Democratic Sentinel, Volume 20, Number 33, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 21 August 1896 — OHIO CAMPAIGN OPEN [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

OHIO CAMPAIGN OPEN

REPUBLICANS FIRE THEIR FIRST G'JN AT COLUMBUS. Fen#tor Sherman. Senator-Eject Foraker and 8, L Wood lord of New York Discuss the Issues of the Political Hattie and Eulogize McKinley. Sherman’s Hot Talk. The Republican campaign in Ohio was formally opened by two monster meetings in Columbus. The orators were Senator John Sherman, Senator-elect J, B. Foraker of Ohio and Stewart L. Woodford of Brooklyn, N. Y. Gov. Bushnell presided at the afternoon meeting, being introduced by Henry C. chairman of the Franklin County Republican Executive Committee. 'The Governor made a brief speech, in which he expressed himself as having too much faith in the people to think they will defeat a Republican candidate this fall, of all times. He reminded his hearers that four years ago the Democrats gave Grover Cleveland .lad promises of tariff reform: now after lour years of suffering they ask the people to accept Bryan and unsound money as a cure for all ills to which flesh is heir to. He, for his part, could not imag- . ine such effrontery. Gov. Bushnell then introduced Senator John Sherman, who prefaced his speech by saying that inasmuch as he wished to discuss questions of vital importance to every citizen in the United States as well i as Ohio he would read his speech, in order to be exact in his statements. Continuing, he said: Mr. Chairman and fellow-citizens: A citizen of Ohio has been selected by the Republican National Convention as their candidate for President of the United States, and we are here to ratify and support his nomlna-

tlon. We take pride In William McKinley, not only for the honor conferred upon Ohio f>y the convention, but because we know him to lie fitted for that great office. It eo happens that at the coming Presidential election there will be submitted to your Judgment two questions, oue of which is whether any holder of silver bullion may deposit it in the mints of the United States and have it coined for his benefit and without cost to him into silver dollars, eacli of the weight of 412% grains of standard silver nine-tenths fine, and may tender them for any debt public or private. The other question is whether in levying duties or taxes on imported goods we should only consider the revenue required, or whether while raising the needed revenue we should seek also to protect and encourage domestic Industries; the oue Is called revenue tariff and the other a protective tariff. Both the silver and tariff are vital questions of domestic policy of equal importance, but I propse on this occasion to confine my remarks mainly to what is known as the free coinage of silver at the ratio of sixteen parts of silver to oue of gold. Wo are brought face to face with a proposition which, if agreed to, will make silver the sole standard of value for all debts and credits, for the wages of labor and the purchase and sale of property. The Democratic party at its recent convention at Chicago adopted a resolution In favor of the free coinage of silver at the ratio of sixteen parts of silver to oue of gold. We know that In the United States and in all countries in the world thirty ounces or more of silver cau be purchased by one ounce of gold. With the free coinage of sliver gold would be demonetized. Nothing can be more certain than that the cheaper money only will circulate. The United States has thus far maintained Its silver coins at parity with gold coins only by its exclusive monopoly of coinage and by limiting the amount, but with free coinage of silver there could be no limitation. Silver bullion in every form w r ill be pressed upon the mints, and with the mandatory duty of free coinage silver dollars will soon fill the channels of circulation, and the gold dollar will be hoarded, or will be quoted and sold as commodity at about 194 cents of the silver coin. Stiver wJU stand as the par value and gold will be quoted at its commercial value. Let us contemplate the ’nevitabie result of the free coinage of silver. It would violate every contract for the p.vyment of money made since Jan. 1, 1879. The resumption act, which went Into operation on that day, provided for the payment in coin on demand of all United States States notes presented for redemption. All forms of money, whether silver or gold or paper, were then maintained at par with each other, and have been so maintained ever since. During all this period gold and silver coins at par with each other have been the standards of value of all loans, Contracts, or purchases, aud the faith of the United States was pledged for their maintenance at parity with each other. Although silver ballioh declined in market value, the coins made from it have been kept at psr with gold coins at the legal ratio of 16 to 1. But if the free coinage of silver is authorized, then the market value of silver bullion becomes the standard for payments on all contracts made in the past, the present, or the future; 412% grains of standard silver bullion, worth now 63 cents, can with free coinage be coined into a dollar upon the demand of any holder of such bullion. This dollar is delivered to the owner of the bullion, and is not supported by the flat of the Government. The Government does not undertake to maintain its relative value with gold. The Government stamps it “This is a dollar.” Its purchasing power Is 53 cents, but its debt-payiug power is one dollar. It is to be « legal tender for one dollar of debt, but in The purchase of any article it is only worth 53 cents, for, the seller of the article can fix ills price according to the kind of money offered. It is the doctrine of the Populist and anarchist, but is In direct opposition to the traditional policy of Thomas Jefferson. Andrew Jackson and the Democratic party. But by far the greatest Injury resulting from the free coinage of sliver will fall upon The workingmen.'Their wages are now based upon money of. the highest value, upon gold coin of standard value. Under free coinage of silver the,Value of the silver dollar will fall to 53 cehts In gold, or, as I have already said, the hundred cents of the gold dollar will be worth 194 cents of the silver dollar. The struggle between workingman and employer will then commence, and no one knows hetter than the workihgman how difficult. it Is to get an advance of pay. We have strikes and strife enough' now, when the workingman gets his pay In gold coin, or Its •equivalent, but what will he the condition when be ds patd In Cheaper money of the same nominal amount, but of leas purcha^lng of cblnage of llTvVr and the degradation of the standard of value Involve not- only questions of money, but of

j honor and good faith. When their honor la involved, the people never Tail to respond. They hare compiled with every promise and paid every debt of the national Government as It has become due. They have paid fourfifths of the debts contracted during the civil war. and the prospect was hopeful that all of It would be paid before the close of this eentury, bat this reversing of our standards of value lias, like the fire bell at night, startled and alarmed our people. Let us scr-.l- it by following the actions of Washington, Hamilton. Jefferson, Benton. Hunter. Lincoln and Grant; let us maintain silver and gold at par with each other, at the legal j ratio of 16 to 1, until a conference among nations can prescribe common standards of value, In the meantime, let no act be done, no policy be adopted, no expedient resorted to that will tarnish the honor of this great republic. Senator Shertnan was frequently interrupted by applause. Gov. Bushnell next iutroduced Senator-elect Foraker, who ■mid: We hnve a new question this year. The Democracy has started a new isgue; they made a new issue. 1 will tell you why it is we have a new issue. They have rnn completely out of the old. They were whipped to a standstill before they" started on the tariff, and they were defeated before they started into the tariff, beeanse. unlike 1892, we now, all of us, understand the tariff uestlon. You cannot find a laboring man anywhere in the United States who does not now understanu It without an argument; that If you make a product across the water, In some other country, yon do not have to make It In this country. That if you make ifqver there, there is an increased demand for labor—-over there, and that much less fie tpead for labor over here. That is what the laboring man has learned. Tfie farmer has learned something, too. Times have been pretty hard on him. He Is '(selling his products at the cheapest price ever known since the war. He has found out that to have a good demand and to get good prices for his product he must have a good home market. And. then, there Is Uncle Sam himself. He has found out something. In the twentyseven years the Republican party controlled this country, after the close of the war down to 1892, we paid off and canceled forever more than one'thousand and seven hundred millions of the public debt. During the three years and a fraction of Democratic freetrade rule, thev have paid off nothing, but have Increased the public debt by more than $262,000,000. I would rather follow the leadership of the

gallant Gov. McKinley, with all these great representatives of sound money, sound protection, sound patriotism and sound everything else, supporting him, than to take the “boy orator of the Platte” with all of these people controlling him. I rend the speech made by “the orator of the Platte" when he was notified In New York, and when I got done with It I thought I knew why he was called “tne boy orator of the Platte.” Geography tells us that the Platte is a very peculiar river. They say It is 1,000 Imles long and only six Inches deep. I saw mat they were selling Mexican dollars on the streets to-dny, and I thought I would like to see them. I do not want to palm any of them off„on anybody, but I sent down and got a couple of them, and I bought them for one United States silver dollar. There are six grains more of pnre silver In each of these Mexican dollars than there Is In this one United States silver dollar. These Mexican dollars down In Mexico are a legal tender. They are worth down In Mexico, where they are a legal tender, just what they are worth up here In the United States. You can bny lu the City of Mexico with one of our silver dollars two Mexican dollars, or practically tnut— a few cents difference. Why Is It? Is It because the Mexican dollars are legal tender? No. It Is because the Mexican dollar has no redeemer. When you ■get the Mexican dollar you are at the end of your business transaction. That Is money. That is the highest money they have In cir-

culatlon. But when you get tne silver dollar of the United States you find It worth a dollar in gold, because, If you want the gold, all you have got to do Is to ask for It. That is all you ever had to do under Republican rule. Now, my fellow-citizens, has it or not been wise that we have pursued thl3 policy? Haven’t you been proud of the currency of the United States during all these past years? Hasn’t it been the pride of every patriotic American that as our gold would travel around the globe, so, too, would every dollar of our paper money, being redeemable In gold, travel everywhere and be everywhere honored at Its face? We have had a stable currency. There has not been any trouble with It until during the last two or three years; until Mr. Cleveland came Into power the second time, yon did not hear any complaint about our money, did you? You did not hear of any trouble with the gold reserve. All this trouble has arisen since then. Why? Simply because, as every Intelligent man knows, they adopted a policy of free trade as contradistinguished to a protective tariff policy, and the first result was the paralysis of business, and the second result was deficient revenues to the Government. Now, my fellow-citizens, the best remedy for this whole trouble Is to put the Republican party back In power; restore the policy of a protective tariff; reinaugurate the policy of reciprocity, and give to the American people an economic administration under which the Government would have enough revenues to live and everybody engaged In business in this country and every laborer in the country find something to do. Lieut. Gov. A. AV. Jones presided at the evening meeting, and made a brief speech, in which he characterized the Democratic national platform as one of nnarchism and bankruptcy. He said the Democrats*stole the Populist platform in order to be admitted to the Populist church, and Characterized Watson as one of the horns

of the Democrats dilemma. He the* introduced the speaker of the evening, Stewart L. Woodford, who said: The honest fulfillment of Populist pledges would put us on a paper basis, redeemable In paper and In paper alone, and Just where no civilized land Is to-day. It would be a «*nrrency of soap bubbles, redeemable In soap bubbles, affording no basis or foundation for any superstructure of business, farming or labor. Irredeemable paper money always l>egets and compels speedy ami continuous increase. Ann such increase has always ended In repudiation. The world has had fhres

experience of I’opulisC finances within the last 200 years. Gen. Woodford then reviewed John Law ns Minister of Finance in France during the reign of the Bourbons in 1720. When the French tried the experiment again in 1789 Talleyrand said: “You can arrange it so that the people shall be forced to take 1.000 francs in paper, instead of 1,000 francs in specie; but you ean never arrange it so that a man shall be obliged to give 1,000 francs in specie for 1,000 francs in paper.” Continuing, he said: Mr. Bryan Is the candidate of the Democratic party and of the Populist party. The Democrats declare. Just as do the Populists, that all paper which Is made a legal tender shall be issued by the Government. Here their agreement with the Populist party stops. The Democracy declare that such legal-tender paper shall he redeemable In coin. By no possible Interpretation of the Populist platform am 1 able to find either purpose or willingness on the part of the Populists to redeem such paper lu coin. The difference, If honest. Is radical. Courtesy requires us to believe that the difference u honest. The flat money Populists trust M-. Bryan, and, therefore. .1 dare upt. They have read the Democratic platform, with Us promise to pay money in coin, and yet they who believe lu constant and Increasing Issues of irredeemable paper believe In Mr. Bryan The fact Is there is couslnshlp between the silver dollar worth 52 cents and the paper dollar worth nothing. Brief speeches were also made by Senator Foraker, Congressman Watson. Judge L. W. .King of Youngstown and Emmett Tompkins of Columbus.

SENATOR JOHN SHERMAN.

GOVERNOR BUSHNELL.

SENATOR-ELECT FORAKER.