Daily Greencastle Banner and Times, Greencastle, Putnam County, 23 September 1896 — Page 4

fflE BANNER TIMBS. GKEEXCAKTLK TOTIANA WEDNESDAY SEPTEMBER 23 1896

BON.CARL SCHCRZ

The Great German - American Statesman Speaks For Sound

Money at Chicago.

Facts, Arenments, Lode, Wit Sarcasm Presented In a Masterly Way.

and

Why Prlc^n IlaTo Inclined—The ••Crlm© of 1873” Ilaii Not Made Goods Cheaper—The Coi}.H(«qui*noen of a Free Silver Victory lu November Would Be Panic, Bankruptcy and (’nivcr«iil Dls* trciM and Poverty Free t'olnaKi* at Sirteen to One MVnn* Silver Monometallism—Wa^es Will Ih* Cnt I>own and Half of tho People's Suvinip* Will He Lost Appeals to Prejudice In Support of Kcpudintion Policies Are Immoral

and Bound to Fail.

Hon. Carl Schurz, ex-secretary of tho Interior, delivered an address un September 5th, in Central Music hall, Chicago, on the issues of tho campaign, under the auspices of the American Honest Money league. Every seat in the hall was filled, many persons who desired admission boing turned awfiy for la 'k of room. The address in part was as follows: Fellow Citizens—I have come from the east to the west to speak to you f«»r honest money. I clo not imagine myself to be in un “enemy’h country. ” Th* ro is to me no ene* my’ri country "Mthin the boundaries of tins republic. Wherever I am among Arm ricans i am among fePiw citizens and frier, .s bound together by common interests and a eommon patriotism. In this spirit I shall discuss the question of the day. I shall not deal in financial philosophy, but in hard and dry facts. There are sporadic discontents in the country, partly genuine, partly produced by artificial agitation They may be specified thus: Them an» farmers who complain of the low prices of agricultural products; lalxuing men complaining of a lack of remunerative employment; men in all sorts of pursuits com*

wi .

plaining of a general business stagnation and of a scarcity of money. In some parts of tho country, especially the south and west, there are many people complaining of a want of capital and a too high rate of interest. Tho cry for more money is the favorite cry. These are the principal and the most definite complaints. Beyond them, however, un impression has been spread by agitators that an organized conspiracy of moneyed men, mainly great bankers, in America and in Europe, backed by the monarchs and aristocracies of the old world, is seeking the general establishment of the gold standard of value to monopolize or corner the world’s money to the general detriment. All this has found definite expression in tho following declination of the Chicago platform: “We declare that tho act of 1873 demonetizing silver without the knowledge or approval of the American people lias resulted in the appreciation of geld and. a corresponding fall in the prices of commodities produced by the people; a heavy increase in the burden of taxation and of all debts, public and privatt : tho enrichment of the money lending class at home and abroad, prostration of industry and impoverishment of the people.” Mark well that all these evil consequences are ascribed to tho demonetization of silver in the United States alone—not to its demonetization anywhere else. This is to justify the presentation as a sufTir ent remedy of the free coinage of silver in the United States alone, “without waiting for the aid or consent of any other

nation.”

This platform is amplified by free coinage orators, who tell us that the act of lt>73, called “the crime of 1J78,” has surreptitiously “wiped out” one-half of tho people’s money—namely, silver; that in consequence the remaining half of our m ‘tallic money—namely, gold—as a basis of the whole financial structure, has to do the same business that formerly was done by gold and silver together; that thereby gold has risen to nb »ut double its former purchasing power, the gold dollar being virtually a 200

cent dollar; th t the man who produces thing!

i thus being robbed of half the price,

wimu ueuts payable on the gold basis have become twice as heavy, and that this fall of

pric« s un 1 increase of burdens is enri hing th< money changers and oppressing the people.

What Are the Facts?

Are these complaints well founded? Look at facts which nobody disputes. That there ha» been a considerable fall in the prices of many articles since 1873 is certainly true. But was this fall caused by the so called demonetization of silver througli the act of 1873V Now, not to speak of other periods of our history, such as the period from 1846 to 1851, everybody knows that t^ere was a considerable fall of prices, not oniy as to agricultural products— cotton, for instance, dropped from $1 a pound in 1«<'»4 to 17 cents in 1871—hut in many kinds of industrial products before 1873. What happened before 1 73 cannot have boon caused by what happened in 1878. This is clear. The shrinkage after 1378 may, therefore, have been

caused by something else.

Another thing is equally clear. Whenever a change in the prices of commodities is caused by a change in supply or demand, or both, then it may aUcct different articles differently. Thus wheat may rise in price, the Supply being proportionately short, while at the same time cotton may decline in price, the supply being proportionately abundant. But when a change of prices takes place in consequence of a great change in the purchasing power of the money of tho country, especially when that change is sudden, then the effect must be equal, or at least approximately so, as to all articles that are bought or sold with that money. If by the ao nulled demonetization of silver in 1873 the gold dollar or the dollar cm the gold basis became a 2UU cent dollar at all. then it became a 200 cent dollar at once and for everything. It could not possibly be at the same tine* a 2uo cent dollar for wheat, and a 120 cent dollar for coal, and a 150 oent dollar for cott n, and a 100 oent dollar for corn or for shovels. 1 challenge any one to gainsay

this.

Prices and the Act of 1873. Now for tho facts. Tho act of 1873 in question became a law on tho 12th of February. What was the effect? Wheat, rye, oats and corn rose above tho price of 1872, while cotton declined. In 1874 wheat dropped a little; corn made a jump upward; cotton declined; oats and rye rose. In 1875 there was a general da* cliuo. In 1870 there a rise in wheat and a

Hi OUVH, UHVH, rye mam uwam. ma m* there was another rise In wheat, carrying tbs pries above that of 1870 and up to that of 1871, years preceding the act of 1873. Evidently so far the 200 oent dollar had not made Its mark at all But 1 will admit the possible pica that, as they suy, the act of 1873 having been passed in secret, people did not know anything about it. and prices remained measurably steady, in ignorance of what dreadful things had happened. If ao, then it would appear that, if the knowing ones had only kept ntill about it, tho gold dollar would have modestly remained a 1U0 cent dollar and nobody would have been hurt. But, seriously speaking, it may be said that when the act of 1673 was passed we were still using exclusively paper money, that neither gold nor silver was in circulation, and that therefore the demonetisation would not L© felt. Very well. But, then, in 187W specie payments were resumed. Metallic money circulated again. And more than that, the cry about “the crime of 1878” resounded in congress and in the country. Then at last tho 2UU cent gold dollar had its opportunity. Prices could no longer plead ignorance. What happened? In i860 wheat rose above tho price of 187U, likewise corn, cotton an 1 oats. In 1881 wheat rose again; also corn, oats and cotton. In 1882 wheat and cotton declined, while corn and oats rose The reports here given are those of the New York market. They may vary somewhat from report of farm prices, but they present the rise and decline of prices with substantial correctness. If, however, there bo somebody believing that, in spite of these facts, tho demonetization of silver by tho act of 1878 must in some mys torious way have done something to depress prices, I meet him with the affirmation that the silver dollar was practically demonetized long before 1873. To judge from the 8]>eoch< - of our tree coLiage orators, the American p«opl<* must before 1*73 have fairly wallowed in silv» r dollars. What is the fact? President Jefferson stopped the coinage of silver dollars in IsuG. From 1783 to 1878, aside from fractional currency—v% taich since 1833 was only limited logoi tender—only about 8,000,000 of silver dollars were coined. They were so scarce that you would hazily over see one except in a curiosity shop as a rare coin. There was constant trouble with the legal ratio between gold and silver, which could not be so fixed as to keep the two metals together in circulation. Onco one of them would be driven out of the country and then the

: . • •

coin was coined, and since 1853 gold was substantially tho only full legal tender money in actual circulation. And those were exceptionally pr -p* -ous times. Then the civil war came and swept all our metallic money out of sight. P^per money took its place, and in that conditi- n wo were in 1873, when thofamou; act of 1873 was passed. What, then, was in reality that law that has since been so fiercely denounced as “tho crime of 1873?” Why, it was simply an act revising our coinage laws and provi ling among other things that certain silver coins should be stri: k to be legal tender in the payment of debts only to a small amount. The standard silver dollar, that had practical ly been out use since President Jefferson in 18U6 had stopped its coinage, was simply not mentioned in the* enumeration. That is all The act of 1873 therefore did not create a new state of things, but simply recognized n state f things which hud existed for many and many years. It did thereby not only not o. stroy half t e money of the country, but not a single dollar of it. Why Prices Have Declined. But what is it, then, that has caused the decline of prices? I appeal to your common sense. Do yon think that when one man, aided by machinery, does ns much productive work as formerly t» :i or more did, and when our modern means of transportation carry the , product from the producer to the consumer with fiv« times the speed at one-fifth the cost, and when in the transmission of intelligence time is quite and cost almost annihilated, do you think that then the product of human labor should not in due proportion become cheaper? Jf it did not, then modern civilization would in one of its most important and i beneficent functions be a fiat failure. Foi what is the inventive genius of the age that devotes itself to practical objects engaged in —what else than in devising and developing t means and methods by which the things required by ma .kind for tho sustenance and comfort <>f life bo made better and more easily attainable—that is, cheaper? Tho farmer in the United States welcomed the agricultural machinery which helps him in planting, r tising and harvesting his crop. He* welcomed t he railroad, the steamboat, the low freights, the telegraph, which shortened the distance between his farm and the market, and the bunking arrangements required for moving and selling his product. But as nearly all our farmers ha 1 the same encouragement, so it followed quite naturally that tho wheat crop of this country increasisl from an annual average of 312,0UU,0U0 bushels between I 1870 a id Ivhj to an annual average of 475,000,000 bushels between 1600 and 1895. But also foreign countries had the encouraging benefit; new wheatfields were opened in Russia and tho Argentine Republic and elsewhere, and i according to Bradstrcet's, a very competent authority, the wheat product of the world ( grew from 18*0 to 1894 no less than 429,000,000 i bushe ls, while the world’s consumption is es- | timatod to increase only 12.000,000 to 10,000,000 1 bushels annually. When the increase of the 1 world’s supply thus gains upon the increase i of the world’s demand, is it a wonder that in I the world’s market, which rules tho price for all exporting countries, that price should have declined? Is not this an infinitely more rational explanation of the decline in prices than to ascribe that decline to tho so called demonetization law of 1873, which practically demonetized nothing, but was actually followed by an increase of our currency, nearly trebling its volume and making the per capita far, far higher than it ever had been before, and high ! er than it is in any other country except one? You might iis wll ascribe our civil war to the great comet of 1811. Our Recent Silver Laws. Cowed by the uproarious outcry which was started by the silver miners and taken up by tho “cheap money” men, congress passed two laws, one in 1*78, the other in 1890, in pursuance of which over 429,000,000 of silver dollars were added to our currency, more than 5o times as many dollars as had ever been coined before, besides a large addition to our subsidiary silver coins. Our paper money was largely increased, so that while in 1873, the i year in which the American people were said to have been robbed of half their money—while in 1873, I say, we had $774,000,000 of money in tho United States, we had $2,217,000,000 in 1895, nearly three times as much, and while in 1873 the circulation was $la.04 per capita, it was *22.96 per capita in 1*95—fifty times as many silver dollars and many times more money of all kinds than this country had ever had in its most prosperous days—and yet tho price of silver in the market kept on falling, and the prices of many commodities, agricul tural staples Included, continued in their declining tendency. Now analyze this case. Upon what ground do the silver advocates assert that the so called demonetization of silver depressed prices? According to their own reasoning, because there has not been sufficient money to sustain prices. Sustain what prices? Those prevailing before 1878. But there is now throe times as much money as there was in 1873 and a much higher per capita circulation. Well, what becomes of their argument? Some of the silver philosophers have invented a more mysterious phrase—that prices have gone down because by the act of 1878 tho “mon ey of ultimate redemption” had boon curtail ed, only gold being available for this purpose But, according to the treasury statistics, we hud in 1873 only *25,000,000 of coin, including subsidiary silver, in the country, and now we have much over *600,000,000 of gold alone, or more than 24 time* as much money of “ultimate redemption” as in 1878. And yet prices are low. The man whom such facts do not con vine© that the decline of prices cannot have been caused bv any effect produced upon our currency by the act of 1673 must have a skull so thick that atrip hammer would not drive a sound conclusion through it. How the Act Was rassed. But 1 hear myself asked, If this m ho, why was this act of 1*78 passed secretly, surreptitiously, stealthily? For silver orators have broil persistently dinning into tho popular car for many years, until millions believed it, tho story that the silver dollar was “assassinated” through tho law of 1873 by somo dark, corrupt plot. 1 his fable has been so often and so au* thnritutively disproved that I am unwilling to take it up ug. in in detail, benator Sherman

with Mr. Bryan's election, the silver dollar, measured by its purchasing power, will be worth not a cent more than the market value of the silver contained in.it. If the market value of that quantity is So cents, and you

did that recently in a most conclusive manner. I will only add that I was a member of the sonate at the time and know whereof 1 affirm, and 1 emphatically pronouno© all the stories

about the set of 1878 being passed surreptitious- _

ly; about senators and members being some- present at the mint 60 cents’ worth of bullion, how hypnotized, so that they did not know you get bock, not a gold dollar, but a silver what they were doing; about some English- J dollar worth just 50 cents. You might, instead man being on the ground with much money to ; of taking your bullion to the mint, sell it In promote the demonetization of silver, and so the market for just the same amount of non-

on, as wholly and unqualifiedly false. I wish to be scrupulously courteous to my opponents. But as a conscientious student of contemporaneous history 1 am bound to say that in the 40 years during which I have been an attentive observer of public affairs I have never witnessed nor h* ard of such unscrupulous, shameless, persistent, audacious, cumulative, gigur tic lying as has been and is now done with regard to the act of 1673, its origin, its nature

anti its consequences.

What Would Follow Bryan's Flection. Consider now what the immediate consequences would be if Mr. Bryan were elected president with a congress to match. Mr. Bryan would of course bo anxious to have his free coinage law enacted, but that could not be, oven if he called an extra session of congress, until some time in April or May, five or six months after the day of election. But as soon on the 4th of November as tho result of the election was announced everybody would know that the parity of gold and silver

would not be maintained.

It having been made certain by Mr. Bryan’s election that the parity of gold and silver would not bo maintained, there would be a rush upon th» treasury for the gold in It by persons holding greenbacks entitled to redemption, ana tho gold reservo would be exhausted In a twinkling. Gold will instantly disappear from circulation to be hoarded or exported. Why will it disappear? Because every sensible person when making a payment will prefer to make it in the less valuable dollar and hold the more valuable gold dollar back lor more profitable us©. Gold will therefor© quickly rise to a premium, and we shall be on the silver basis long before a free coinage law can be eiiooted. What does it mean t • be on the si Iv©’-basis? Th< wn»\l“coin,” wherever it appears in the law, will no longer mean gold, uh it was so far understood, but si 1 v- r alone. The gmanback or treasury note r*

ey. LttJued, bullion owners, unless they have some special reason for taking their bullioo to the mint, will take it to the markut and sell it there, as they very extensively do in all countries in which there is free silver coinage. Why should they not? Because, If they have their bullion coined, they got legal tender dollars for it. Why, If they sell it in tho market they get ther© legal tender dollars likewise. ' It will therefore be a mere question of special convenience whether they take it to the mint or to the market. And in the market, according to all human reason and experionoe, its price will, temporary fluctuations notwithstanding, remain on the whole very near to the figure of the cost at which it can in large quantities be produced. Mr. Bryan’s strang-* j imaginings have therefore proved only that when he speaks of government purchases f ! silver and fixing prices and creating a demand greater than the supply, he simply does

not know what free coinage is.

Every sensible person, I trust, will now ad mit that free silver coinage in the United States alone will make bimetallism, the equ .1 use of both gold and silver as money, utterly ' impossible, her© as well as abroad. It will confirm Europe in gold monometallism and ! onndemn us to silver monometallism—the celusive us j of silver as money and »'f pop ir j based upon silver. No doubt this is what the

silver men are really aimi: at. How Free Silver Will Work.

Let us now consider how it will affect tho various interests of the people. The first blessing we ar© promised to fiow from free ; coiiag© is u general rise of prices. This means that th© silver dollar will buy less than the I gold dollar did, and this for the reason that it is no longer worth as much as the gold dol lur. Evidently the promise of bimetallism, of aliver rising to its old price on the on© hand, ami the promise of higher prices owing to a less valuable silver dollar on the other hand

with their dependents It may, for aught we ] ^ anr< „h

know, amount to 1X5.000,000 or 130,000,000. Who mTI..:, ~* V Y *'«. ana K . we the debtora of theae credltorat The sar- been tnntn.iiJw — l&tfb banka bad. according to the report, of operation of Up by ,h,> bond., elate, county and municipal bond, and wehad n t I 0Ora '‘ , ** railroad and other bond, and .lock.. The in- ; ^ " B ^fh £*“**:*• vertmant. of the life in.uranoo oomp.nle. Ther J w ^ o.,un t “ ^ were about proportionately theaame. Tholn- noor .. tH excite whet thee ,, Tuetraunts In reki -tate mortgage, areal way a i they r.,, «> .'.'t preferably In large amounta, on property be- ■ lluw UB , ror ® ‘ ® t ° rp<munl “cs for tt n h" 1 longing to comparatively wealthy person, or «re nmone t’h!° thB P°o» of v,'.,?*!?' to bu.lnesa corporations. Thus tho debtors to , h „ , A . , r,ch ot ‘“day and so **** the*., creditor, belonging to thutoillng uiawoa mo,.,,,*. Th iJ nm"n* th,.,, “‘“J are the United State., states and mumclpall- | pr/senTod Jr , T‘ lbUW ' for J* * ties, railroad and other corporations ondpor- £me ago he wa7‘S|y < U I,eCUc1 ' sons very much richer than the creditors. tv,/,.... ainaiy “k

Here we have, then, rich debtors owing to Bn oximnle

many millions of poor creditors thousand, of obUj W1 d honest effort"'to affl U ' U ' 7 ^ ^7b millions of dollars. to... .....i ., url “oaffluence nn.i j. . 0 Thu silver orators pretend that they have the ' ....kI 1,101 '““''“kte thin toiling masses greatly at heart and that free I u „rt»niin J ’' invlai ‘ !tt coinage 1. to b. introduced mainly for their j g^ n ^ tf" ^' r 11 ^ : "S

the Wcgj,

I'litgrJ

benefit. How do they take care of the tolling V<*‘T cabins In masses In this case? By bringing us down w , , , , e ■ Am eru-an In benefit of the 'Vbtorsof these poor people, who Th, v till t> t * 1 0n ' B ' Jon >lnaMi will gain about 50 cent, on the dollar. A..J | he must and^H?‘

of the world abroad, wsii!! 1 ^,.*.. _ ni ' :n r.ti

doeniblo in “coin” will no longer be redeemed do not go together. Th© one or the other is a

in gold, as heretofore, but only in silver. Th United fctales bond payable in coin, no matter wh» th< r gold was paid for it or whether it had been sold for the very purpose cf buying gold for the treasury, will be paid, principal and interest, in silver—repudiation as flagrant an tho world eve. witnessed. Our daily transactions in buying and selling, in paying and receiving wages, will no longer be carried on upon the basis of the gold dollar Wurth 100 cents, but of the silver dollar worth 50 cents or thereabout for the government will no longer hold up the silver dollar to th© value of th • gold dollar. That is what the silver basis means. You cun study in Mexico how it

works.

Th© quantity of gold vanishing from circulation will am oil it to about 1000,uUU,000, the disappearance of which will make a tremendous hole in tho voiume of our currency. Nearly one-third of it will be gone, and what remains will l)e reduced nearly one-half in purchasing power. But, says the silver man, there will b© free silver coinage to fill the gup promptly with coined silver or silver certificates. Oh, no. my fellow' sufferers. The disappearance of gold will happen promptly after the eloctioi

fraud. Of course the fraud is the promise of bimetallism. The rise of prices owing to the debasement of the dollar will begin at once as soon as gold departs and we slip on th© silver basis. Bread will be dearer; milk, coffee, sugar, tea, meat, vegetables, will be dearer; clothes, shoos and hats will be dearer; rents, furniture, coal, kerosene—in short, every arti< 1© the price of which cun be raised by the

seller.

High priceH aro a two edged sword—handy to the seller, but unpleasant to the buyer. They

press, of course, hardest upon those who aro ! compelled to buy most in proportion to their , income or their earnings. And who are they? | The poor people. What a rich family spends | upon the actual necessaries of life, the India* I penwable food, clothing and shelter, is very j

little compared with its income. Most of it

expenditures go for things that ar© not neces- | sarios and may be classed as luxuries, the pur- i chasing of which may be suspended or post- j poised without hardship. But the pour family, [ the wage earner’s family, is obliged to spend '

a very lurg© rt of its income from day to day food, clothing, ' .

who are they? Aside from the United States and the states and municipalities, tho debtors are railroad and other corporations and more or less rich men, whom our silver friends profess to abhor very much us belonging to the “money power.” Thun will tl.) silver standard bleed the poor creditor for tuo . benefit of the rich debtor. May not the toil- 1 ing masses prr.y heaven to deliver them of tho

free coinage friends?

How the People's Savings Will Fare. pions of the t(;iling masses, whlK tL ir t And what have these friends to say in their r ,°'’ ^ l k! / in> ' ,rmn " f half of .'J owa dofenac? I wiUnKaln let Mr. HryonV Near w ' A f„ - , ." J, «>';• vain* . f a;,

York ©ration -|>« ak. He says first, with repaid to th © insurance companies, “Since the total premiums rece ived exceed tho total losses paid, a rising standard must bo cf more benefit to tho companies than to the policy holders.’’ How wise! And that the companies may not have this benefit he proposes by tho silver standard to trip tho policies of the ixjlicy holders cf nearly half their value! But docs

world abroad, while year nu» i

from 1500,000.000 to *70U,uju,wu worth of’oi) agricultural products must k th. ljT V \ . n market t<» find purchasers and while i. tlunr! will hurt the farmer ifcor© than a si nou> pairnn nt of the great horn© market by * bufi.

ness crisis.

False Friends of Labor.

They procluim themselves th© special chaa-

rirmu of t.W« —

wages. Am i asked, if the silver star l&rd

will relatively reduce w .

employers cf labor are opp .-'©d t© it Th* reason is obvious, because, aside from n . siii©rations of sentiment, the prudent eruplyjera of labor know that they would 1 \ *t:y more through the disastrous disturhiuv jf business sure to be caused by a fre* coinafl victory than they could p sil ly gain 1; th#

nuiuera ui nearly nun meir v.uui . nub ue « oh..i not Mr. Bryan know that most of these com- s.-n WnTor m V fr”* *!’ u * 1 , not th tua! Insurances, and that what ‘"l 7! ur '-* of

pantos are mutual insurances, ana mat wnai Ln(rfn©a K 9 u. « ♦- Q i. ♦ ,1 14,1 1,1

As to the saving bank depositors ho says, ‘Undor a gold standard there is increasing

The agitaters denounce tho Id standard „ the device jf monarch* and ar.,:.

danger that tho savings bank depositors will #

lose their dei'ositB because of the inability f fr ,, n . tine, h,'.’h i u ' ‘ L ' h "' lh «

th© banks to collect their assets.” And to avert this dun or Mr. Bryan udvlsos a poli / which would, by the introduction of tho silver standard, at * nee cut down the value of those assets to 50 cents ©n the dollar. He further Hays, “If the gold »tandnrd Is to continue indefinitely, t’n* deiK)sitorB in savings banks may be compelled to withdraw their deposits in order to pay living expe nses.” Indeed! It is a remarkable fact that aince 1673, tho year of

from time immemorial it was a favorite trick of unacrupulc us despots to Ib eoe their sai j. u by debasing the coin of th© r. aim, and that those who out of tho monetary confusion evolved fixed star dards of values and money that would r. »t cheat have always bo» a ranked among th* most meritorious boiu-furt ir* -,i mankind and especially of the ]- r liiid w- ik. They seek to inflame th<» vanity of th* •Aim* ican people by telling thorn that \v ar.- great

a remarkal)© fact that since 1673, the y©ur of j ulu j v: >ugh to maintain any nmiV trv A* ••• *•*e*11 1HI« .lumiK the XH-r.Ml v , v 1); . . t ,, k .

when we had t iuffi-rall the calamities oi t o | m , r niun , v

upon « that cannot

gom win nappt-n promptly alter mo election j '** |1 *» cmiuui ^l>© vemuorujuy nse : witn of Mr. Bryan, and ther© will not possibly b© : without hur« . u ip. From a rise in th© prievs

sh* It* r, heat and light, temporarily lispcnsed with

any free coinag© < f silver for at least six months, and it will requir** a great many more j

months to fill a gap of *000,000,000. The Free C’oiimg© I'anic.

What will happen meanwhile? Tho Sfc. Louis ]

of the necossurosof life th© poor people there-

fore suffer by f ar tho most.

Where the Wage Earner Will Conic In. How stands the case of the wage earners whose product can be raised in price proper- |

Globe-Democrat reports Mr. Bryan to have j tiouate to the debasement of the dollar? As Haul somo time ago: “I think it,” meaning the the dollar falls in value tho manufacturer or victory of tho free coinage movement, “wib j the merchant marks up his goods. Th© workcauso a panic. But th© country is in a deplor- j ingman or th© clerk, finding himself hard able condition, and it will take extreme mens- i pressed by the rise in pri^e of th© necessaries

urea to restore it to a condition of prosperty.' Whereupon tho St. Louis paper pointedly remarks, “Evidently Mr. Bryan has h ardof th© doctor who always threw his patient into fit* before administering any curative medicine.”

Just no.

How, then, would Mr. Bryan’s “fit” work’ The sudden disappearance of our gold from circulation would produce the most stringent contraction of tho currency on record. Business men who owo money and at tho sam* time have mom y du© them will be forced to collect that money by every moans at their disposal. Nobody will bo inclined to lend ort any money except upon extraordinary security. The banks will naturally consider it their duty to keep themselves strong, and therefore to call in loans and to restrict their discounts and advances to business mon with the utmost caution. Business establishments, manufactories, mercantile houses, unable to get tho money for meeting their obligations w ill by the hundreds succumb to their ombarrassments and tumble down like a row of bricks. Others will cautiously restrict their operations to f he narrowest possible limit, and wage earners Ly the thousands will lose their employment and be turned into the street. No class of society will bo spared the destructive consiliences. Every frightened creditor, pressed by his own creditors and apprehensive of a growing loss by every day’s delay, will eagerly pounce upon his debtors. The prompt settlement of every account will be peremptorily demanded. Our farmers who have mortgages on their property and who have been told that free coinage will make things exceedingly easy for them will have some unexpected experiences. Every mortgage debt that is due will be quickly called in. The mortgageor who tries to have his bond extended will find an unwilling ear. He who seeks to borrow money in order to replace the old mortgage with new one will be told that this is no time for loans, except, perhaps, upon exorbitant conditions. The mortgageor may find, too, that his bond is payable in gold coin, and ho will have to buy the gold at tho premium then ruling. Foreclosures will be the order of the day. The mortgageor who seeks shelter under the law’s delay will at any rat*! further burden bis property with the cost of legal proceedings. Everywhi n anxiety, embarrassment, sacrifice, loss and distress, even before Mr. Bryan could ascend the presidential chair.

Bryan’s Bimetallism.

After five or six months of such a deadly crisis, Mr. Bryan’s extra session of congress would begin and give us fret* coinage. Then, as Mr. Bryan solemnly promised us in his great New York oration, free coinage will give us bimetallism, bimetallism will give us nn abundance of money, and all will be right. Bimetallism? What is bimetallism? It is

of lif*-. applies for a corresponding increase ! of wages. The head of the factory or the j mercantile establishment admits that some in crease is called for. ••But,” says he, “you arc j not the only person in trouble. Th© value oi | our money is fluctuating. We hardly know j what it is today. We surely do not know what j it will be next week. Profits are excessively > close* anyhow. We make a sale* or a purchase . today and think it is at a profit. Tomorrow | we may find that it was at a loss. We hardly venture to make a contract to be filled ut n future time, because we can make no safe cal- j cuiations. We can increase your wages a li‘ , tie, but not much. For that you will have to | wait until things are more settled. Besides, ! this silver free coinag** has thrown all bust- ! ness into dr »dful confusion, and there are plenty of people out cf employment whe would do yo©r work for less than you ge f | now.” And so the wage earner has to bo sat- j i-fied with a little increase of pay and wait for I more while tho advanced prices of necessaries !

prey upon him.

Is this mere conjecture? It is tho experience i of every country that lias been cursed by a | rise uf prices through money of fluctuating value. I defy any one to show mo in the whole history of tho world a single exception. Have ! we not, during our civil war, witnes.-ed it with our own eyes? In 1802, when our irredeemable paper currency had begun to depreciate, tlu I average wages of labor rose only 3 per cent, j while average prices rose 18. In 1863, when : wages had ris<*n 10^ per cent, average price* | wore 49 per cent higher; in 1304 wages had risen 269$ per cent and prices UU^; in ls0i | wages had advanced 43 per cent and prices 1.1 j above what wages and prices had been in gold | in 1*01. In other words, the laboring man's | wages had lost in purchasing power more than j 3U cents in every dollar. Every country la- ! boring under similar conditions tells the same | story. What reason in th© world is there tc assume that this universal rule will not oper- |

ate in the cas© of free coinage?

And what have the apostles of fr©e si 1 vet ' coinage to say to this? Hear Mr. Bryan him- | self in his famous New York oration, “White a gold standard raises th© purchasing powoi of th© dollar it also makes it more difficult t< obtain possession of the dollar—employment is less permanent, loss of work more probable ami re-employment h*>s certain.” Is that all* Yos, all. Does not Mr. Bryan know that under what was practically the gold standard we had in the fifties one of tho most active ! and prosperous periods this country has evei ; seen? Does h© not know that more roeontly. at th© time of tho return to specie payments, ' wo had undor the gold standard years of sig ual prosperity with all hands at work? And 1 does ho wish to learn what has been thf ^ u | trouble sinee and what is the trouble nov. 1

monetary system in which th© two metals cir- t employers of labor, and with culate together for all the purposes of money almost one voice they will tell him that not on a parity with each oth**r upon a fixed legal i the existing gold standard, but the growing ratio, which in our case is 10 to 1. Evidently .. * . ... -i—*. »*

Evidently

to huvo bimetallism gold must bo on hand

os well as wilver.

How will Mr. Bryan get tho gold back from the money power? Evidently ho must offer i an indtMM ni* nr? What -.ndueenn ntV To bf ' sure, th© mints will be open to gold us well as , silver. But who will offer gold bullion to hav** ! it coined into dollars for circulation when he j can have silver dollars with the same legal I tender power at half the price? Only an idiot j would do that. Of course, gold will be offered 1 only when tho silver dollar is up again to the | gold standard. There is the rub. But her© Mr. Bryan steps in with a theory which is h curiosity in statesmanship. He said in his N* w York speech: “Any purchaser who stand.rcady to take the entire supply of any article 1 at a certain price can prevent that article from 1 falling below that price*. So the government cun fix a price for gold and silver by creating i a demand greater than the supply.” And again, “When a mint price is thus established! | it regulates the bullion price, because any per-

son desiring coin may havi th< hi lli u converted into coin ut that price, and any person desiring bullion can secure it by melting that

coin."

Would Be Silver Monometallism. What? Is this to mean that under free coinage the government will purchase silver bullion and pay a certain fixed price for it? If

danger of its overthrow, that the growing ng grossivencss r f the free coinage movement, filling the minds of men with anxious apprehensions as to dark future unoertHintiop, has served to paralyze that spirit of enterprise which sets the laboring man to work. L' thim study the history of the crisis of 1«03. Not tin gold standard, but distrust of silver destroy ed nfldenoe that esnpl ys labor* This is the truth, and Mr. Bryan will in vain try tc

deny it.

Debtor and Creditor. The free coinage mon profess especial solid tudo for those whom they ©all “the debiot class.” Who arc tho debtor class? Our silvei friends speak as if, as a rule, the rich peopte were creditor? and tho poor wore debtors, te this correct? In my household I am the debtot to the cook and th© chambermaid and thi washerwoman two or three weeks in th< month, and they ar© my creditors. Noi are they likely to be debtors to anybody else while I may be, fur they have little il any credit, while I perhaps have some. I atr therefore the only debtor in my house. The relations between the large employer ol labor and the employees arc substantially th€ same. Ordinarily the employer, the rich man, is apt to be tho only debtor among them. The employees are, as a rule, only creditors, and as they lay up savings they are apt to become creditors in a larger sense. They depos

gold standard, th* deposits in savings hanks have, instead of being withdrawn for living expenses, increased—positively increased— much over $1,OUO,UX),(JUO. And they wonid have increased still more had not somo deponeors withdrawn their de]*o8it8, not for living expenses, but t ) send them to Europe for sulety, out of th© way of Mr. Bryan and oth t friends oi the toiling masses. They will no doubt bring f’at money back as soon as Mr.

Bryan is beaten.

Let us go on. Almost every man in active business isa debtor and a creditor at the same time—every r.: rchint, every manufacturer, u creditor to his customers and a debtor to those from ’vhom he buys. Let Mr. Bryan bring on his ) ani**, and hundreds if not thousands of their, although ever so solvent under ordinary cir- vims lances, will break because they ©annot p^y what they owe, being unable to collect wha . is due them. “Cheap Money” Fallacies. But we arc ‘ Id that the Bryan panic cannot last forever; that Anally the business of the country’ will adjust itself to tho silver basis; that then unrest will©* os and that confidence and prosperity will return. No, the unrest will not cv.u-cs for with th© establishment of the silver basis will come the disappointment of those who brought it on. Tho ultima* * result is not at all uncertain. After a period of infinite confusion, disaster, humiliation, suffering and misery the American people will at last regain sanity of mind and arrive agiin at somo very simple conclusions: That, if you call a pock a bushel, you will have more bushels, but not more grui.i; if you cull a foot a yard, you will have me re yards, but now more ©loth ; if you call u sqm re rod an acre, you will have mor© acres, but not more land, and if you call 50 cents or 1 cent or a bit of paper, a dollar, you will have more* dollars, but not more wealth—indeed, a great deal less chance for wealth, for you will have far less credit, because far less honesty. We shall then have learned again that tho wit of man cannot—although insanity tries very hard—invent an economic system under which everything you have to sell will be dear and everything you have to buy wiil be cheap. And having got hold ©f these very, very simple truths, the American people will then in sackcloth and ashes repent of this insane free coinage debauch. They will thin recognize how wise the great civilized nations were in adopting the only money in ouv days capable of being the money of the worlu’s commerce as their own money. Wo shall then be sufficiently cur* d of prejudice to observe that under that monetary system those nations have on the whole prospered, notwithstanding serious evils and drawbacks undor which we do not labor, and that tho rate of interest is low© t where the g*'ld standard has existed long* f . We shall then understand that it is a good thing to have tho necessaries ol life in plenty and cheap; to have wages rising and payable lit money that does not deceive; to have capital inspired with confidence in the value of money, and therefore eager to go out in investment or enterprise. We shall then readily’ ackn wlcdge how foolish we were from the very K ginning of our silver experiments in throwing away our gold for silver, by which w© lost confidence, credit and prosperity. Chastened by adversity, we shall then no longer be tempted to repeat such nonsense, but with laborious and painful effort we shall work our way back to that money standard which will insure stability and confld©nc< t home and enable us to trade with the nation* of tho world ©n equal terms. It is not my habit to boast of a warm heart for the poor and stiff* ring. Bnt my sympathy is no less sincere because I do not carry my love and solicitude for th© common people constantly at my tongue's end. If then* ’it tho*© who ar© satisfied with everything that exists, I am not one of them. There are few, it any, who abhor that which may properly bt called plutocracy or detest the arrogance ol wealth mor©' \nitily than I do. I know, also, that the industrial developments of our time have brought hardship to some classes of people which only the more sagacious, active a.id energetic among them have been able tc counterbalance profitably with its benefits. There aro laws and practices which, had 1 the power, I would promptly change, in the inter-

onr mom y with! at regard i abroad—white our own hist •

a century ii w > the Am* re n j • w.’r** strung enough to shake off ill,- y. k- • : <ji\ut Britain, but not strung ©n >ugh to .-av© their continental money from cl dining in vu.u- to nothing; that in recent timos tin-An© rman

P© ; le were. trong « n >u »h t bu

tic rebellion, but not strong ©nnu^li k ; un indefinite issue of greenbacks at par, md that this republic may t„. a! 1 to connu r the world, but it will not l •* all© to mak* twice two five* or to mak© itse.f richer by wan ring

its currency.

They speak of tho silver d©!lar us th rn-mey of th * constitution, while tn* y nr. t kiiuw that there is not one si do w* r-l in tin i institution which, honestly interpreted, could justify such a claim. They invoke for thrir cause tho names of Jefferson and Jackson, while every read* r of history knows that Jefferson and Jackson would have stood aghast at their wild - L-uiq of creating by law u false value and would have kicked out of their pr<\ ••n©*' a public nuisance any on© seriously advocating i: Such things the m e coinage agit d r> toll th*- Am< risai pet pte , assuming t without intelligence. Far wtirs> ar* th appeals they address to them, assuming tnem to uo without moral sense. Immoral I’lcas. They have been teaching the people that because tho prices uf wheat and ©tin-r t ig3 have fallen about ono-hnlf sine© th- so caded demon* tizution year, WU—I hav© shown why those prices hav© fallen—it is n t ©qr.itable that debtors should be held to pay m* r than half the umou’it of their debts in gold, that they should be released in eorivsitondence with tho decline of prici s, und that it w aid therefore be right to reduce by free silver coinag* tho value of tho debt paying money

by oiie-hai/.

Subject the principl • to a simple test. When I contract a cobt, I owe what it is mutually understood tuat I am to pay. Our wh©le business life and social fal ric. all human intercourse, rests upon the binding fore© of - ^h under* tumlii gs. Unless it be ©xpr.-vdy und rstood, ha.i the debtor tho slightest right or rc*as* a to demand that the creditor shall be satisfied with a less amount in payment if wheat or cotton or something els© had monwhile declined in price? If so, would n*»t tho creditor also have tho right to u* mand that the debtor should pay more in proportion if wheat or cotton or something else meanwhile had risen in price? If neither of them hid thought of pioposing or of accepting so adv nturous a contract, how can such claims be justified if based upon a in* ro secret mental reservation or an arbitrary af rthought: Bit not monstrous that such an assumptit n«h«»uW be taken as a warrant for the mlr© a ^ one sweep of all debts by a debasement of the standard of value? And yv t ho who has watched tho free coinage agitation knows that just this npp* al to debtors is one of its main allurements. Listen to their speeches, read their literature, and you meet ever recurring—now in soft spoken ■ ircumlocution, now in sly suggestion, m-w in tho language of brazen cynicism—th© pr nii*e that fr©o coinage will enable the debtor t- get rid of his obligations by paying ©nly a part uf them. It is a scheme of wanton repudiation of private as well as public debts, not ns if wo could not pay in full, but beenus© w* w uni prefer not to pay in full—th© practice r* '©rtva to by the fr.vdulcnt bankrupt—and this sanctioned by lav, ns u part of our national policy. The Coming Verdict. Fellow citizens, think this out. If is a k'ruve matter—a matter of vit il import to th • xBt•nee of this nation. The fatb* r who t u< h«* such moral principles to his children ikIi© tea them for fraud, dishonor and thepeuit*u t ry. Th** public men who teach such moral j : l; ‘^ pies to the people educate th© p« ©ph* for the contempt and abhorrence of mankind. *“*) nation that accepts such moral principl' *' 1 1,1 nut live. It will rot to death in tho loath unstew of its own corruption. If th nati n a ’ cepting such moral principles bothisrepu 1 ^ it will deal a blow to tho credit of *len<' > • 1 institutions from which the cause <>f fr©° 6"' eminent will not recover for centuries. But, thank God, the American people wjn never accept such moral principles- 1 American people will, before election

k, " w ful1 "' ll thut a Inriru maiuriAi * Imi "l^'kablu insult offered to th. m by the p U' who Huppurt five colnnin, lir „ hnn " f ‘ieiutiH who huvo dured to nsh for th. v.it. s nieanlng citlronu, wislnne to dn J u^ d 'o* - " f ho n' , ' < t "ion upon tho offer of such » butt, bufuune I know this, my l)i, 10( . M,i r K ' t ',v. t !" 1 Tb,, y W >H know how to resent the deep dlsdignution wh, n I see the Iinserm .0 ~ 'ntlicted upon the nation In the eyes of made to pond them on t„ th. i^ i ^* ' , tho whole world by thoau Ainerloans wle f ibave witnessed m my Inm. hr , rUCt " n hlbUe<l ““‘r own bell, f thut tho American dentiul campaign a, but never <!L were capable of taking *uch • badappeals to prejudice, pa-ml,,n which the Mr. Brynn has a tnste for Bcrlptural illu»80 r ' kl. SH and the speouluthl **-“*ton. He will remember how Christ was dacion ^V l ir . i ^ ,,or unre or rasc iiit 0 , h up on a high mountain and prointe* , d all dacloua an.l wlek, ,1. N , mu , r f 00 ,the glories of the world if he would fall down

—.v.i., m.. o.. w |i n„ u-ill also rememb r

A ♦ - i i . ■ Of l)Oth.

apostle, does not know what freu coinage i». Let us remind him. It means that the owner of silver bullion may tak© it to the mint and have it coined and returned to him in coined pieces, so manv dollars for so much weight of pun* silver. It does not mean that the government “stands read}’ to purchase th** entire supply of silver ut u certain price.” Th© government does not purchase a single ounce of it. It merely receives the bullion, stamps it and returns it. And as to fixing a price, as soon as the government stops bidding up the silver dollar to the gold standard* as it would . r-tAttur* ®. c • .

building associations, in mutual benefit societies, in loan companies or in life ii.suranof policies and become capitalists in a small way. Tho amount deposited by people of small means in th© savings banks of the Unitec Status is at present something over fl.HUU.UOO, 000, that invested in building associationi about 1800,000,000, in mutual benefit sooietiei $365,000,000 ami in life insurance many him

dred millions more.

Th© number of such creditors belonging tc what our silver friends often call “tho toilinp masses” is therefore very large. Together

lie burn fuels or knaves,

Scctioiial and ( las** Prejudice. They seek to excite the people of tho west against the east because* ns Mr. Bryan said in th© Chicago convention, tho oast injuriously interfens with the business* of the west. Aye, the east has interfered with western business, but bow? In helping to build western railroads, to dig western canals, to sot up western tel* graphs, to establish western factories, to Lui 'l up western towns* to move western crops, to allay western distress caused by fire, flood or drought. Has this served

wnni ^nns« answurvu. . noW takes the American people up the mountain and says, “I will take from you half of your debts if you will worship me.” But then brave old Uncle Sam rises up in all his diK’ nlty. manly pride, and honest wrath, and speaks in thunder tones: “Got thee behind me, 8atan 1 For it is written that thou shaR worship only the God of truth, honor and righteousness, and him alone shalt wn>u

serve."

This will be the voice of th© American peo Pie on the 3*1 of November. And th© Htar-and •tripes will continue to wave undeflled. hon© able and honored among tho banners ©t Juun

■ind.