People's Pilot, Volume 5, Number 47, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 28 May 1896 — Page 10

I Bt»ta», national, state and private, over nine thousand In all, to report the total amount of money of \ all kinds which they held on a certain day. These reports show that we have not in circulation in this country the amount of money that is usually claimed. For example. the last report given out by the Comptroller, Dec. 2, 1895, shows that on July U, 1895, all of the banks in the United States, national, state and private, held only $631,111,290, while at the same time there were in the treasury of the United States, as claimed by the reports, 8429,517,718, but of this sum, there were 8108,210,555 in gold which was held as a reserve and was not available for circulation. This left the total amount of money in the tamke and in the treasury at that time *962,418,448. This was ell the money in light at that time available for circulathe sum held by the banks *187,621,099 consisted of gold, and this was all vt fbh available gold then in the United States. The foregoing sums comprise all the money we then had in this country except what there was in the pockets of the people. And inasmuch as we have banks in every village and we have had years of idleness during which little savings were exhausted, and inasmuch as building associations have in late years absorbed nearly all the money that used to be held by private individuals, It is claimed by competent judges that when you Include the colored people of the south and the poor everywhere that an average of $5 per family would be a high average of what there was at that time in the pockets of the people. As there were then less than fourteen million families that would make less than *70,000,000, but If we double this sum and assume that there was on an average $lO in the hands of every family ni the United States at that time, it would make less than $140,000,000. Adding that to what there was then in the banks and in the treasury and it gives us the total money in this country, which is less than $1,100,000,000. But the treasury officials persist in giving out figures published by the director of the mint, in which he claims that there are in this country altogether $1,651,810,000; that we have $23.59 per capita, and that there are $618,100,000 of gold alone in this country. But in his report for 1892 thd director explains that these figures are in part estimated and In part based on assumption. In the first place he assumed that every dollar of paper issued by the national government during the ln«t thirty years or more and by the national banks of this country is still In circulation, except where a record has been made of its cancellation in Washington, and that none has been lost or destroyed in all that time. Second, he assumes that all of the gold which the records of the custom houses and at the mints show came Into this country is still in circulation. except where .there Is a record of its exportation or of its use In the arts. In other words, he makes no allowance for what has been lost and destroyed during a quarter of a century; he makes no allowance for what was lost by abrasion during that tithe; he makes ho allowance for what was carried across our southern boundary fbr a quarter of a century, unrecorded, nor for what was carried across our northern boundary during that time, and of which no record war iride, nor for what was carired to C »’«r during that time and of which no record was made. He makes no allowance for what was used in the arts and of which no report was made, and he makes no allowance for what was carried to Europe in the pockets of our people during a quarter of a century. In his report for 1891, the director says that the amount of money which the American people spent in Europe during the year of the Paris exposition was estimated at over $90,000,090. Of course, most of this was registered in the form of letters of credit, etc., but s<> much of it as was carried in the pockets of the people was not registered, so that the tables given out by the director of the mint, when carefully examined in the light of information which he himself has given out in prior reports, are found to be absolutely worthless. The other figures given by the comptroller, that I have referred to, are accurate. They practically constitute an inventory of everything in sight, and they show that instead of having $23.59 per capita in circulation in this country, we have not got sls.oo’per capita in circulation tn this country, while England has $20.78, France $35.77, Germany *17.59, Belgium $27.82 and the Netherlands *24.25. We are drifting toward the basis of the pauperized countries of Europe. Italy has $10.79 per capita, Austria-Hungary $10.67, Russia $8.46; even Impoverished Spain has $16.53. It is a most remarkable fact that the position held by a people in the scale of civilization seems always to depend on the amount of money they have in actual circulation. According to the tables issued by the United States treasurer, Turkey has $4.09 per capita, Mexico *4.95, Central American States $3.66, India $3.33, China $2.08 and Servla $3.78.

Bankers have been heard to say even during a panic that there was plenty of money. This was done to keep the public from becoming alarmed, for every business man knows that it is not true, and the facts that so many banks pay high rates of Interest on deposits shows that it is not true. During the last panic the New York banks actually suspended payments and forced the public to take clearing house certificates. It has, however, been found that after a panic produced by a great contraction, the money that is left flows toward the cities and lies idle because business conditions are not favorable. Physicians tell us that If a large part of the blood is taken out of the human body the remainder flows to the heart and the extremities .get cold; and the same law applies to money, Which is the blood of commerce. Reduce Its quantity and the body gets cold white the heart may be congested. At present tnoney is in demand, not for new business enterprises, but by debtors who are carrying a heavy loadof old debts apd are forced to make new . arrangements. If prices were again to go up, new life would come Into the business world and money would then be in demand and new enterprises would be begun. O*M ta th* World Insufficient. Sa June, 1892, Edward O. Leech, director Of the mint, published an article In the Forum on the money question, In which, among Other things, he •gid: “I find that one of the most serious dangers which confronts us is the Insufficiency of the supply of gold as M jMIStS Of the present and prospective business Of the commercial world, and the consequent disturbances attending Its accumulation and movement. * » • * It Is seriously proposed to throw the burdens of an Increasing population and business upon the gold stock. The annual product of gold of the

world is only about $125,000,000, of which nearly one-half is used In the industrial arts, so that the annual supply for monetary purposes is hardly In excess of $65,000,000. If this plan ig carried out, then the existing stock of gold must for many years form the basis of business and credit and serve as the medium of all exchanges. That such a narrowing of the basis of credit and trade is attended by incalculable difficulties and hadshlps must be apparent. Already monetary panics have been inaugurated. • • • * Europe has no gold to spare. She has drawn within the last year large quantities of gold from this country, at times when the rate of sterling exchange did not justify such shipments; that is, a pretntum has been paid for American gold. The struggle for the possession of gold, with its consequent train of financial disturbances, is well under way ♦ • * • if gold is to be the sole money of the world, not only will the extension of business and of foreign Investments be seriously crippled, but the Immense fabric of credit is liable to totter. Where Is the gold to come from when the states of Europe not having a paper standard resuihe specie payments? * ♦ * * The truth Is, the total supply of the precious metals is not more thsa sufficient to keep pace with the rapid increase of foreign trade. What is to be gained by discontinuing the use of one of the money metals and throwing all the work upon the other? Not stability of value, for, as already shown, for nearly a century when the bimetallic system existed In France, the relative value of gold and silver did not vary appreciably. • * * • If the experience of the last nineteen years has proven anything, it is that the value of gold and silver depends upon the monetary use which is made of them. The experience of the first seventy years of this century has demonstrated that both metals can be used as money with greater stability of values than one alona.” It is a remarkable fact that nearly all of the great Europetan financiers, including those who favor a single standard declare that there is not enough gold in the world to do its business and that it was a fatal step to take for the nations to all confine themselves to the use of either metal. I know we have new born financiers in this country who argua that all that is needed Is simply a standard of value and that the quantity is immaterial. Carried to Its legitimate conclusion their argument would be that if you take a single gold dollar and tie it to a string and hang it up in the treasury department that will constitute a standard of value and Is all that is needed. But the experience of the world is that while a vast amount of business can be done by the use of what are called credits there must always be a certain amount of money at the bottom of this and there is a limit to the amount of credit which a dollar can carry; consequently the amount of money at the bottom will practically determine the amount of business thatcan be done in theworid. The spectacle which we see now is that of the great nations of the earth running after the little bit of gold that there is in the world just like boys run after a foot ball; it is shifted hither to-day dragged yonder to-morrow, and every time it shifts there is a disturbance in prices, even a disturbance in the low prices which now prevail. The amount of available gold in sight in the world Is so small that a few large financial houses can manipulate it As the Chicago Tribune says, they can "corner” it, and in recent years we have seen repeated instances of their doing so Certainly it seems like the very height of madness to even suggest the idea of having the great business interests of this country and of the world rest upon a standard and a measure of values which can be manipulated.

Assumed Superiority of Gold. An American gold standard man recently declared that gold went with the higher civilization and that silver belonged to a lower civilization. Let us look at this a moment. Until 1873 silver was the money that was chiefly used by nearly all of the great nations of the world. Germany was on a silver basis up to that time. The foundations of the great German empire were laid and the entire fabric of German civilization and German achievement and German greatness was reared on the basis of silver. Since she adopted a gold standard she has not advanced. Her industries are crippled and there is stagnation and distress throughout her entire borders. France, generally considered the most highly civilized country in the world was a great silver using country and her unit of value is a silver coin. The greatness of the United States of America was achieved prior to 1873. Our instiPQjtuoqn ojpm saAtqa oqi ‘peqsnjo tutions were reared, the rebellion was while the unit of value in our country was a silver dollar, provided by the act of 1792. Look where you will you find that the progress of the world was made while silver was the money that was chiefly in use. And since the nations of the earth have been trying to get onto a gold basis there is universal depression and stagnation. Instead of advancing civilization, gold is causing retrogression, because there is not enough of it to do the world’s work. Theory of Overproduction, Attempts have been made in this country to attribute the general fall of prices to cheapness of production and to consequent overproduction. No doubt cheapening production tends to lower prices, but Increased production does not necessarily lower prices If there is also increased consumption. It Is said that three times as much wheat is now sent to Liverpool as formerly, therefore wheat must fall in price. I ask: What is done with this wheat at Liverpool? Is there only as much sold and consumed as there formerly was and Is the rest poured into the sea? Oh no, it is all sold and consumed. If that is the ease, then consumption has Increased as much as production and if this is so then It does not follow that there must be a fall in price simply because there is increased production. In fact, wheat has not fallen in price much more than the average fall of all commodities. As Mr. Giffen stated, from 1850 to 1873 there was relatively as great an increase in production, taking it the world over as there has been since that time; yet from 1850 to 1873 prices the world over continued to rise while since 1873 they have continuously fallen. But the argument that Improved methods of production and consequently the cheapening of production have been the cause of lower prices as compared with gold, overreaches itself, because there have been more Improvements in the methods of mining both gold and silver than there have in almost any other department of industry. Consequently if improved

methods and cheapening the cost of production are to be considered, gold should have declined in purchasing power together with other commodities and certainly with silver. It Is not over production, it is under-con-sumption that alls us. Furthermore, there has been no over production of land; on the contrary the struggle for land and for homes is more fierce than ever. Years ago we had the great west open to settlers; yet lands in the central and eastern states were valuable and remunerative because farm products brought a fair price. At present there is scarcely any more productive land open to settlement but lands instead of going up have fallen in price the same as all other property and commodities and there are thousands of farmers who have to lose their farms because they can not get living prices for what they produce. Overproduction of Silver. The claim made that there is an over production of silver since 1873 as compared with gold,, and that this is the cause of its fall in price, is absolutely without foundation. According to the tables issued by the Treasury Department Aug. 16, 1893, showing the total production of gold and silver in the world at coinage value, it appears that from the year 1792, when our monetary system was founded to the year 1852, being a period of sixty years, the total production of silver in the world, rating it at coinage value, was $1,769,197,000, and the total production of gold during that time, was $960,236,000, that is, there was almost twice as much silver produced as gold. The production of each metal of course varied greatly during the different years, and yet the market ratio between the two metals remained practically the same during all that time. The tables show that during those sixty years there was a variance of only 7-10 of one point or just about the cost of exchange. The same tables show that from 1852 to 1873 the total gold production of the world was $2,516,575,000, while the total silver production was $989,225,000;; that is there was two and one-half times as much gold produced as silver, yet the market ratio remained undisturbed during those twenty-one years, just as it had during the period of sixty years, when there was twice as much silver as gold. Again, the same treasury tables show that from 1878 to 1892, inclusive, the total gold production of the world was $2,176,505,000, while the total silver production was $2,347,087,000; that is, the production of gold was nearly equal to that of silver. During the first two periods silver was a money metal: during the last period it was not, The fact that during the first two covering over eighty years, the paarket ratio remained the same although the production of each metal varied greatly from time to time, shows that the market price or ratio was practically the same as the legal ratio or mint price, so long as both metals were used as money. Now, inasmuch as silver did not fall In value as measured in gold during sixty years in which there was twice as much silver produced as gold, it is clear that had silver not been demonetized it would not have fallen when the gold production was nearly equal to that of silver as it was after 1873.

Again, silver has not fallen in comparison with other property. By taking the average price of all commodities known to the market it is found that a pound of silver will buy as great an amount of commodities, as great an amount of property as ever. It Is gold that has gone up. The law, by striking down the competition, has given gold a monopoly. Practically the gold dollar is a two-hundred- cent dollar. Nominally it still has only one hundred cents in It, but it takes two hundred cents’ worth of commodities to get one when measured by bimetallic prices. Price Paid First for Specie Basis and Now for Gold Standard. For some years during and after the war we were on a paper basis, and for a while a paper dollar was not worth over 40 cents in gold, but our people prospered as they liad never prospered before. There were no strikes and no tramps; labor was employed and was content. There were enterprise, thrift ahd Industry everywhere. Then we contracted our currency and paid the awful price of six years of panic, with all the misery and ruin which it spread over the land, in order to get on a coin or specie basis, as It was then called. Now, my fellow citizens, look at the price our country with the rest of the world is paying for this gold standard. Bankruptcy, paralysis, ruin, endless suffering and misery for all these years, and we are getting absolutely nothing in return for it. Debts have been practically doubled by law; that is a condition that was created by law which so affects prices that It forces the debtor to sell twice as much property as was formerly needed to pay off his debt. All the great European countries are even worse off than we are. A year ago Mr. Depew returned from a general tour of Europe, and in an interview stated that the one thing which struck him everywhere was the almost universal paralysis in the industries and in trade, and the fizisery which goes with it. In rOaking this statement he simply verified what other travelers, as well as the European writers, have already proclaimed to the world. No man has pointed out or can point out wherein the people of the world have derived one dollar’s worth of benefit by the adoption of the single gold standard. This fearful payment of the lite blood of the nations of the earth has gone practically for nothing, and there is no hope or prospect of restoring the prosperity and happiness of our people until this great wrong is in somo manner righted. Condition* In Mexico. We frequently hear men who have more zeal than knowledge refer to Mexico a« a terrible example of a silver basis and a 50-cent dollar. These gentlemen do not seem to be aware of the fact that since the demonetization of silver In other countries Mexico has been more prosperous than ever before. Mexico, like some South American countries, was very far behind the United States on account of poor government, oppression, superstition, fanaticism, limited money and general disorder; but she has made greater strides toward becoming a mighty nation since 1873 than ever before. In June, 1895, the,Mexican minister at Washington, M. Romero, published an article in the North American Review on the silver question so far as it affected Mexico, in which he shows that while the demonetization of silver, and the consequent burden on gold. Had forced the purchasing power of gold up so that a Mexican silver dollar was worth only 50 cents as measured in gold, still the Mexican silver dollar bought as much commodity in Mexico

ns it ever did. In other words, there was no decline in the silver dollar .as compared with the price of commodities. That the mere fact of the Mexican dollar being worth less than a dollar in gold prevented it from going out of the country as it formerly did, so that finally money became more plentiful In Mexico. that as imports had to be paid for in gold, which was at a premium, the amount of Imports were greatly reduced while the purchases in the home market wete correspondingly increased, and the result was that not only all their factories were working to their utmost capacity, but that everywhere new factories were being started, and their laborers were all employed and wages greatly increased over what they formerly were. He gave figures to show that the railroads in Mexico, the banks, the manufacturers, the farmers, the laborers, are all prospering, and agricultural products, instead of giong down as measured by their home dollar, have advanced. And he also says that so far as he has been able to observe, similar conditions exist in other silver using countries. While railroads in the United States are going into the hands of receivers, railroads in Mexico are prospering and are paying properties. It is true the Mexican railroads, like our home have to pay the interest on their bonds in gold and have to pay a very high premium to get that gold, but after paying this premium they still have large profits left. The owners of railroads in the United States could learn a lesson from the Mexicans. About a year ago, President Andrews, of Brown University called attention to the fact that the gold using countries could not trade successfully -with silver using countries and were liable to forever lose this trade because the low price of silver was giving such an Impetus to manufacturing and to all kinds of trade in these silver countries that they would cease buying of outsiders. That consequently If we would restore silver we could get and could hold this trade against all Europe. Are We Now Prosperous ? I saw a statement In a gold standard newspaper recently to she effect that we are now prosperous, had about everything we needed and ought to thank the Lord that we are as Well off as we are. Now 1 have no argument to make in answer to such wild statements os that. I simply leave it for every laborer, for every manufacturer, for every business man, yea for every railroad man and every banker to answer. We have unlimited resources, have the most productive country in the world, we have every kind and character of Industry and the ingenuity, enterprise, push and intelligence of our people are unsurpassed anywhere; therefore we should be prosperous and happy.

I.abor Needs a Market. The very first thing and the last thing that labor needs is a market for its products. You may speculate to a laborer until he is blind on the beauties of a dear dollar and it will do him no good. His wife will be in rags and his children will starve. He must have somebody to buy that which he makes. If nobody comes to buy the things which he makes then the factory in which he works must shut dowu. If it shuts down he is in distress and his purchasing power is gone. The difficulty that has existed iu our country In late years is under consumption, not overproduction. The people are not in a condition to buy what they need and they will not be until there is a rise in prices. When this happens then the whole debtor and producing classes will again be able to buy and there will be a restoration of our home market. JuRKHng Figure! as to Wage*. Attempts have lately been made by men holding positions under the federal administration, and by men who have been hired to work for a gold standard to show that wages have not fallen. This Is simply a dishonest juggling with figures. Every mechanic and laboring man In the United States knows that it is not true, and thorough investigation by congress shows that just the opposite is the case. In 1891 a committee of the United States Senate made a thorough investigation of the entire subject of wages. John G. Carlisle was a member of this committee. It made au exhaustive report, and showed that from 1840 to 1873 wages had nearly doubled, but, in the language of the committee, “After 1873 there was a marked falling off.” The committee then shows that while there was a slight rise about 1880 in wages, it never reached the point occupied before, and that afterwards there was a continuous decline. One method of juggling with figures which is sometimes resorted to Is the following: The salaries of higher officials of a corporation which, as a rule have not been reduced, are added to the sum paid the workmen; nJ this way they get a high average. For example, take a corporation which formerly emplo/ed 100 men, and gave each on an average, S6OO a year, making $60,000 for a hundred; at the same time it paid one high official SIO,OOO a year; by adding this to the $60,000 would make the phy roll $70,000; then dividing this sum by 101, being the number of employes Including the high official, it makes neatly S7OO as the average. The same corporation may today employ only' fifty then and give each on an average ofily SSOO, making the $25,000, makes the present high official SIO,OOO, which, added to the twenty-five, makes the present pay roll $35,000; dividing that sum by 51, it makes nearly S7OO as the average, although formerly twice as many men were employed as now and each man got one-fifth more than he gets now. This Illustrates the adage that while figures don’t He, liars can figure. Shall We Continue the Single Standard or Return to This Is the only question before ns. For at present there is an organized and desperate effort being made by the federal administration and its adherents and by those who control great concentrations of capital to perpetuate the single gold standard for the world, while all fixed charges must remain the same or increase. The movement to force the great nations of the earth to a gold basis has been a campaign of organized corruption. Every influence that money could in any way control has been brought to bear. Nearly all the great newspapers and other agencies for moulding public thought have been bought up or forced Into line and that army of men who have been called “handy hired men” is now at work with all manner of sophistry to prevent the people from rising to overthrow this system. Catch phrases are Invented, everything possible Is resorted to delude the public. Much Is said about an honest dollar. My fellow

citizens the most dishonest dollar ever given to man, a dollar that has blood on it, is the present gold dollar which has doubled the burdens of all debtors and destroyed the happiness of all toilers. It is a two hundred cent dollar. This is what the gold standard has given you. You have noticed that wherever the adherents of the federal administration are able to control they are adopting resolutions in favor of the single gold standard. Here in Chicago these men have for about a week again talked bimetalism but to see that this talk on their part is insincere and is intended simply to enable them to get an advantage in primary elections and conventions It is only necessary to glance at their own utterances of a few weeks earlier date That newspaper which is the especial organ of the administration has for months been upholding the single gold standard and ridiculing and denouncing those who are in favor of anything else. And an ex-judge who is regarded as the spokesman of that faction only recently in an address argued for the maintenance of the single gold standard and ridiculed the people who are demandig the restoration of the coinage of silver. The capitalists and the federal administration have forced the issue and for the time at least the question of a proper ratio and of the best method of procedure are shoved into the background. The immediate question which confronts us is. Are we for or against the single gold standard? There is at present absolutely nothing to divide those who favor bimetallism and demand the free coinage of both gold and silver, free coinage of both gold and silver; we must first save the principle- of bimetallism, for by the use of those peculiar and corrupting influences which capital always uses to carry its ends, bimetallism has not only been overthrown, but a desperate and determined effort Is now being made to drive the last nail Into its coffin. Question of Ratio. The question of ratio is scarcely open for discussion. We must first decide whether we shall have gold monometallism or gold and silver bimetallism. If we are to continue the single gold standard then there is nothing farther to discuss. Every intelligent man can see at a glance that the reestablishing of the great principle of bimetallism does not depend on any particular ratio. No man in this country has yet declared that we must have any named ratio or nothing. If we ever reach a point where the government has to consider the question of ratio, the battle for bimetallism will have already been won. And an Intelligent consideration of the financial history of the world and of existing conditions will readily solve the problem when the time comes. I will only say it would be manifestly wrong to adopt the present market ratio, which is the result of giving gold a monopoly of the money function in the world and of demonetizing silver by law. To do this would be to permanently lower the value of silver and to reduce the volume of money which could be coined from It in the future It would be a little like making the present low price of wheat permanent and as it is probable that the whole production of both metals will be insufficient to meet the increased demands of the w'orld in the future such an unjust ratio would affect the prosperity for all time. I believe that if an international agreement Is ever made it will be on a basis of 15% to pie whether the other nations come or not. Inasmuch as our government led the way in striking down silver, It should lead the way in restoring it, and it can in the very act of restoration make such trade regulations as will compel those nations which desire to trade with us to enter into an agreement with us on the money question. We will secure International agreement a great deal quicker by being in a position to dictate than we will if we remain in a condition in which we can only implore. The present federal administration has done nothing to further an international agreement. On the contrary it is straining every nerve to maintain the single standard. Therefore when a man endorses the finan. cial policy of Cleveland and yet pretends to be a bimetallist you are warranted in questioning his sincerity.. Withdrawal of Gold. A banker said to me lately: “Suppose you restore silver, will not all the gold in this country at once leave and produce a further contraction before you can coin much silver?”

I answer no. The moment you restore silver some of the burden will be taken off of gold so that there will be less demand for it. Second, as already shown, there are only $127,000,000 of gold in all the banks of the United States, national, state and private This constitutes all of the available gold in this country. Suppose the banks were to let it go, and it were all to leave for a while, it could not ma kA matters more worse than they are now. But if silver were restored there would be several dollars for everyone that left. The statement that only a limited amount could be coined in a year needs no notice. If we have not the machinery now we could soon, get i+ Better still, certificates should be issued, just as these are against gold. Nobody 1, as that was the ratio which formerly existed in nearly all countries of the world and which worked so satisfactorily for 200 years. In our country the ratio was 16 to 1, that is, 16 parts of silver to lof gold of equal fineness. Many are demanding a return to the old standard leaving .the subject then to be dealt with as necessity may r equlre. They regard this as the first step toward getting out of the woods and back onto the great highway. They would be satisfied with any other fair ratio but nothing else is offered them. For none of the men who criticise this restoration of the old standard has offered anything. Not one of them. If any man who is honestly for bimetallism can offer something better let him do so, and it will be considered. But the fact is that these critics are simply helping to maintain the single standard. That is the result of their attitude. I favor the Immediate restoration of the free coinage of both gold and silver according to the old standard and I believe if this is achieved the ratio question will be solved. But I say to all men, let us defeat this gold standard and make it possible for our country to again prosper, and if you can suggest something better than the old standard, do so. International Agreement. There are men who want an international agreement, and I am in hearty accord with them if we can get it. But this mighty nation cannot forever sit in the dumps and wait for other nations, whlc hare just as badly off to come and pull us out. We must relieve our peo-

now carries much of either silver or gold; everybody prefers paper certificates. Effect on Labor of Restoring Silver. Let us have all the silver we can possibly get converted into money. It will not lie idle. It will be used to buy lands, buy labor, build houses, build factories, build railroads and carry on business. It will be that much new blood and will give us an activity and a prosperity better than we have yet seen. The laborer will be the first to feel its benefits, for. there will be an immediate demand for his services—not only will all be employed, but wages will go up. Can We Go It Alone, If a number of European nations were to restore the free coinage of both gold and silver at the former ratio, and again make each a legal tender, nobody would question that fit would be absolutely successful. The two metals would circulate again as formerly, because these are the great commercial nations of the world. Well, the United States has a population nearly equal to that of France and Germany put together, we have more railroads than all Europe, and under favorable conditions our internal trade exceeds that of all Europe, for while some European countries have large populations, they have but little purchasing power and but little internal business. If Europe could go it alone we could. The mere act of remonetizing silver, and thus reducing the importance of gold, would reduce the purchasing power of gold; the .tendency of the two metals would be to come together, because each could be used for the same purposes. When silver can be used in payment of taxes, payment of debts, used to travel on the railways, buy property, etc., the market ratio will again be what it was before silver was destroyed as money. The market ratio will be the mint ratio. But, says some one, what about our foreign business? Well, it amounts to less than 5 per cent of all our business, and will occasion no difficulty—certainly not if both are what we call at par, and inasmuch as the field in which both could be used on the same basis is so great, they would circulate on a par basis. Again, some one asks, how would the government get gold then? Why, it would get it in the natural course of business, for there would be less demand for it then than there is now’. There would be an end to the bond selling business in which the government is now engaged. Banks, Railroads, Manufactures, Etc. If we did not know that the most of the nine thousand banks of the United States are a good deal like sheep and go in flocks following directions received from a few eastern bankers, and if we did not know that the managers of large railroads have to take their instructions from the same source, and if we did not know that the large manufacturers are dependent on banks and are obliged to court favor, we would be utterly at a loss to understand why so many of the bankers, railroad managers and some manufacturers should oppose the restoration of silver; because the restoration of silver, by increasing the volume of money, would raise prices; a raise in prices would again restore our home market and do what it always has done in all countries and in all times; it would give activity so that our railroads would earn nearly twice the money, our banks W’ould prosper and our manufacturers would have all they could do, while the laborer would be employed and his family be comfortable.

Injustice to Creditors. '— But says some one, there are many debts that were made since prices have gone and if you now increase the volume of money and raise prices, will you not do these creditors an injustice? I answer, No! there is just this difference between Increasing the burden of debts by making money scarce and reducing the burden by making money cheap, when money is scarce: it first destroys the debtor but it does not stop there. It produces that general stagnation which in time reaches the creditor and injures him. For instance every holder, of securities in the United States has found that this universal depression has reduced the value of some of his securities. Every time that a railroad was forced into the hands of a receiver the securities of that road were worth less" in the market. On the other hand when the burden of his debt is lightened by making money plentiful it begets such a general activity that new enterprises are started and the capitalist or the creditor derives a benefit from the universal prosperity, Now my fellow citizens, this is not merely a question of the day. It is a question that will effect the entire future of our country; that will effect the perpetuity of republican institutions in our land. It affects the tollers of to-day and will effect the millions of tollers yet unborn. Upon its solution will largely depend the question ■whether we shall be entirely Europeanized; whether we shall have a small class excessively rich reveling in luxury while the great masses are groaning under constantly increasing burdens and sinking in the standard of citizenship, or whether our land shall continue to be the home of intelligent freemen and a happy abiding place for all men who earn their bread by the sweat of their brow.

OUR EUROPEAN COUSINS.

Dr. Chrysander, the private secretary of Prince Bismarck, who passed his examinations in January, last week took his medical degree in Berlin. A village in Algeria has been named Uze-le-duc, in memory of the young duke of Uaes, who died a few years ago on reaching the coast after exploring in Senegal. Pere Hyacinthe, the distinguished priest, formerly Abbe Charles Loyson, will marry Laura, daughter of the late William Bueknell, an American. Pere Hyacinthe is 68 years old. Felix Faure, president of France, recently remarked that the most unpleasant feature of his recent advancement was the fact that as president he found no time for bicycle riding. Queen Victoria is going to confer the Order of the Garter on the crown prince of Denmark and the Grand Cross of the Bath on his brother, Prince Charles, who is to marry Princess Maud of Wales. The prince of Wales does not take as much interest in his wardrobe ns he did some years ago. He is still one of the best dressed men in the world, and his influence on men’s fashions is as great as it ever was, but those who have charge of his attire complain that he has lost his old enthusiasm on the sublet of dress.

AN OVATION TO GOV. ALTGEtD. The Chicago Inter Ocean, the leading republican paper of Chicago, a stalwart of the stalwarts in that political faith, describes the welcoming demonstration to Gov. Altgeld and the cause he advocated at the Auditorium on Saturday night, as a remarkable scene. More than 5,000 people crowded the Auditorium notwithstanding the downpouring rain, and the vast crowd wildly applauded the speaker and the sentiments he advanced. The following is the Inter-Ocean account of the meeting: (Chicago Inter-Ocean, May 18th) “Seldom in the history of the splendid hall in which Gov. Altgeld spoke has any person received so warm greeting as that accorded to him when hie pale face appeared amid the distinguished men who sat upon the stage. No thrice-honored genius of song was ever more enthusiastically told in nodsy report how highly esteemed he was by his auditors. When Gov. Altgeld came in view of the people the great throng cheered. Men stood in their places and shouted, waved their arms, swung aloft their hats, and made the vaulted ceiling ring with their cheers. For minutes this salvo continued. At times It would quiet down partially, only to be renewed again and again. One section of the audience would start again the cheering and soon the whole house would join. One man in the balcony cried: “What’s the matter with Altgeld?” and with a roar that sounded like a volley of artillery came the response: “He’s all right.” “At Intervals during the deliverance of the address this scene was repeated, but not with such force or length. Every telling point in the speech was applauded. When the governor quoted from the Chicago Tribune the statement that those who could not see the effect of the demonetization of silver must be blind as a bat in the day time, tlie audience alternately laughed and cheered, while the speaker had to pause before he could resume his speech. The magic name of Blaine, who was quoted in defense of silver money, was received with great applause. Secretary Carlisle’s name was greeted with mingled cheers and hisses, the latter for hte present opinions on the currency question, the former for the extract from previous remarks of his quoted by Gdv. Altgeld. “When the governor declared that “the most dishonest dollar ever given to man is the gold dallar; it has blood upon it,” the audience approved the anathema with a great shout. When he said “an organized and desperate effort is being made by the federal administration and its adherents to perpetuate the single gold standard,” the crowd cheered again. When he said that “the great newspapers had been bought up by the gold Interest” the audience applauded to the echo. When he attacked the Chicago paper which most bitterly scores the free-silver men, the crowd cheered and a man in the balcony shouted: “Let the Chronicle take that, too.” When he denounced the banking interest as being Inimical to the -welfare of the people at large his auditors yelled themselves hoarse in seconding his proposition. “For once and all, Gov. Altgeld settled the question of where he stands on the question of the ratio of coinage. “I am in favor,” he said, “of the immediate restoration of the free coinage of silver at the old standard.” A dozen times during his speech he described the old standard as 16 to 1, and that may be accepted as his view. “If Europe could go it alone, we could,” said the governor, referring to the proposition of an international agreement on silver coinage, and the people shouted indorsement of the statement. There was no doubt, either, as to how the audience stood on the question of ratio. Every time the governor alluded to 16 to 1 the great house trembled with the applause of the thousands. “Not a point in the long address was missed or overlooked by tsie audience, all of whom seemed to be quite familiar with the argument, pro and con, on the silver question. Every argument advanced seemed to be understood by the audience, and this was demonstrated by the fact that the applause came not at the close of some catchy sentence, but on the statement of sound, abstruse propositions of finance. “It was a great audience. It filled the vast space of the Auditorium, except for a few seats in the top and the galleries. Not a few ladies were among the thousands who listened for more than two hours to a discussion of financial problems usually considered too dry to interest the fair ones. But the ladies who heard Gov. Altgeld last night appeared to be deeply interested in the subject he was discussing. Nearly every box was occupied by ladies, and the house resembled not in the least the conventional idea of a political meeting. It was an audience widely diversified as to the social conditions of those composing it. The banker and the mechanic, the capitalist and the laborer, the professional man and the artisan, rich and poor, high and low, met in a common cause. It was an assemblage of the people. “The crowd began to pour into the Auditorium as early as 7 o’clock. A squad of police kept the people in line, and a large force of ushers directed them .to their seats. Long before 8 o’clock the entire main floor and the main balcony was filled, and all the late comers had to ascend to the higher galleries. The people waited patiently. At last the strains of music were heard, and soon the committee appointed by the Altgeld legion to escort the governor from his hotel to the Auditorium marched onto the stage. With them came the band, which took its place on the stage and played inspiriting airs. “About 8:15 o’clock Carter H. Harrison stepped to the speaker’s desk on the front of the stage and called the meeting to order. Then he introduced Judge William Prentiss as the chairman of the evening. Judge Prentiss made a brief speech. He alluded to the blessings showered by Providence on this nation. He eulogized Gov. Altgeld, whom he then presented to the audience. Then came a torrent of applause that swept In cataract after cataract over the tremendous audience. The governor waited until the applause subsided and then began his address. “When the governor concluded his address the cheering that marked the opening of the meeting was repeated, but was not so long continued. When I he bowed his thanks to his auditors lie i turned' to the stage, where hundreds | stood eager to shake his hand aud congratulate him on his effort.” ; i The goldites will probably soon bo- | gin to direct their efforts to getting up a war in order to-divert the attention of the people from the mouojr question.