities and the wages of labor were paid in paper curroncy, and tho injurious effect upon tho interests of tho laboring man is clearly shown in the roport referred to.

Workingmen the Sufferers.

In 18G2 tho wages of labor, paid in depreciated paper, were less than 3 per cent higher in paper than when paid in gold, but tho prices of tho 223 articles used .by tho laborers u,nd other people in the maintenance of their families were nearly 18 per cent higher than they were when paid in gold in 1803 the wages of labor paid 111 depreciated paper worth about 09 cents on tbe dollar wero 10 4 per cent higher than when paid in gold, but the prices of tho articles tho laborer had to buy with his wages wero nearly 49 per cent higher in 18G4 the wages of labor paid in depreciated paper dollars worth 49 cents each had advanced 25J-£ per cent, but the prices ot tho necessaries of" lifo had advanced 90} 5 per emit in 1805wages paid in paper currency worth CU cents on the dollar had advanec -IJ per cent above tlio rates previously paid in gold, or its equivalent, but tho prices of commodities had advanced nearly 117 per cent—that is to say, had more than doubled, and in 1SCG wages paid in a currency wortu »1 cents 011 the dollar hud advanced a fraction more than 52 pm- cent lrom the previous rates in gold or its equivalent, but the prices of commodities had advanced

lJ0

per

cent. The rise in the rates of wages never corresponded with the ri-e in the prices of other things until the year 1809. four years after the close o! tho war, when the value of our currency was 1 cents 011 the dollar, and it was quite certain that 310 further, depreciation would occur. In ISliO this country was on a gold basis and and been on that basis for many years under the operdtion 01'the acts, of 1834 anu la«i7. Wages were then paid in gold or its equivalent and by reducing the wages paid in a depreciated currency to a gold basis and comparing them wltli the 1 ates paid in gold in laCO we shall have another demonstration of the injurious elfccts of cheap money on the interests of the laborer.

Oil this basis tho laborer received 70 cents ftr.d 2 mills in 180J, instead of the gold dollar he received in 18€j in lliii4 he received 80 cents "nd mills instead of a gold dollar, and in 18G5 ho received CO cents and 2 mills instead of a gold dollar.

I11 other ords, tho wages of labor, measured by gold as they were in ISO), when wo had a sound currency, had fallen about 24 percent iu Jt(St, more than 19 per ccnt in 180-1, and nearly -14 per cent in ItCo, when we had a depreciated currency, and, gentlemen, the force of this illustration is greatly augmented by the facts that these reductions in tho rates of wages occurred at a time when several hundred thousand laborers had been withdrawn from tho field of competition, when tho government was engaged in the prosecution of a great war and was expending money lavishly 1 or all kinds of supplies for tho urmy and navy, and when tho prices of all tho products oi labor had largely increased.

Surely if there ever can be a timo when an abundance of cheap money will increaso the wages and improve tho condition of laboring men these results ought to have been accomplished under tho combination of favorable circumstances existing, especially in tho great centers of industry, from lbUl to 1805, and yet thero has been no other period in our liistory when tbe rates of wages fell so rapidly or so low.

Chile's Sad Experience.

Tho recent experience of tho republic of 'Chile furnishes another impressive warning to the wage earner against the evils of a depreciated currency. That country had for along time the So called double standard of value, with coinago of legal tender gold and silver at the rate of 1G.39 to 1, but as this was a considerable undervaluation of silver tho coins of that metal went out of circulation and gold constituted the medium of exchange and actual standard of valuo until about the beginning of the year 187G, but as soon as the commercial valuo of silver fell below the ratio of 10.39 to 1 as compared with gold ull the gold went out of circulation and the country had silver monometallism. In 1875, beforo this change took place, the peso, or dollar of Chile, was worth about SS^ cents in.our money, but in 1885, ten years after, gold went out and silver came in, the peso WRE worth less than 53 cents in our money. Silver continued to depreciate and, besides, largo amounts of paper currency went issued by tho government aud tho banks, and in 1895, 20 years after tho change from tho gold basis to the silver basis, the peso wa3 worth only about 3434 cents in our money.

Let us seonow wh«t effect this cheap money, or, in other words, thirf system of silver monometallism which you are asked to adopt here, had upon the wages of labor in that country. Our minister at Santiago has very recently made un official investigation and report upon this subject, which has not yet been published, from which it appears that in tho northern part of Chile, where labor lias always been in greater demand than elsewhere on account of the great nitrate fields located in that section ot the country, very little change took placo even in tlio nominal rates of wages notwithstanding tho great fall in the value of the ear-

rency—that Is, laborers continued to recoiva in depreciatea money about tho same amount they received beforo in good money. In 1875, when tho peso wns worth 88}^ conts, a mechanic, boiler maker, blacksmith, a carpenter, a fireman and an ordinary laboror received together for a day's work 18J^ pesos, or $10.35 in our money in 18S5 tho samo persons receivod for tho samo work 20?^ pesos, but owing to tlio depreciation of tho currency this was equal to only $10.93 in our money, and in 1S95, 20 yoars after tho country had descondeu to a silver basis, tho samo laborers received for the same work 25.95 pesos, but tlio valuo of tho peso was less than 35 oents, and consequently their wages amounted to only $8.3-1 in our money, or just about ono-lialf of what they had received 20 years before. In tlie central part bf tho country tho result was substantially tbe came, though not quite so injurious to tho laborer. In 1875 a day's wages for flvo men—a mason, a carpenter, a gasflttor, a painter ard an ordinary laborer—amounted altogether to $6.45 in our money, but iu 1885 tho wages of tho samo men wero $5.53, and in 1895 $1.99. In the southern part of tho republic there was eomo inorftjteo in tho nominal amount of wages paid botween 1S70 and 1889 on account of tho fact that a lino of railway was then being constructed through that region by foroign capital, but since the lattor dato the general averago rare of wages has remainod substantially tho samo, although paid in a constantly depreciating currency.

Our minister to Chile, after a very careful examination.of the entire situation in that country, says: "It may bo taken for granted that in Chilo, as in all other countries which havo had a like financial oxperionco, tho consequences of cheap money havo weighed most heavily upon tho classes that aro least ablo to support tho burden."

Tho evils of silvor monometallism and a depreciated curroncy finally becamo intolerable in that country, and, although it produces considerable silver and very littlo gold, it has recently adopted the gold standard of valuo.

Japan's Experience.

In nearly overy country in tho world having tho gold standard of valuo tha wages of labor havo increased materially during tho last 25 years, and at tho samo timo tho purchasing power of the money in which wages aro paid lias increased :lso, whilo in tho countries having the silver standard of valuo wagos havo been actually reduced by tho depreciation of tho ourrency to such an extont that tho labor er is in a much worso condition than ho was at the beginning of that period. Japan, by far the most progressivo and prosperous country in tho oast, coins both gold and silver at tho ratio of 10.118 to 1, a ratio which greatly overvalues silver, and, as tho government does not maintain tho parity of tho two metuls, the currency is on a depreciated silver basis. Wages aro paid in silver, of course, because the laboring men and women always got tho cheapest money in circulation, and they generally pay the "Highest prices for tho articles they buy, for the reason that their purcbasos are usually mado in small quantities at a time. The Japaneso silver yon is worth a littlo less than 50 oents in our money, and when tho wages of labor, paid in this depreciated coin, are reduced to our standard of value, they appear so insignificant that it is difficult to understand how tho peoplo who receivo tho miserable pittance can livo and maintain their families. The avorage daily earnings of a bricklayer amount to 33 cents blacksmiths, carpenters and cabinet makers receivo 30 cents oompositors in printing offices, 29cents pressmen, 20 centa roofers, 29 cents stonecutters, 80 conts ordinary tuilors, 28 conts: weavers, 15 cents. And in all tho long list of occupations and wagos 110 laborer, however skilled, can be found who receives moro than 49 cents per day, except porcelain artists in tho great city of Yokohama, who got 72 cents. Factory laborers even in that city, wliero most of tho groat industries aro carricd on by Amori can or' European capitalists, receive 21 cents per day, and in other purts of tho country they receivo less.

Mexico's Experience. .'V

Our neighboring republic of Mexico, with a constitutional government very similar to our own, with un area of 707,000 square miles and a population of only about 12,000,000, with almost marvelous natural resourcos awaiting development and offering a most inviting field for tho investment of capital and tho employment of labor, has tho silver standard of value, gold not being in uso. And if cheap money is a blessing to tho laboring man, I10 ought to bo prosperous and liappy in that country. Tho Mexican dollar contains 377.17 grains of puro silver, or nearly 0 grains more than is contained in our dollar, and yet, iiot being sustained by a monetary system which keeps it at a parity with gold, it is worth only about 53. cents in our money. Wages aro paid in silver and are very low in comparison with tho wages paid in this couutry for tho samo services, in many instances not being half as much, while the prices of commodities generally aro much higher Lhan they aro here. Tho prices of imported articles especially aro exorbitantly high in Mexico, becauso they havo to be paid lor abroad in gold, und tho depreciation of their money is so great that it requires nearly $2 in silver to pay .$1 in gold.

Although our own silver dollar contains less lino silver than tho Mexican dollar, ono of ours is nearly equal in exchangeable value to two of theirs, because hero the coinage is limited and the government issues tho coins 011 its own account mid has pledged its faith and credit to keep them as good as gold, a pledge that h: been faithfully kept jip to this timo notwithstanding tiio complaints and denunciations of our freo coinage opponents. Under our policy the dollar paid to the laboring man for his wages is just us good and will purchase just as much iu tho markets as the dollar paid to tlio bondholders or to any other class of creditors, but if we are to havo free and unlimited coinago of legal tender silver for tho bem lit of the owners of the bullion tho government aud tho pooplo at largo would have 110 interest whatever in the coins, and it would be grossly unjust to requiro the government to keep tnein equal in exchangenblivvaluo to gold. 'J'iiu dollars, as rapidly as coined, would be delivered to the owners of tho bullion 1'reo (if charge, and the government would havo 110 legal or moral right to tax all tho peoplo of tlie country in order to procure gold with which to redeem these private coins. The value of our uullar would, therefore, bo 110 greater than the iiitriiibicor commercial valuo of the silver contained in it, and its purchasing power iu the markets would bo diminished about one-huif, but the wages of labor would remain, lur a long time at least, substantial at ti present rates, or, if they should bu nominally increased on account of the depreciation of too currency, experience in the past shows that thc-y would not increase in proportion to tiio increase 111 tho prices of commodities. Hiscs in the rates of wages take placo very slowly, while the prices of comniooiiies move rapidly, at some periocs changing several times in the course of a single day. And theso movements are always more lrequent and more, harmful when tlie currency is in an unsettled condition. ^. Attitude of Manufacturers.

You have doubtless observed recputly.wiiat appears to l)e quite a toruHtiueie urjrreirt—atiou in favor of the free coinage of silver by certain large manufacturing interests in tho eastern pari of the country, upon tbe ground that if wo continue to maintain our present standard of valuo the silver standard countries, especially India, China and Japan, will soon be able to undersell them in the markets of tlio world. Reduced to its simplest form, the proposition of these gentlemen is that tho manufacturers of cortuin kinds of KOO1S in this country cijunot continuu to pay thuir laUvrcrrf high wages in jold or ita equivalent ainl compete Hueceysfully in tho markets abroad with tho manufacturers of niinilar Kuods in silver standard countries, who pay their laborers low wa«es in depreciated silver, and therefore they insist that a monetary bystem shall be adopted bore which will give them the advantage of paying for their labor in depreciated silver. The theory is that, with freo coinage of legal tender silver, tho wages ol labor 111 this country would bo paid iu silver dollars worth about half as much as nold dollars, but tho products of labor, which would belong to the employer, would bo sold for gold in the markets abroad, aud that tho gold thus obtained could bo exchunged for silvor at about tho rate of $1 iu gold for $2 iu sil ver, and thus tho process would go on, the employer getting gold of full value and tho laborer getting depreciated silver, which, in tho opinion of theso gentlemen, would be a most happy solution of this question.

If the interests of labor are to bo left entirely out of consideration, and if it were not reasonably certain that a sudden revolution in our monetary system would at once arrest the progress of all our industries and produce almost universal bankruptcy, this scheme to niabs the employer very rich aud tlie laborer very poor might be worthy of serious consid­

eration, but the American laborer has ft rifihft to demand pay for his work 111 as good money as the employer receives for his products in any part of the world, and when lie surrenders this right I10 is doomed to the same fnto that lias already overtaken his brothers in tho silver standard countries.

It is but simple justice to say in this connection that the great body of" employers, a vast majority ol the men who have embarked their capital in industrial enterprises and are relying for success upon their skill and energy in the prosecution of their business, do not want the present standard of valuo overthrown, because they know that tbe establishment of silver monometallism would be ruinous to them and to all who are dependent upon them for employment, or for tho supply of commodities at reasonable pricey

Investments of Labor.

Jf the solution of this question affected only tho character and amount and purchasing

faborer,

lower of the future earnings of the American it would still be a subject of tho gravest iniportanco to linn, but its iniportanco is greatly increased by the fact that tho safoty and value of a very considerable part of his past earnings aro also lifvolved. The thrifty and provident workingman, anticipating a time when ho may be disabled or deprived of employment, has endeavored to savo something out of his earnings 111 order to provide* for tho comfort of his wife and children in the future and has laid it away at home, or deposited it in a bank or building nssociaV ^n, or invested it in a life insurance policy, or loaned it to some friend in whom he has confidence, lie is not a debtor, but. a creditor, and ths-. corporations and individuals having the custody of his earnings art! indebted to linn and ought to pay what they owo linn in just aa good money us I10 put into their hands. Savings l$nnks aud Ituildlng and Loan Associations.

According to tho latest reports, the savings bauks in your own state hold $2I,y57,400 on deposit for 83,h02 people, or an avorago of $257 for each depositor, und 111 tho whole country tlioy hold $l blU,fi97,000 for 4,875,519 people, or an average of M71 tor each depositor. State banks, trust companies and private banks hold

COO people, and nail,340 do$1,000

to their credit. Ucsidi these institutions thero nro 0,000 building and loan associations in tho United States, having about 1,800,000 shareholders, male and female, who havo paid duesin good money amounting to moro than $500,000,000. Thero aro nearly 700 of theso associations in the state of Illinois alone, and I11 theso institutions many laborers, men, women and oven children, havo deposited every dollar tlioy could spare, often denying themselves KDino of tho comforts of lifo iu order to lay up something for a timo ot need.

Life Insurance.

Moro than 2,000,000 of our people havo taken out lifo insurance policies, which aro now in force, amounting .to il,202,857,323, and havo paid tho premiums on them year after year in good money, while tho mutual benefit arid assessment and co-operative and fraternal companies and associations have S1,50U,0U0 members, who havo contributed a largo part of their earnings to the tunas held to reimburse losses sustained by sickness or death. Tho obligatiousot theso companies and associations to their members amount to $5,184,070,030, und tho industrial companies in tho United States havo a membarshipof G,'.llti,G(i8. with insurance amounting to $810,050,078 111 addition to all the foregoing, an I it is constantly increasing. How many laboring mini and women have taken out policies or otlierwiso contributed from their earnings to insure themselves against loss by accident while engaged 111 the prosecution of their work cannot be accuratcly ascertained, but tho number is known lo "bo very 10 banks, trust companies, building associations and other similar institutions owo tho peoplo of tlio United States today $5,353,138,521 for money actually deposited, sum nearly eight times greater than tho total capital of all tlio national banks tho country, while tho lifo insurance policies held by tho peoplo in tho various kinds of corporations and associations and 111 lorce today amount to $10,203,804,357, a larger sum than lias been actually invested in ull our railroads and about) 15 times larger than the capital of all tho national banks. Free Coinago Would lie au Irreparable

Wrong.

In view of those facts, which cannot bo successfully disputed, 1 submit that, you ought seriously to consider all tho consequences to yourselves and your fellow citizens before you agree to tho free nnd unlimited coinago of legal tender silver at a ratio of 10 to 1 in order that these great corporations and associutions may havo tho privilege ot discharging their debts to tho peoplo by paying or 62 cents 011 tho dollar, for that is exactly what it means. It is a low estimate to say that each 0110 of tho depositors, savings and othor hanks and in building associations, and each holder of lite insurance policy and member of a mutual bciiebt aad asNcii.-: ncnt association, has dependent upon bun or her an average of ut least two other persons and if so, a majority of ail utir people aro directly ur indirce.iiy creditors of tin so corporations mid associations and aro interested in the preservation of a standard oi Value \wnch will insure the payment of their iaims in as good money as they parted with when they mado their loans ill- deposits or. -paid their assessment- or premiums. L\ery Ovi-'ar the people put into thewo bunks a -,a uv.si -i... a::il utlu institutions and tt't 1} tiay paid for insurance v.-as worth JlWci tn and would proeuro 100 cen.fi' v.01 cii «,i «or:imodities in tho market wiien the ei.i.'.cil it and when they invested it, and t.eey have an unquf-Htiorinblo right to ucKiatul that shall be refunded to them ill -Ae 1'li: 1 ut certs everywhere. c.i oplioi "("laiv policy that would iicprivo tlK-lii ot WjLi.-iibl.c lioi oLly inilict an enormous iq o.i 'i l'Joqfciy taiU.itr utility ot.uiu ii iitw,. a-.c.iidui.-.te bo jiixaii'.Uii.et.,

tor :te Ktiti if trc.-3 i.::d ukI teiiu..r (.•u i:i 11...s ci 4 #, money pi.. i, *i 'ill y. l:. 111 ciep 'eei..l(-d ft iver. c.:ui!o:Mtcii it'.Vti l..i

an

nt would so .sotjiio -fidelit-jr and attempts to iriliiigs would -iy:c'.iKC our..^ed,

1

'. eo'iv'te of legal

.u.ii |j 11.-. (,.,lal)li:.he:rj .}»rgu part of tiioliiitt! u.,i,as kinds of v.il /.,t i-'Vtri he repaid in. out wvjt lie wildly lj.-.t, he:e'IHt!i~y (-J'Stem would

pivcip.iatu hiiamai 1 patJo winch very tow, if i-t oi ti:iMtepoMtvii'i(.-i could tfurvtve, I doui that ui'eiv us a Jiuancial institution in the -country ih .t timid i/.tstain tlio pressure that wouul by immediately mado upen it by i. (.'.ept^itr .i ol la crvduors it Licaniij appL-i (our nL-iifltirii of valuu was to bo low od au our euiTcuev depreciated by lifo coinage, i-'a.vjiient ot all our obligations hold abroau would be demanded in gold ut once every investment of foreign capital in this country would bo instantly withdrawn every man who o\ud a debt at home or abroad would be cnlleu upon to pay it ull depositors in banks utiii other institutions would want to withdraw their money at the same time, no Joau» could bo negotiated uud no credit would be given, because no mail would lend money or II proportion timo when lie know with absolute certainty that ho would bo paid in a depreciated cirrency. Creditors would not wait for tlio actual passage of a free coinago law, but as soon as such a measure 1 ail received the approval of tho people at an election tney would demand their money, and if not paui tney would enforce its collection by judicial proceedings and "thu lorced sale or property. It is useless for vou and mo or anybody else to say that depositors in bunks and other creditors ougatiiiot lo pursue this course v. lien a crisis eomeu or is apprehended, loi they always have pursued it, and always will unless human nature itself should be changed.

Less than three years ago you saw our f,nancial, commercial aiul industrial aliairs violently disturbed by tho iear that the government Would not bo able to maintain giad payments aud that our currency would descend to a silver basis. You saw tho operations of industry interrupted, bauks lulling, great commercial houses una bio to meet their obligations, credit seriously impaired, mills and factories closed and thousands of laborers thrown out of employment and a state of panic und business disorder prevailing overy part of the country. If a mere doubt as to tho kind ol money we intended to uso produced theso distressing results, what, think you, would bo the probable coiiscquonces of a deliberate determination upon tho uart or our pooplo to adopt silver monometallism as a pormanenii system? Tho imagination can scarcely conceive tho deplorable state of society that would immediately follow tho announcement of such a policy, and I will not attempt to doscribo it.

It cannot bo possible that in the closing years of tlio nineteenth century and in this great and tree republic tho peoplo themselves will imitate the bad example sot by tho corrupt potentates of Europe, who havo mado their names forever odious in history by debasing the money of their subjects and rob-

n.du8tnous

poor of tho just rewards greatest crime short of

absoluto political enslavement that could bo committed against the workingman in this country would be to confiscate his labor for viibin I# +i

th0

•••"Ptoyor by destroying tho

t^e money which his wages aro

paia, but, gentlemen, this irreparable wroni: can never be perpetrated under our system of government unless tho laboring man himself! assists in forging his own chains. gentlemen, having submitted, asl briefly nld as plninly as thu nature of tho sub-) lS?£iW0 Permit, soino of the reasons why I' Uitak your interests demand tho maintenance' £,„3.B?uni4 opd stable currency,! thank you most sincerely for your kind and patient »k(ention und -will detain you no longer.