Indianapolis Journal, Volume 48, Number 25, Indianapolis, Marion County, 25 January 1898 — Page 2

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amount equal to the entire estimated output of our mine*. Attain the experiment failed. There was a little spurt of upward movement and then a steady and rapid decline, reaching 78 cents in 1893; which gave us a silver dollar worth 60 cents. At that point we gave up the experiment, repealed the purchasing clause of the Sherman law and quit buying silver. And it is well that we did, for it has fallen way down since. The last quotation I have seen was 58 cents, which would give us a dollar worth 44 cents. Since 1878 we have spent $464,000.00) in th; pur< huse of silver, which would sell now for $266,060,600. We have thus sunk $108,000.tt*) in trying to hold up the price Os silver, and have failed in the attempt. In addition to this w'e have used our utmost efforts to Induce other nations of the world to unite with us in some arrangemtnt on the subject. An International conference called by us was held in Paris •in ISTh. and another at the same place in l*Bi. and another at Brussels in 1892* In all these we have used our utmost efforts to bring about some amicable international agreement upon which free coinage would be possible, but without success. And finally. within a few months past we have made a renewed effort to reopen the subject only to fall to receive encouragement enough to warrant even the calling of a conference. The time has come to put that dream behind us. The settled judgment of mankind is against any double standard. The world's standard is gold. If W'e wish to keep pace with the march of its civilization ve must maintain that standard. And if we are to have the benefit of it to the full we must make It the real standard, remove all doubt of its perpetuity and square our whole monetary system to It. PI.AN OF THE COMMISSION. Our monetary system, the defects in it and the best remedies therefor are subjects which has engaged the attention of many able men, and numerous schemes for improvement have been proposed. It is possible to occupy only a small part of so great a field in a single address, and I shall confine myself chiefly to the plan which has come before the country In the report of the Monetary Commission promulgated under the auspices of the Indianapolis Monetary Convention. What I shall say further will be mainly in explanation of that plan, not as the. only one that will serve, but as one following sound general principles, and practicable and workable in its details. The first step proposed in this plan is a simple declaration by law that all the obligations of the government now existing or hereafter contracted shall be payable in gold unless otherwise expressed. The reason for such a declaration is this: By the law as it is to-day the standard money of the United States is gold. The government has solemnly pledged its faith that all the money in circulation shall be equal to gold In value. The obligations of the government (not including gold certificates, silver certificates and currency certificates, all of which are mere deposit receipts, redeemable In kind) are payable simply In “dollars,” as Is the case with the greenbacks, or in “coin,” as is the case with the treasury notes of 1890, and most of the bonds. At the same time the silver dollar is by law a legal tender for all dues, public and private. Hence, according to one part of the law the treasurer of the United States would be entitled to pay the bonds, greenbacks and Sherman notes in silver; while by another part of the law the government has given its promise that the silver dollars and all other money issued by it shall be kept at par with gold. The free-silver advocates are insisting that the government shall take advantage of one part of the law and pay Its debts In silver, and then disregard the other part of the law. Six million voters indorsed that policy at the last election. Such a course would be a flat repudiation of Its obligations by the government. Inasmuch as the government issues all our money itself except the bank notes, and they are redeemable In money issued by the government, the value of the money in •which we must pay our individual obligations is controlled by the action of the government. A greenback is worth what the treasurer of the United States will give me for it and not a cent more. The moment he refuses to give me anything but silver for it, It is worth its face in silver, and no more. The moment he does that all the money in the United States except the gold will drop to a silver value, and all business will be on a silver basis; and we will all become repudlators whether we will or no. Under the law as it s:ands William McKinley and Lyman J. Gage could put us in that hole to-morrow by four words. All they would need to do would be to say to Assistant Treasurer Jordan, at New York: “Pay greenbacks in sliver.” ISSUE AND REDEMPTION.

The next important feature of the plan of the commission Is in the provisions recommended with a view to greater security In the redemption of the demand notes—the greenbacks and Sherman notes. I have pointed out that, as the law now is, there is no fund for the payment of these obligations except the general balance in the treasury applicable alike to the payment of all dues. Hence, wherever a deficit of revenue occurs or Is threatened, there is instant apprehension that the government may not be able to meet its demand obligations for want of funds. In order to remove this evil, it is recommended that a separation ' be made between the ordinary fiscal operations of the government, which consist in the collection of public revenues and the payment of governmental expenses, and its operations in connection with the issue and redemption of its notes which circulate as money. To this end it. is proposed that a division shall be created in the Treasury Department to be known as the Division of Issue and Redemption, that the gold reserve and silver bullion and silver dollars shall be transferred to that division; and that the whole business of issuing and redeeming notes shall be carried on there. The gold reserve so transferred is to be a sum equal to 25 per cent, of the greenbacks and Shejgnan notes, and 5 per cent, of the silver dollars, which would make about $135,000,000; and Is to constitute a common fund for the redemption of the notes and exchange for sliver dollars, and be used for no other purpose. This redemption fund is to be maintained from surplus revenue to be transferred from the general treasury to the Division of Issue and Redemption when a surplus exists. But if the fund should become impaired and no surplus be available in the general treasury to replenish it, the secretary of the treasury to have authority to sell bonds for that purpose. THE SILVER CURRENCY. It was considered by the commission that provision ought to be made by law for the exchange of gold for silver dollars on demand. Such an exchange, in strict sense of the word, is not a redemption. The silver dollars are not promises to pay, like the greenbacks. The government has simply agreed to keep them good as gold. “The government cannot make a silver dollar equal iri value to a gold dollar by merely saying that it shall be so. Its promise to preserve that equality means that it will do whatever may be necessary to that ei.d. We have had such confidence in that promise that we have accepted the silver dollars as equal to gold in value upon the faith that the government would do what •■ver might be necessary to keep them so. But the vote for Mr. Bryan was notice that nearly half of the people were in favor of repudiating that promise and letting the silver dollar take care of itself. The Seven million citizens who voted the other way ought not to be content with a mere count ol the nor with the installation of a President who will keep the promise While he Is in office. The only objection which any one who believes in maintaining the value of the silver dollar at par with gold can make to this suggestion is that it might put on the government an added burden—that the sliver dollars might be used to raid the treasury In tho endless chain fashion. The plan I am discussing contains a provision Intended to guard against that danger. It Is to put our sliver dollars into a form in which they will do the small, current business of the people, and so be kept in such constant and universal use that they will not come to the treasury for exchange. We have now in circulation greenbacks, Sherman notes, bank notes and stiver certificates in denominations of $5 and under, amounting. In round numbers, to $354,000.00, and about 60,600,000 silver dollars in circulation in specie, making the total amount of money in use, exclusive of gold, in denominations of one, two and live dollars, $414,000,000. We have, altogether, some 452,000,000 silver dollars. Hence. If we would withdraw till our paper money other than •IK er certificates, under $lO, and transform all the silver certificates over $lO Into smaller ones of sl, $2 and $5. we would have use for nearly all our silver dollars in the form of coins and certificates of $5 and under. Th se would be scattered over the entire country in banks, cash drawers and pockets, doing the daily work of small exchanges and payment. It would be impossible to get that kind of money together In large amount for presentation to the treasury. RETIREMENT OF GOVERNMENT NOTES. The members of the Monetary Commission were called upon by the teims of their appointment to formulate the best monetary scheme they could think of—one applicable, of course, to the conditions of life and business In the United States, and to be capable of adoption by a gradual process which would produce no inconvenience in the operation; but, subject to these limitations, to be as perfect as It was within their power to bring forth. Tbo discharge of

that duty necessarily brought up the question whether or no a paper currency issue by the government, like our greenbacks and Sherman notes, is the best form of paper money. It was the Judgment of the commission that it is not; and the plan recommended by it provides for the retirement of these notes by a gradual process extending over a period of ten years or more. Is that a wise recommendation? * • * The Republican paifty has been the friend of the greenback. At first we had to defend It against the attacks of those who opposed its issue, and denounced it when issued as worthless rags. Then its adversaries shifted their ground and proposed to make flat money of it by issuing it in unlimited quantities with no provision for its redemption. We stood by it as an honest r.ote. honestly issued and to be honestly paid. We won that, light when John Sherman opened the treasury doors on Jan. 1, 1879, and said: "I am ready; here is gold for your greenbacks.” Later It was proposed to dishonor the old note by paying it off in fifty-cent dollars, and again we came to its rescue and saved its good name. It is not strange that Republicans should be attached to the greenback. But the question is not one of sentiment. It is cold business. Are government notes the best form of paper currency—best for us, best for the government, and for all interests concerned? If the greenback has spent Its day of usefulness we shall honor It and ourselves most by paying it off in good gold and retiring it from service. In that spirit let us take up this subject. * * PAPER MONEY. The first requisite of good paper money is, that it shall be easily and certainly exchangeable for gold. No other test of its value is possible, and that test is adequate only w r hen it is easily applied. This certainty of redemption must be not merely for a day, but for all the foreseeable future. It must be a certainty resting on a safe and permanent system. The next requisite is, that it shall come Into existence quickly when it is needed and go out of existence as quickly when It Is needed no longer; or, to use the common phrase, it must respond in its volume to the demands of trade. Paper money is not a value measuring tool; it is an exchange making tool. It is a better tool for that pun>ose than gold. It is of the essence of a good monetary system that it shall be able to create these paper tools when they are needed, and as many as are needed. They ought to circulate rapidly and come home often. A note of any kind is a promise to pay money. A note never paid is an unreal promise. The maker of such a note is liable to forget that he is under any obligation to pay it, and neglect to keep himself in readiness to pay it. Every redemption of a note is a demonstration of its value, and quick circulation and frequent redemption is the highest proof of the soundness of the system. Paper money issued by the government is wanting in this requisite. It is impossible to give It an elastic Quality. Laws can be passed only at long intervals. Every act of legislation involves debate. If Congress were to undertake to lollow the varying demands of trade udth suitable supplies of money it would be debating the money question all the time, and then with great liability to error in its conclusions. The future demand of trade for tools is like all its other demands—beyond the foreknowledge of the wisest men. The only way to meet it with always enough and never too manv is to let the supply grow out of the demand—let trade furnish its own tools. UNSTABILITY OF A GOVERNMENT

CURRENCY. But the most serious weakness in a paper currency issued directly by the government is the impossibility of securing its stability. Nothing can keep such a subject out of politics. There will always be some proposition on foot to do something with it, and there will always be a party ready to take up such a proposition. History demonstrates the proneness of men to make one great mistake over and over to imagine that hard times can be cured by the issue of more money. The mistake is a perfectly natural one. When Dusiness is dull money ceases to circulate “W- Fhere appears to be a scarcity of it. What more obvious remedy than to create more of it? As long as all that is necessary to the creation of it is an act of Congress tnere will boa clumor for such legislation at every return of unfavorable business conditions. Another delusion quite as seductive as this is that cheap money is a blessing to the poor. To a man who has penetrated the subject the fallacy of the proposition is clear enough. Cheap money is money of little value; and, being of little value, will buy little else that Is valuable. Hence a man gains nothing by cheap monev. It is just as much less valuable to spend as it is easier to get. But there are millions of men whose heads do not seem to be able to hold both of these ideas at once. “To get money is a blessed thing; cheap things are easier to get than dear things; therefore cheap money is a blessed thing to a poor man;” and there the reasoning ends. The disparities of condition among men will never cease, and w'hile they exist there will be a class—and in times of distress it is liable to be a large class—who will believe that cheap money would make things better for them. Against these tendencies, which have their origin deep in the constitution of human nature, it requires a constant struggle to hold a currency issued directly by the government up to its standard. And the worst feature of the struggle is that business is alw'ays haunted by the fear that the effort may fail and some disaster occur. This is no mere theorizing of mine; it is a simple recital of experience. Some question has been pending in respect to our government currency, some threat of change in the air, some possibility of trouble ahead, every day for twenty-five years. It is not in human nature to stand up forever under such strain. It is like sustaining a weight upon one’s extended arm It may be said that the money question will always figure in politics, no matter what system we may have. Perhaps it will But that element would not be so disturbing If the money of the country were not w ithin such immediate reach of political influence ahd legislation. As it is now. Congress has but to stretch out its hand to make or unmake. The situation invites agitation. If w'e had a money system set on a foundation of its own beyond the control of Congress otherwise than by innovation upon or destruction of the system, the danger of injudicious change would be immensely decreased. Every piece of paper money would be a contract enforceable by law. The conditions of its issue would be proscribed by law. The whole system would rest on law and be protected by the sanctity of contract. A government note is payable If the government wills; all of which is as the people, or a majority of them, will, for the time being. Our school system and our postal system are creations of legislation, but they rest on lawr. It would require a tremendous revolution to overthrow’ them. No one fears such a revolution. Our monetary system ought to have a similar stability, and would have, if It were removed from the immediate control of Congress and given an independent existence under the guaranty of law. • • * * * * PROGRESSIVE RETIREMENT. The plan proposed by the commission contemplates u very gradual withdrawal of the greenbacks and Sherman notes and the substitution of bank notes in their places in such manner as to produce no appreciable contraction in the currency or effect upon business. The division of issue and redemption w'ill pay the notes as they are presented, just as the treasury is paying them now', and must continue to do if the government is to maintain its credit at all. No bonds are to be issued unless it should become necessary in order to maintain the redemption fund, just as we must do now'. The notes redeemed are to be canceled to the extent of $50,060,000. if so many are redeemed; after which they are to be canceled only as rapidly as bank notes are issued to take their place, for the period of five years. After the expiration of five years those redeemed are to be canceled to an amount not exceeding one-fifth of those then outstanding. At the expiration of tea ytars those then remaining in circulation are to lose their legal-tender quality. But they will still remain as valid demands on the government and redeemable in gold upon presentation. BANK SYSTEM. No plan of currency reform which involves the retirement of the greenbacks, however gradual that retirement may be, can bo called complete which does not provide for the issue of other paper currency to take their place. In considering what that should be there is little room left for choice. A state bank currency as the sole or main source of supply is not to be thought of. The system must be national. It must bo so organized that its notes shall be equally current throughout the Union and absolutely good everywhere. We have been accustomed to bank notes so perfectly secure that no one ever takes the trouble to notice by what bank the notes that he receives hits been issued. We can take no backward step in that respect. Our bank notes have enjoyed that degree of confidence because they have rested upon a form of security which we have al! regarded as and which has been in fact absolutely safe. We cannot think of introducing any form of bank note currency less perfectly secure than that which we have now. The system proposed by the commission involves only a few important changes of

THE INDIANAPOLIS JOURNAL, TUESDAY, JANUARY 20, 1893.

the existing law. Os these the chief is the one relating to the security of the circulating notes. Hi at change is in substance this; Instead of being required to put up bonds to the amount of SIOO for every S9O of notes issued, the hanks are to be required to put up bonds at their value upon a 3 per cent, basis to an amount equal to the notes Issued up to 25 per cent, of their capital. As against the residue of notes issued they are to put up no security in the form of bonds deposited, but are r.o secure them in another way, which I will now describe. Each bank is to put up in the hands of the government an amount in gold equal to 5 per cent, of its total circulation. These deposits are to foim one common guaranty fund for the protection of all the notes of all the banks. In case of failure of any bank to redeem its notes they are to be redeemed forthwith out of the guaranty fund; and the government is then to proceed forthwith to collect the amount from the assets of the failed bank, including the personal liability of the stockholders, if the other assets are insufficient, and thereby reimburse the guaranty fund. If the guaranty fund becomes impaired the controller is to make an assessment upon all the banks pro rata, according to their notes in circulation, to make up the deficiency; so that the fund shall be constantly kept up to 5 per cent, of ail the notes outstanding in the country. Such a security is, in its essential character, a stronger one than government bonds can possibly be. I said a while ago that in civilized countries society was more than government. Government rests upon society; not society upon government. If the Confederate government had established a national bank system exactly like ours at the same time w'e established ours, with its notes secured by government bonds, what would the bond security have been worth at the end of the w’ar? But if the Confederate government had estab ished a banking system like that w’hich the commission proposes, entirely disentangled in its foundations and sources of strength from the government, and resting upon the business assets of the country and the personal responsibilities of the stockholders, there would have been something left of it even after the desolation of war. There were banks in the South w hich stood alone, without the strength which comes from widelyextended association, but which nevertheless survived the war. though in a crippled condition, but whose notes had a substantial value after all the vicissitudes through which they had passed. We have been so long accustomed to think of the United States bonds as the only absolutely and eternally good security in the v/orld that it is a little hard to get out of our hearts the feeling that no ether security can be quite so good as the basis of bank circulation. But that is a mere habit of feeling. The notion that our government can never, by any possibility, fail to pay its debts, is a patriotic instinct rather than an intelligent conviction. I suppose people have thought so of their governments over and over again in this world. I am not intending to cast any aspersions upon our government or its bonds. 1 believe that we are entitled to regard them as perfectly gcod, and so far as security of payment is concerned. I regard our national bank notes as perfectly good. But notes secured in t’he way which I have described will also be perfectly good. And between two things which are perfectly good there is no choice of goodness. (Here the speaker followed with a detailed discussion of the banking plan, its advantages in respect of elasticity of circulation, its desirability to bankers, especially in the West and South, with much historical and statistical matter.) JUDGE IT AS A WHOLE. My fellow-Republieans, I submit this plan to you for your thoughtful and patient consideration. Do not pronounce upon it hastily?, Do not pick out a point here and a point there for off-hand condemnation. You cannot judge it fairly except as a whole. It has been put together with much painstaking. Every feature of it has a distinct relation to every other one. If it is what it seems to be; if it would lead us out of our present unsettled, illogical and dangerous situation, by a gradual and practicable process of transition to one where we would have peace and security, an established standard, and a sound and elastic currency, it would be of infinite advantage to the American people to adopt it. We shall have to come to it, or something like it, sometime if there is any truth in those fundamental principles of finance which the Republican party has been defending for a third of a century.

The thing which concerns me most at this time is that Republicans shall interest themselves in the subject. The people are apt to say "these are questions for our statesmen—our senators and representatives in Congress; we will let them decide;” the senators and representatives say “these are pretty delicate questions; we will wait until we hear from the people.” And so we wait on each other until the crisis comes and we are on the eve of disaster. Both are wrong. In a country where every man is a sovereign by divine right in his own person, every man ought to do the duty of a sovereign. He ought to read, think, have opinions and declare them. Thought is the force that governs the world. When all the people think the country is safe. We, the people, cun afford to think and talk with more freedom than our representatives in Congress. Everything they do is under the blazing light of public observation. They must of necessity move cautiously. They cannot afford to make blunders. We can. If I have advanced views which further discussion and consideration shall show to be erroneous, no harm will be done. A senator, speaking from his place in the Capitol, could hardly afford to take that risk. In that spirit let us as Republicans take up this subject. Our great captain, the President, has spoken. He has not undertaken to lay down any detailed plan. That function does not belong to his office. But he has sounded the bugle. He has pointed out the danger. He has said to Congress and us in his recent message that while we may feel no immediate harm front our present currency while prosperity continues, “the danger still exists and will be ever present menacing us so long as the existing system continues.” He has reminded us that "it is in times of adequate revenues and business tranquillity that the government should prepare for the worst.” He has told us that "we cannot avoid, without serious consequences, the wise consideration and prompt solution of this question.” Those are his words IT IS A FINAL MEASURE. The secretary of the treasury, as belongs to his office, has dealt with the subject more specifically. In his report to Congress he has outlined a plan which is in its most fundamental features similar to that proposed by the commission; the principal difference being that the plan of the commission provides for a complete reorganization on a permanent basis, while that of the. secretary does not go so far. The difference is liot one of principle, but one of scope. He says himself "the recommendations which J make must be considered as not being in themselves final measures, but rather as tentative steps in a direction which, consistently pursued, will lead to conditions ultimately desirable.” The commission’s plan is intended to be a final measure. If it were enacted as law to-day it would set on foot a process of transition which would go on silently and quietly until we had passed from our present system to anew one which would have in itself such possibilities of growth and expansion that, so far as can now be for* seen, there would not need to be any other law passed upon the subject for fifty years to come. Os course, I am not so extravagant as to say that such would be the case. It is not to be expected that any such work can be done so perfectly that time will not disclose imperfections in it. But in its design and scope the commission’s plan is a complete, symmetrical and permanent one, dealing with the whole subject on consistent principles, and leading up at last to a permanent and settled system. At the same time it can be embodied in Independent and successive enactments, each of which W’ould give us its good results at once. It would be worth a great deal to stick a stopper in the mouths of the free silverites who quibble about the meaning of the law to declare m unmistakable words that the United States will keep its faith and maintain the gold standard in the payment of all its own obligations. That can be done in ten lines of type. It would be more to provide a division of issue and redemption and equip it with such plenary powder that we shall all know for a certainty that the treasurer of the United States will at all times be ready to keep that promise. A deficit in the revenue would no longer mean a fit of ague to the country. it would be worth something simply to make logical and sure provision for the silver dollars, so that the simplest minded man could understand what they are and why they are good. It would be his best defense against the misleading sophistry of free silver arguments. It would mean a great deal to reorganize the bank system, so that it could serve the country as a banking system ought and extend its usefulness to all parts of the country. The plan proposed by the commission Is complete in Itself in each of these departments; and eaqh part is capable of enactment independently of the others. RETIREMENT OF GREENBACKS. The point in this whole matter which will arrest most instant attention and probably encounter most objection is the proposed r* tirement of the greenback currency. On that subject I want earnestly to bespeak the serious consideration of Republicans. Do not dismiss it with the common remeark that it will never do; that it would he unpopular among the people. If every Republican dodges the investigation upon tho

ground that other Republicans, who have also made no investigation, will not approve it, the question will go by w’ithout investigation by anybody. If every Republican will patiently and thoughtfully investigate the subject for himself, then we shall have at the end that consensus of judgment which is the highest guaranty of truth. The question is one which, in its relation to the ordinary, everyday life of the citizen. has very little practical importance. It is of no consequence to you or ine whether tho paper money in our pockets . bears the signature of the United States 1 treasurer or some bank president, so it la good. The national bank notes have served the wants of the people for thirty-five years just as well as greenbacks. Nobody has ever cared which he received or paid out. If the greenbacks were to pass out of circulation and national bank notes take their place by a smooth and gradual process, no one would miss them in his ordinary use of money. In fact, the greenbacks have nearly passed out of circulation already, so far as everyday use of them by the people is concerned. If you will look in your pockets you will find that you have bank notes and silver certificates (w'hen you have anything), with rarely a greenback or a Sherman note. The greenbacks are held in the vaults of the banks instead of gold. Very few are in the hands of the people, or ever will be. The retirement of the greenbacks means mostly the substitution of gold in their place in the vaults of the banks There is no practical difference to us in the use of money, between a government note and a good bank note. The difference lies in considerations which reach beyond our pockets and our everyday use of the small amounts which pass through our hands. It lies in the operation of forces which tend to undermine the foundations of the system and weaken the whole structure. We do not see nor realize those forces in our daily life. No fanner in Indiana thought any less of a $lO greenback in 1893 than in 1883. And yet there was a world-wide difference. In 1883 we had just fought the first great battle for sound money and carried the day in the resumption of specie payment. The stiver question was agitating the country, but had not yet reached an alarming stage. The silver dollar was worth 86 cents. We were hoping that it would go up instead of down. There was a situation of general confidence. Only two national banks failed in the United States during that year. GOVERNMENT’S CREDIT SAVED. In 1893 wc were in disaster. Sixty-five banks failed. The United States treasury reached a point where it could not pay gold for greenbacks a week longer. The secretary of the treasury went to New York and called a meeting of the strong men of that city. He wanted $50,000,000 in gold to save the government from bankruptcy. They were so profoundly discouraged that they gave it up and the meeting ended without any result. Three of the gentlemen present, however, could not quite consent to see the United States take the place of a defaulting debtor. They asked the secretary to wait over the next day. They met in the morning and drew up a subscription paper, and, putting their own names down for as much as they dared, spent the day circulating that paper, and were barely able to raise the required amount, and that by adding a little more to their own subscriptions. The credit of the government was saved by the circulation of a subscription paper. One of those gentlemen was Charles S. Fairchild, of the Monetary Commission. If those three men bad failed in the work of that day the Indiana farmer would have found the ten-dollar greenback in his pocket worth $5. It is in these far-reaching causes and influences that the weakness of the greenback currency consists; not because it is not good enough, so far as we can judge from our every-day use of it. It is good enougli in that sense. We must believe that w'hen the people come to see and understand these facts they will be entirely willing to give up the greenback with ail its historical and patriotic associations. Jf an experience of a lifetime has demonstrated that it carries in it a concealed but ineradicable element of danger, we shall do it the highest honor by giving it credit for the good it has done and retiring it on full pay. So, with the courage that belongs to men, with earnestness and zeal, let us take up this great question. Let us first seek to inform ourselves, and then to teach others the truths which we have learned. We need not be afraid of the people. They only need to see the right clearly to do it with eourage, and they respect candor and courage in others. The Republican party has never failed of victory when it bravely stood up for the right. Three times in its history it has distinctly saved the country from disasters which we cannot even now measure as to their possible extent and consequences. First, when it saved the Union. Second, when it restored specie payments. If the schemes of the greenbackers of that day had succeeded wc would have put out a mass of paper currency which we never could have redeemed. It would have repeated the history of all such currencies. It would have gone on increasing and increasing until it broke down, just as our continental money did; just as nearly all government currencies have done in the history of the world. The third time was in 1896. But that salvation is only half complete. The silver standard std! menaces the country. We have to fight that battle once more in some form, and now can we tight it with effect except under the banner of the gold standard? Does any one thtnk that we can fight it successfully under a banner of international free coinage) Did any party ever gain a viotory hghting for an impossibililv? Free silverists see that thing, if nothing else, in its true light They recognize the impossibility or international free coinage and urge that as a reason why vve should go it alone at 16 to 1. How shall we answer them otherWiSe than by saying that, international bimetallism being impossible, the gold standard stands? That# is what our platform means; that is what honest money means; that is the banner under which wc must fight the battle. Without that there will be r,o victory to win; nothing in issue; no meaning in the election; no chance of success. TAKE IT OUT OF POLITICS.

I want to be done with tho money question in politics. The people of Indiana are witnesses of the appeals which \ have made for years from the stump in behalf of some action on other great questions which press for decision. We see evil tendencies at work in society. We see all the business of the country passing into the hands of trusts and combinations. \\ ithin a few days one corporation has arrogated to itself the power of fixing the price of so common au article of food as wheat crackers throughout the United fete tes. vv hue I speak proceedings are pending for the organization of a corporation which shall control the whole busin<ss of making wire In the United States. e anti-trust law passed by Congress eight years ago has proved a failure for the main purposes for which it was intended. It. assists the corporations in the suppression of strikes, but it affords the people no practical assistance in resisting the grasp of corporate combinations. The labor question still troubles. The laboring man has not yet found out how to protect hirnselt against the arbitrary power ot his employer. and the employer has not yet found out how to reconcile his ow’ii interests with the demands of labor. Our taxation laws operate with horrible inequality. The great mass of the personal property of the country escapes taxation. The burdens of the government are borne by the land owners and the comparatively poor. The air is full of perplexing questions which clamor for attention. But nobody can accomplish anything in respect to them because our political parties are. occupied with the money question. Political issues must be simple and single. Every campaign turns on one overshadowing question. While the money question lias the floor nothing else can receive consideration. It is of no avail that I or any other private citizen or any number of us think or write or talk upon other questions. The only things which reach the attention of the country arc the great issues which divide parties. Inasmuch as w'e must meet the money question as the main issue, let us meet it broadly; let us go to the bottom of it; let us quit, tinkering with our currency and reform it upon a basis that will take it out of politics and give the Republican party a chance to turn its great energies in the direction of Other reforms which demand our attention. If W'e will take up the subject, in this spirit we shall have allies, whose support we cannot otherwise command. They were with us in 1896. T believe that we would not have succeeded without them. They are ready to go with us again if we will give them an assurance that we will make thorough work of it. The business men of the United States, without regard to party, have inaugurated a great movement for currency reform. The monetary commission was their representative. It was itself a nonpartisan body—six Republicans and live Democrats. But the business men understand perfectly well that currency reform can be accomplished only through the Republican party. Their movement means that. They expect to join us in the next campaign and the one following, provided we take a position on the question that will mean something. But such a movement does not live forever, like a political party. It has no offices to bestow or to promise: no motive of organization to hold it together If its efforts are fruitless. Unless w r e meet this business men's movement half way and give it our hand In a pledge of vigorous and effective co-operation, it will come to nothing; and once dead, it wdil be cut of our pow r er to call it to life again, i do not mean that the business men will insist upon the adoption of the plan which their commission has formulated. They are practical men. They understand the situation. They realize the difficulties. i|ut

they will want a eertain confidence that the Republican party means to set the currency system of the country upon a solid and secure foundation just as soon as it can. HIS CONCLUSION. I began by saying that I desired to talk as a Republican to his fellow Republicans. I conclude by saying that in dealing with this subject it is the duty of us all, first, to study the question, to put ourselves in possession of the truth, each man for himself; then to communicate his views to others, strengthen those who are weak, encourage those who are timid, and bring the general body of the party up to the highest intelligent understanding and courageous purpose that is attainable. Let us send back to the President an answer to the message which he delivered to us by Senator Fairbanks at our recent conference by telling him that we dare to follow where he leads. Having done all that, each man to the best of the ability that is in him, we must stand together. I have expressed my views with candor. But I shall not be a stickler for any part of the scheme which I have outlined. We are bound to believe that after due discussion and consideration the leaders of our party at Washington will agree upon some programme which shall represent what is, in their judgment, the wisest plan of action for the Republican party. We are bound to believe that that programme will follow the principles of the St. Louis platform; that it will be for sound money and the gold standard. In the formulation of that plan every one of us has some influence. The utterances of the press, public discussions, private letters, current conversation, all contribute to the stream of influence which flows in from the country to the capital. When our leaders have decided what the line of battle shall be. every one of us will have his place in the ranks. We are each of us entitled to have something to say in the general council of war, but we take our final orders from the generals in command. We are entitled to have faith that with McKinley at headquarters those orders will be such as we shall be glad to obey. INVESTIGATORS DEFIED * more recalcitrants found by THE OHIO SENATE COMMITTEE. 1 Allen O. Myers. However, Was Not In the Hatch—His Story of the Shadowing; of Hanna's Friends.

CINCINNATI, 0., Jan. 24.— I The legislative committee to-night closed its investigation in this city of the Otis charges of bribery in the recent election of United States senator. The Senate committee w r ill continue its work at Columbus. Thirty witnesses have been examined here since last Friday, most of them being employes* of the Gibson House, of telegraph and telephone companies and of the Union Savings and Trust Company. Jared P. Bliss, Allen O. Myers, sr., and E. H. Archer were tho principal other witnesses. They returned to Columbus to-night with the committee. The attorneys and three members of the House committee also returned. As the evidence of Representative John C. Otis, and of Colonel Thomas C. Campbell will be very lengthy they were not called here, but Air. Otis will likely be the next witness at Columbus. At Columbus last week several witnesses refused to testily because their attorneys advised them that a Senate committee has no jurisdiction in investigating charges made by a member of the House. The employes of President Schmidlapp’s bank and Hon. Harry M. Daugherty, chairman of the Republican state central committee, to-day declined to either be sworn or to answer questions because the committee had no jurisdiction. When H. H. Hollenbeck was en route from Columbus to Cincinnati Jan. 7 he received a dispatch signed *‘H. D.” and the committee asked Mr. Daugherty if he sent that dispatch. Mr. Daugherty declined to answer questions and continued to argue the question of jurisdiction till he was excused subject to call for punishment for contempt. When Manager Page, of the Western Union, was asked to produce the “H. D.” dispatch and other messages, he said the company now had none of its messages as far back as Jan. 10. And he did not know whether they had been taken across the river to their office in Covington and Newport. Ky., or sent to New York, or where they were. Chairman Burke announced That as soon as the committee w r as through with all the willing witnesses proceedings would at once he begun to bring all of the unwilling witnesses before the bar of the Senate for punishment for contempt. Allen O. Myers, sr., was tho first witness before the committee to-day. He was at the Great Southern Hotel, in Columbus, Jan. 7, where Mr. Kurtz and others opposing Senator Hanna were then stopping. His son. Allen O. Alyers. jr., clerk at the Gibson House, in Cincinnati, called him up that night and told him of Boyce’s movements. The next day his son reached Columbus with copies of stenographic reports of Boyce’s talks from Cincinnati over the telephone with the Hanna headquarters in Columbus. As the matter pertained to Republicans, he turned it all over to Kurtz and introduced his son to him. Kurtz told Myers that Hollenbeck would go to Cincinnati with money. Myers detailed the shadowing of Hollenbeck from Columbus to Cincinnati and back, also the carriage drives of Boyce about Columbus. The testimony of Myers caused quite a stir, especially when he became very angry on the cross-examination by Senator Garfield. He denied that he was a party to any conspiracy in getting up the BovceHollenbeck story about the bribery of. Representative Otis. Air. Garfield told the witness he need not reply to anything that would incriminate himself. Myers became intensely enraged, and Chairman Burke nad difficulty in proceeding with the inquiry. H. H. Archer, of Columbus, deputy state railway commissioner, testified to following H. H. Hollenbeck from Columbus to Cincinnati and pointing him out to Bliss and the detectives at the depot. Archer testified rapidly, without questions being asked. He told about "shadowing” Hollenbeck from the Neil House to the Columbus depot, watching his movements on the train and even in his berth all night. Hollenbeck carried his valise to the toilet room with him and wherever he went. Hollenbeck took his valise with him into an upper berth. He did not undress in the sleeper, and received messages in care of the conductor along the route. The rest of Archer's testimony covered the "shadowing” in Cincinnati and Columbus that had been covered by the witnesses last Saturday. Archer said he was a volunteer with Kurtz and other Republicans in seeking the defeat of Hanna; that he was not employed as a detective. but had worked for weeks for the good of the cause. Harry M. Daugherty, chairman of the Republican state executive committee, was called, but refused to be sworn because he claimed the committee had no jurisdiction in the Otis case. He had, as legal counsel, so advised other witnesses, and would follow' that advice himself. He was asked if he sent the telegram signed "B. D.” to Hollenbeck, while he was on the train, but he refused to answer this question, and all others put to him, on the ground that the committee had no jurisdiction. Archer, on being recalled, testified that T. J. Mulvihill, one of the Democratic leaders against Hanna, was also on the train with Hollenbeck. Archer got Hollenbeck’s telegrams and Alulvihill answered them, signing Hollenbeck’s name to messages sent to Alajor Dick, Hanna’s manager. Detective Aliller was recalled to explain the telephone talks of Boyce and others with Major Rathbone and others at Hanna's headquarters. Aliller had four men besides himself “shadowing" Boyce and Hollenbeck. Detective Siessinger followed Hollenbeck back to Columbus. Aliller shadowed Boyce back. The trail was lost in Columbus, Boyce and Hollenbeck only stopping there between trains. E. B. Voorheis, vice president and director of the Union Trust and Savings Bank, was called, but refused to be sworn because his attorney. J. W. Warrington, advised him that the committee had no jurisdiction. While Air. Voorheis said he declined to answer questions, he was kept on the stand a long time. Many questions were asked him about President Schroidlapp being absent Jan. 7 and 8 and about Cashier Cayior coming to him regarding H. H. Hollenbeck’s credit. Voorheis refused to state whether he knew, or met, or ever received notes or letters from Hollenbeck. He refused to state whether Cashier Cayior came to him with Hollenbeck and whether the latter had an order or draft for $20,000 or any amount. Rudolph Koehler, cashier of the Union Trust and Savings Bank, refused to be sworn and declined to answer questions. He said President Schmidlapp was absent Jan. 7 and 8. He saw Vice President Voorheis on those dates, but refused to answer any questions about Hollenbeck, on the advice of Vice President Voorheis. He declined to answer whether he knew or ever

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met Hollenbeck, and said he did not know H. H. Boyce. Questions were pressed because the witness would answer regarding Boyce and others and say nothing regarding Hollenbeck. He declined to answer whether Hollenbeck had a letter to Schmidlapp. At the afternoon session John Aliller, Edward Schlensinger, Theodore Arehambald and Charles Armstrong, all detectives, read their long reports of “shadowing” Boyce and Hollenbeck in Cincinnati and Columbus Jan. 7,8, 9 and 10. Max N. Shaeffer. paying teller of the Union Savings and Trust Company, refused to be sworn and said he would not testify, but he answered many questions. He did not know of ever paying either of them any money. He denied ever telling Dr. E. P. Dehner that he had <jashed orders or drafts for Hollenbeck. Dr. E. P. Dehner testified that he knew Alax Schaeffer, that the latter was at his drug store frequently, but that he never heard him say he (Shaeffer) had paid out money to Hollenbeck or any one else in connection with the Otis bribery. . Charles E. Kinkaid, of the Enquirer staff, testified that Dr. Dehner had told him that Schaeffer had said he had paid out money to Hollenbeck. C. E. Page, manager of the Western Union Telegraph Company, in Cincinnati, testified that none of their dispatches of Jan. 7, 8 or 9 were on file, as is usually the case, and he could not produce the copies called for. He did not know' what, had become of the originals or of the copies of those dates. He knew' nothing about messages sent or received by Boyce and Hollenbeck. Detective Aliller was recalled and said he bad been in the employ formerly of the Western Union, that it was customary to keep copies of messages six months and in some cases a year. He never before knew of the auditor in New York calling for messages or copies or records of the same within two weeks after the messages were sent. Gouvenier M. Calhoun, superintendent of the long-distance telephone, was examined early in the afternoon and then given time to confer with his superiors in New York. He was recalled as the last witness before the committee adjourned to meet in Columbus. Air. Calhoun declined to produce the records of his office and said he acted on the advice of their general counsel in New York. The committee does not expect to be able to make its final report this week. McComas Lucks Six Votes. ANNAPOLIS, Aid., Jan 24.-The Maryland General Assembly, in joint convention, today, took but one ballot, and that resulted as follows: McComas. 49; Gorman, 42; Shaw, 17; Findlay, 1. Total, 109. Necessary to a choice, 55. The absentees are all Democrats, who will be in their seats to-morrow, when another ballot will be taken. It was this fact that enabled Judge McComas to come, w'ithin six votes of being elected, and that be did not take advantage of the opportunity to force matters is taken as an indication that he has not yet secured the votes his friends on Saturday claimed he would be able to muster to-day. That the Democrats are ready and willing to take a hand in the contest and aid the “eleven” in electing almost anybody but McComas, is no longer susceptible of denial. Delegates Wirt and Wilkinson, the acknowledged leaders of the Democrats in the House, declared as much to-day in speeches made in the joint convention. General Shryoek drew out of the .fight to-day and declared himself unequivocally for Judge AlcComas’s election.

CALIFORNIA’S CELEBRATION. ••Forty-Niners’’ niul Tltelr Children Assisting in the Golden Jubilee. SAN FRANCISCO, Jan. 24.—The splendor of the celebration of the Golden Jubilee of California which began to-day is not likely to be surpassed for many years to come. The entire State has gladly responded to the appeals of the miners, pioneers and native sons and daughters, and from now until the close of /ho carnival week San Francisco will be the Alecea toward which all travel west of the Rockies will turn. No line will be drawn at the eastern border, for from Nevada, Utah and as far east as Denver, men who first fount, fortune in the placers o? California have already returned here to assist in the exercises commemorative of the fiftieth anniversary of the discovery of gold by Marshall, at Colma. near the old fort, erected by General Sutter. But the participants in this week of gayety are not confined to the old-timers. Tt is the younger element, the children of the men of ’49, that by their enthusiasm and monetary plans have assured in advance the success of one of the most unique and characteristic demonstrations ever projected in anv part of the Union. Jubilee day was heralded by the booming of the guns at the various forts which line the shores of the bay at the entrance to the Golden Gate. The salutes commenced with a welcome of twenty-one guns from the big twelve-inch guns at Fort Pointe. This was followed in quick succession by the guns at Forts Mason. Alcatra and Ange! island. Punctually at 10:30 o’clock one of the most interesting parades ever seen in this State marched through the streets, which were gaily decorated with fiags and bunting and thronged with people from every part of the State. At least 50,000 strangers poured into the city last night and this morning, and half as many more from the towns across the bay swelled the crowds from this city along the line of march. Market street, from the ferry to Van Ness avenue, was pac-ketl on either side, and that part of it in the vicinity of the Baldwin Hotel, where a mammoth arch had been erected across the street, was a dense mass of humanity. Every window along the route of march and many roofs of the buildings were pressed into service by the sightseers. The parade was divided into fifteen divisions and it is estimated that there were 16,000 men in line. In the afternoon literary exercises were held in Woodward’s Pavilion, at which appropriate addresses were made. This evening there was a banquet and the Native Sons gave a hall. The. celebration will continue during the rest of thy week. McKinley Will Press (he Hutton. WASHINGTON, Jan. 24,-Senators Perkins and White and Representative Alaguire, of California, to-day formally invited the President to touch the button next Tuesday which will open the golden jubilee mining fair of the State. The President also received a teegram from Alayor Phelan, of San Francisco, conveying the same invitation. It was accepted. QUEER GEYSER IN DAKOTA. Well That Is Spouting Clay Instead of AVatcr Puzzling Geologists. CHAMBERLAIN, s. D., Jan. 24.-The government artesian well at Lower Brule Indian agency is a freak that is puzzling the geologisls of the Northwest. 'Originally the pressure threw the solid six-inch stream of water to a height of twenty-one feet above the top of the well casing. Soon after the well was completed the pipe would become choked and at such times the water would not flow for two or three days at a time. Then without apparent cause the pipe suddenly would become clear and the water would again spout to its former height. After continuing for a few days, during which time it almost constantly spouted large quantities of sand, the water once more would become choked and cease to flow. This became so frequent and so regular that in time the agency authorities became accustomed to It and paid no particular attention to the freakishness of the well, which is cuuaLmUv under thuic.

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observation, But now the matter has taken anew and more peculiar turn. Arrivals from the agency say that, beginning about three weeks ago tho well at intervals has been forcing out apparently endless quantities of blue clay. This in itself is nothing strange, but the manner in which the clay is conveyed to the surface is out of the ordinary. The blue clay entirely tills the six-inch pipe during the temporary eruptions, and arises slowly above the top of the easing, exactly as sausage emerges from a sausage mac hine, until the top is so high in the air that it becomes overbalanced; tlipn five or six feet of the length topplesover upon the ground. The continued upwird movement of the clay in a few minutes causes more of the column to topple over. This ons continued until circular pieces of lie blue clay aggregating several hundred feet in length have been deposited on the ground in the vicinity of the well, necessitating the employment of men to remove the huge ch posits before- the top of tho casing should become completely buried. The discharges of blue clay are accompanied by very little water, and the clay, probably from the very great pressure required to force it through the well casing, is always hard and dry. Another peculiarity is that eruptions invariably begin a short time prior to the advent of windy or stormy weather and continue until the weather again becomes settled. HER “CHAIN”* SUCCESSFUL. Young; limn SclioolmtiTt m Secure!* (usli and Offers of Marriage. ALBIA, la., Jan. 24.—Miss Rosa Leach, of this city, is well on her way to success in the world and all because she conceived (tie happy idea of setting a “chain” in motion for the collection of pennies wherewith to buy herself a college education. Aliss Leech is the young daughter of a Union veteran, and for the last few years has supported her father by teaching school. She is bright and ambitious, and is much loved and admired by her neighbors. Appreciating her lack of higher education she started the "chain” for pennies. The coins began to come in slowly at first, but presently the newspapers took her up. and then, the money began to pour in upon her in sums of from one penny up to flve-dollar bills. Two magazines have contracted with her for articles, and she has had proposals of marriage from men of all ages in almost every State in the Union, The young lowa school teacher is now assured of her college education. In fact, if she desires to do so. she will be enabled to go abroad for it, or if she prefers, she can have the choice among hundreds of good men for a husband. It is doubtful whether Aiiss Leech or her friends are most pleased with her newfound prosperity. radiant motbersTf women would but realize the importance of keeping well in a womanly way. Women cannot too soon understand that it is little less than a crime to neglect the health of the organs to which are intrusted the perpetuation of a healthy, robust race of human beings. By neglect of these organs a woman ruins her own health, destroys the happiness of her home, and fails in the performance of the most sublime duty that she owes to the world. The best medicine for women who are weak where Nature demands the most strength is Dr Pierce’s Favorite Prescription It acts directly upon the organs that make motherhood possible. It cures all weakness and disease that exists there and stops all distressing, debilitating drains. It prepares a woman for motherhood and insures a healthy baby It makes the coming of baby easy and almost painless Drug gists who offer something “just as good” are either ignorant or dishonest and in either case are not to be trusted “ I bad been a great sufferer for years with female weakness,” writes Airs John Downie of No. 24,5 Lexington Avenue, Eddystone. Delaware Cos., Pa. “ Could not walk three squares without terrible suffering I also had a pain in ray left side for seven years—untit I used Dr Pierce’s Golden Medical Discovery. ‘Favorite Prescrio tion ’ and ‘ Pleasant Pellets ’ My pain has left me altogether. Have had no symptoms of it at all for two years Can walk two or three miles at a time and it does not hurt me I cannot recommend Dr. Pierce’s medicines highly enough Mr daughter also has used your medicines with great benefit She was operated upon for appendicitis a-c imd fainting p*Hs from it she to ok the Golden Medica. Discovery,’ • Favorite Prescription,’ ’Extract of Smart-Weed, and the • Pleasant Pellets ’ and has not had any faint ing spells for one year. When she commenced to take it she weighed 95 pounds now she weighs 140 pounds.” * Constipation ! It is the fountain-head of many diseases. It causes impure blood and all mantle* of disorders are the resulL Dr. Pierce’s Pleasant Pellets cure constipation. Promptly. Surely. Permanently. They never gripe. Druggists sell them.