Democratic Sentinel, Volume 20, Number 38, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 25 September 1896 — WILL SILVER BENEFIT LABOR? [ARTICLE]

WILL SILVER BENEFIT LABOR?

If prices of commodities are cheap they cannot be produced with dear labor. Cheap commodities mean cheap labor. But it is said that all labor in some of the manufacturing and railroad Industries of the country is as high to-day as ever. This is not trut\ But suppose It were true, it would not answer the questions. The trade unions have been remarkably successful in resisting reduction of wages, but they have utterly failed in keeping the people employed. There are at least three millions of willing hands which are now idle in the United States. Those who have employment are either working on short hours or short days in the week, so that the aggregate paid in the manufacturing and railroad Industries to labor is certainly less than one-half the amount that would be paid to labor If prices were firm, so that enterprise could prosper. If falling prices continue it is only a question of time when wages of labor must come down to correspond with other things. This is not •11. One-half at least of the labor in the United States is expended on farms, which has paid the farmers nothing in the last twenty-three years. Their farms are not worth 50 cents on the dollar what they were when silver was demonetized, and they are still declining. Farm products have so declined that they are on an average below the cost of production. The people have borrowed money to pay taxes and other necessary expenses until the farms are mortgaged and tenant farmers are increasing in a geometrical ratio, and it is only a question of a short time If prices continue to fall when independent farmers must disappear aad the peasant system of Euroupe must be established here. We assert without fear of contradiction that labor is not receiving one-half as much in the United States to-day as it would under free coinage. We admit that an individual who has a job that will last him for life, of which he cannot be deprived by his employer or by the bankruptcy of the concern for which he works, can buy more with his dollar than he could if silver was remonetized and prices should regain their normal condition. But if he is a humane man, and contributes his money to the suffering people about him, fte will find that what he receives will do him and his family less good than it would if the country was prosperous and the great mass of la’#or was employed. . We know •the goldites appeal to laboring men who have a job and tell them that they can buy more with their money than if

prices were restored, and the community generally were allowed to prosper, but they do not call attention to the millions out of employment and the growing army of tramps or the bankrupt farmers, who are being driven from their homes. In short, they fail to call attention to the fact that civilizatlon is decaying on account of the increasing purchasing power of money. They do not suggest to the laborers that the fate which has befallen others will certainly overtake them, that want of employment will drive them into the ranks of the. tramps or the unemployed. f They do not appeal to labor in good faith. They attempt to appeal to the prejudices of the laboring men for the benefit of one hundred and fifty thousand millions of obligations which they hold against labor. In other words, they appeal to the laboring men to vote to increase the value of money, decrease the value of property and labor, a,nd enslave mankind. Contraction which produces falling prices if continued will bring result it always has. Serfdom and slavery is the inevitable fate of the American people if they do not join the forces of reform and rebel against goldocracy.— Silver Knight. / ,1 To Friends of Bimetallism. ‘The political campaign now in progress and the election to be heM on the 3d day of next November involve the most important economic and Industrial question ever presented for the consideration of the American people. It is whether the present gold standard, with a continued fall of prices, greater business stagnation, and intensified suffering among the poor, shall be maintained, or silver be restored to its former right of unrestricted coinage, thus establishing the bimetallic monetary standard guaranteed by the constitution, and upon which our people lived and prospered from the foundation of the republic down to the year 1873. , It is a question freighted with momentous consequences to humanity, and one which should be carefully studied by every voter before he casts his ballot. “This is a struggle between the ‘money power’ on the one hand and the great army of toilers and producers on the other. The former is determined, if possible, to maintain the existing gold standard, believing that its constant rise in value gives an advantage to: those whose .wealth; is chiefly in the

form of money and money obligations. With a very few exceptions the great newspapers of the country are directly or indirectly controlled by the moneyed classes and wedded to the Interests of wealth. No fortunate and favored class ever yet voluntarily surrendered any advantages enjoyed by it—political, social or financial. “Every reform originates with and is consummated by those who suffer from the conditions complained of. “The people chiefly Injured by the existing monetary system are those engaged in productive Industry and those who are burdened with debt. Appreciating money means that the producer must content himself with fewer and fewer dollars for the same work, while the debtor must turn over more and more of the product of his labor to satisfy the demands of his creditor. As production is at the foundation of all other Industry, and a very large proportion of the world’s business is done on credit, it should be apparent that a general and continuous fall of prices strikes at the very root of all human prosperity. “This is the grave and vital question now before us—the one great issue of the presidential campaign. The voter who neglects to study It well falls In his duty to himself, to his country and to his fellow man.' “By far the best method of diffusing education upon this subject Is through the medium of clubs and leagues or unions. Such organizations bring the voters together in and enable them to collectively obtain at nominal rates the very best literature extant This In turn leads to discussions, not only by speakers from the platform but between Individuals. As a result the chaff is separated from the solid grain, the essential and material matter is sifted out of a great mass that really does not touch the essence of the question at all. The great contest Is now on, and it can only be settled at the pels. To the end that the decision may be right, the American Bimetallic Union strongly urges the formation of silver clubs and leagues in every State, county, city, town and school district in the Union. “To all Interested in the cause we say, ‘organize, and we will assist you to the best of our ability.’ Our means are limited and the wealth of the country is arrayed almost solidly against us, but we will aid m the work of organization and education to the utmost of our ability. Such literature as can be furnished free we will provide gratuitously, and all that necessarily involves expense will be provided at cost In every legitimate way we will assist la disseminating correct information upon this subject, the correct solution of which means so much to the people of our common country. For detailed in structions as to the plan of organization, application should be made to the main office at 134 Monroe street, Chicago, 111., or to the branch office, Sun building, Washington, D. C.” A. J. WARNER, President American Bimetallic Union. GEO. E. BOWEN, Secretary.

Free Coinage for Foreigners. An act approved Jan. 29, 1874, and still in force, says: “It shall be lawful for coinage to be executed at the mints of the United States, for any foreign countries applying for the same, according to the legally prescribed standard and devices of such countries as the Secretary of the Treasury may prescribe, and the charge for the same shall be equal to the expense thereof; including labor, material and use of machinery, to be fixed by the Director of the Mint, with the approval of the Secretary of the Treasury. Provided the manufacture of such coin shall not interfere with the required coinage of the United States.” What we think of a law which opens the mints to the silver and gold of all other countries, while they are closed against the silver of our own people, is that the law of 1874 is in exact line with the law of 1873; both are un-Amer-ican and should be reversed. The mints should be operated in the interests of the United States and hot of foreign countries.—Cleveland Plain Dealer. A “Gigantic Conspiracy.” The fact that most railroad presidents and directors are in favor of the maintenance of the single gold standard, which has caused all the business wreck and misfortune through which the country is now passing, has led to the belief that there is a gigantic conspiracy on hand to wreck most of the railroads of the country and reorganize them on Wall street under the direction of Pierpont Morgan. It is said that nearly al the railroads which have been forced into bankruptcy during the last few years have been reorganized by him and with money furnished by him. Mr. Morgan is the American agent of the Rothschilds of Europe, and it is believed that, having supreme control of the money interests of the world, this money power is now reach-

Ing out to organize the railroad systen. of the world, to aid in further controlling the destiny and welfare of the people.—Columbus (Ohio) Post. Downfall in Land Values. Within recent memory landed property stood highest as a money security. It was made the basis of banking and insurance. Now the farmer is anxious to abandon his land and the money lender refuses to look at a security on a farm. The base of national wealth is in a state of decay and dissolution. If thlstoontinues what must happen to the superstructure? The farming interests have been attacked In every way. Extravagant expenses of Government have increased enormously the burden of direct taxation. The national currency has been contracted for the benefit of capital, and the farmer deprived of money at the very time that more was exacted from him. The result Is that the farmer Is much in the condition of a rat in an exhausted receiver, in a bottle with the air pumped out. Unless it can be shown that the disturbance of monetary condition, the fall in prices of products, the depreciation of land, the embarrassing burden of debt, which have gradually but surely followed the demonetization of one of the monetary metals, have been produced by that act, why should not the country demand the restoration of silver to its old-time office of a part of the constitutional currency ? Herkimej Democrat.

“Businesa Men.” In common with millions of our fellow citizens, we contend that when the money question is considered from s “business" standpoint (and that is the standpoint from which it should be con sldered) every business should have fair play and an impartial hearing, and that no few special callings should ar rogate to themselves the right to be considered the only "business” wortl) figuring in the premises, and the only ones which have within them Intelligence enough to say how our monetary systems shall be formed or of what oui money shall consist The gold handle! and those who agree with him may de mand gold exclusively, but other men engaged in different pursuits, whose business is crippled by adhering to the gold standard, have just as much right and better reason for demanding a broader and less monopolistic system, one which will give them a better showing, and, in their opinion, the country more prosperity.—Wilmington (N. C.) Star. Silver Has Not Fallen. Silver, notwithstanding its degradation by law and its mistreatment by thq secretaries of the treasury, has stilj maintained its old relation to property and commodities. Silver bullion has not fallen in relation to anything else but gold. Gold, on the contrary, has lost its former relation to all other things. This is shown by the following practical Illustration: The sliver In a silver dollar in 1873 was worth as much as the gold in a gold dollar, and eactj would have exchanged for a like number of products. This was because they were both standard legal-tender money, and each had equal privileges at the mint Now the silver In a silver dollar will exchange for as much wheat or anything else but gold as It would In 1873, but the gold in a gold dollar will exchange for twice as much of everything as It then would. It must be, therefore, that gold has risen in Its relation to all other things, and silver has not fallen.—Columbus (Ohio) Press.

Waiting on Britain. Toward restoring an honest measure of value we must do nothing until we have the co-operation of Great Britain, of a nation ruled by the creditor classes, who have reaped undue profit from the ever-appreciating standard from which we have suffered; for has not this unjust measure of value obliged us to pour into their laps two bushels of wheat and two pounds of cotton where they were entitled to but one? Until these creditor classes become gorged with unearned gains, until they become conscience-stricken with defrauding their debtors, we must submit to their exactions, permit them to roughly trample upon justice, equity and our rights, and humbly accept at their hands without one word of protest a measure of value that grows in length from day to day, and which enables them to subtly increase the burden of all debts to their profit and our gre£( injury.—The American. In 1878. To undertake to do the business of the world on a single gold basis of measurement and equivalents means loss, bankruptcy, poverty, suffering and despair, debts will grow larger, and taxes become more onerous. The farmer will receive small prices for his crops, labor will be forced down, down, down, and there will be a long series of strikes, lockouts and a suspension of productions. Those who own property but owe for it in part, will see their mortgage increasing in proportion as gold acquires the purchasing power, while the property itself will be shrinking in value. There will be no relief, it must be kept in mind, for gold will be the only recognized equivalent of values, the stock of gold with its power will be constantly growing and the-clr cle of wealth will be uniformly contracting.—Chicago Tribune, Jan. 16, 1878. A Profitable Enterprise. It is a fact that the only profitable enterprise in which our Government ever engaged was the purchase and coinage of silver under the Bland act and the Sherman act. That is the only business in which it has ever made any profit at all, and yet Senator Sherman has the effrontery to get up before an intelligent audience and to deliver a speech which he knew would be published in every newspaper in the country, stating that the Government has already suffered a loss of $145,000,000 and upward on its purchase and coinage of silver under the two acts in question. If he had been honest and truthful he wouldhave said that, instead of suffering a loss, the Government hadrac- 1 tually netted a clean profit of $130,000,000 on its purchase and coinage of silver under these two laws.—Denver Republican. It is not good to be governed by the feelings, for they ebb and flow like the waves of the sea.