Image provided by: University of Nebraska-Lincoln Libraries, Lincoln, NE
About The Nebraska independent. (Lincoln, Nebraska) 1896-1902 | View Entire Issue (April 16, 1896)
THE NEBRASKA INDEPENDENT April 1 6, 1896. Nebraska independent rut WEALTH ftAKERS i LINCOLN INDEPENDENT. PUBLISHED EVERY THURSDAY V THI Indspsqdgqt Publishing Go. At 1120 X Btrwt, LINCOLN, - NEBRASKA. TELEPHONE 538. $1.00 per Year in Advance. Address all communication to, and make all trafta, money order. tc payable to TUB INDEPENDENT PUB, CO.. Limcoli, til, State Committee Meeting. Th at at central com mitt of tba people's party it hereby called to meet at th Boatwlck Hotel, Hatting, on Friday, April 17, at J p. m lor the pnrpoaa ot making necessary arrange ment for tb (lection of delegate to the national convention, and for tb tranaactlon of soch other bnslnesa a may properly com before the committee. No proxies will be admitted nnle a writing and unless those by whom they are presented are actual resident of tb respective conntle which they eek to represent. J, A. BDOKRTOH, Chairman. Fbank D. Kiqkr, Secretary. CAMPAIGN OFFER, The next seven months will be fraught with more of weal or woe to the Ameri can people than that number of months ever were in the whole history of this nation. The fight to overthrow the money power will be the fiercest and most bitter everfougbton this continent. The news of this contest as it developes we.'k by week will be of all absorbing in" terest. The Independent will print it in full. It has trained newspaper men at Washington, at the populist head quarters at St. Louis and in the states where the hardest fighting will be done. No family in the west orsouth can afford to do without it. It will be sent to, single subscribers from now uutil after the election for 50 cents. To a club ot 10, $4. To a club of 5, $2. The sooner you send in the order the more papers you will get for the money. Andrews and Hainer were both easily renominated, but they will not be so easily re-elected. Governor Ilolcomb has issued tb usual Arbor day proclamation and asks all to plant trees on April 22. If you can't pay any thing on you back dues, you can at least send us a postal card and explain matters. Mr. B. R. B. Weber of Sauuders county has been suggested by a good many as a delegate to St Louis, and it is a very fit and proper suggestion. It is a fundamental nrincinleof econom ics that, either all persons have equal rights or no person has any rights. Metcalf is a brilliant newspaper man. It is many years since he wrote a special article without getting well paid for it He had a two column write up of Meikle john in last Sunday's World Herald. We have a letter at this office from G. W. Whitney containing money, but no address. Anyone knowing his address will confer a favor by sending it to this office. , In a very large number of cities and towns last week inNebraska,the straight republican ticket was beaten for the first time. The ticket elected was generally called the "Citizens Ticket," but the re publicans have several hundred less office holders in this state than they had be fore the spring elections were held. There is no possible way to perma nently establish the gold standard in this country except to keep the free silver republicans voting the republican ticket and the free silver democrats voting the democratic ticket. Every trick that the ingenuity of devils can invent will be re sorted to to accomplish that thing. Congressman Shaf roth says that when ever the advocates of silver gain a point, we immediately hear from every part of the world of the most amazing discov eries of gold. From Alaska's icy moun tains to India's coral strand, where Rus sia's Ural fountains roll down their golden sand; from Cripple Creek and Kaffir laud, Dahomey and Peru, they promise gold by billions in another year or two. Senator John P. Jones said in an inter view the other day. "Let them elect Mc- Kinley. They won't get any protection for the next ten years at least. No high tariff bill can pass the senate unless it carries with it the free coinage of silver, The western senators are determined that the east shall have no protection until the east is willing to recognize southern and western interests." There is a wide difference in the editing of a populist, in comparison with a re publican paper. There lies on the desk of April 8. It has nearly two columns of editorial.which is a fair amount for a county paper. There not the statement of a principle or the suggestion of one on the page. If apopu list should send out papers written that way, he'd have no subscribers at all at the end of a month. TAtllKNECKfl HOOK. Mr. Taubeneck's book, just out.enti tied the "Condition of the American Farmer" is the most valuable work that has appeared in the last five years, While Mr. Taubeneck may not be a writer of elegant English, he is some thing better, for he writes good, strong common sense, showing that the average income of the individual members of the families of farmers is much less man me average cost of maintainingconvlcts and paupers at public expense. lie also shows thi. na tlm r reduction Der capita of farm products decreases the price of each nroducts also declines. This exhibits the fallacy of over-production as a . . T Tt - mr 01 nee line 01 unces. it m were over-production there would be an increase percapita of pro. ducts, followed by the corresponding de cline of prices; but a decrease per capita of products would necessarily increase the price, the per capita of money remain ing the same. After having shown these facts, and also the rapid increase of the percentage of the tenant farmers and the gradual destruction of the independent farmers of the United States, Mr. Taube neck shows most conclusively that these lamentable results are caused by a dimi nution of the supply of money. That diminution in this country comes from two sources, the retirement of government paper circulating as money and the de monetization of silver. During the war nearly all of the public debt was used as a circulating medium. When the war closed this debt was absorbed by inves tors, largely foreign, and taken out of circulation, Four millions a month of the greenbacks were also retired, while the demand for money was increased at least 33 per cent, by the restoration of the Union, whicn brought under the jurisdiction of the United States the eleven confederate states. But the great cause of diminution in the quantity of money was occasioned by the rejection of silver as a money metal and confining the standard money of the civilized world to gold alone. Mr. Taubeneck calls at tention to the elementary principle of political economy which recognizes the fact that the money in circulation and the property to be exchanged for money are reciprocally the supply and demand of each other, and that the destruction of one half of the world's money has pro duced a corresponding decline in general prices. He says: "At least 90 per cent of the deprecia tion in the price of farm products is due to the increased purchasing power of the dollar caused by a change in our financial system." This truth cannot be too often re- repeated or too strongly enforced upon the American people. Mr. Taubeneck urges the remonetization of silver as part of the remedy for the evils of falling prices, tagnation, and ruin. He says: "Bnt, as much as free coinage would help, that alone will not give permanent relief. "First. Because there is not a suffi cient amount of gold and silver on hand for the monetary use, nor, can the mines supply it. second. liecause it would still leave the power of money in the hands of indi viduals and corporations, those who con trol the products of the mines and issue the paper currency; and our volume of mouey at the mercy of the ebb and flow of coin would produce an inflation every me it comes to our shores, and leave a panic whenever it departed. At present our money is practically controlled by the gold trust. If we add free coinage of silver and let the bauks issue the necessary paper money, our money volume will still be at the mercy of a few individuals and corporations. The money power will control our volume of money as effectively as it now does, with only this difference -that the two metals will be more difficult to control than the one. Much as free coinage of sil ver will do towards restoring prices of products and property, this alone will not destroy all the evil that surrounds our present financial system. If free coinage of silver will not destroy the money trust, what, then, can we do that will? Suppose that you undertake to destroy the coal trust, whisky trust, or any other trust, what would oe the first thing you would have to do? Think for a moment. The first thing to do would be to take from the trust the power to control the supply, the power to limit or restrict pro duction. Unless you could do tms it would be impossible to destroy the trust. The one essential thing absolutely neces sary to the existence of a trust is its ability to control the supply and limit the production of the article in which it deals." This is the populist position. The Independent believes it to be correct and it is supported by every authority in economics, both in this country and in Europe. The free coinage of silver alone would only be a temporary relief, if the banks were left iu control of the issue of paper money and allowed to ex nand and contract it to suit their own interests. There is not a civilized govern ment on the face of the earth, except the United States, that allows banks to con trol the volume of the currency. The position of Mr. Taubeneck is the same as that of Gen. A. J. Warner and Senator Jones. No fight can be successfully made on any other principles. If a copy of Mr. Taubeneck's book could be put in the hands of every re publican farmer in this state, that party could not round up a corporal's guard at the next election. Price 10 cents For sale at this office. FOUR MILLION SAP HEADS. The goldites said that if we only had $100,000,000 in the gold reserve we should have prosperity. Whenever it fell below that point they went wild shriek ing for more gold, and declared all our woes came from the depletion of the gold reserve, "Put $100,000,000 in the re- serve fand.don't touch it.keep it a sacred guarantee to preserve the credit of the government and we will have prosperity," they said Well, they bonded us for nearly $300,- 000,000 and they have had over $125, 000,000 locked up in the gold reserve for several weeks. But where is the promised prosperity? This promise is on a par with all of their other idiotic promises, John Sherman said: "Repeal the Sher man act and in ten days we shall have prosperity" and about 4,000,000 sap heads believed it iust as they did this witless yarn about the gold reserve. ESTABLISHING A CENSORSHIP. If the goldites succeed in passing Louds bill to amend the postal laws, the pub lication of couutry newespapers off of the express lines will be rendered almost im possible. It permits the mailing of newspapers at the pound rate to subscribers only, and defines a subscriber as one wbo"vol- untarily orders and pays for the same." Under this definition a person whose sub scription has lapsed and has not been re newed is not a subscriber. This is a di rect blow at the local country newspaper, But it does more than that. Itcreates a virtual censorship of the press by giV' ing to post office officials the absolute right to determine what newspapers and periodicals shall have the advantage of the rates of second-class matter. It confers on the postoffice the power to determine what is, and what is not a periodical; and since there is not a single newspaper or magazine published in the United States which, in some issue, is not amenable to this authoritative discrimin ation against advertising, supplements, premiums, extra editions and extra free matter, and which therefore, may be rele gated to mail matter of the third class, it literally places them at the mercy of any postmaster's mandate. That a man dare introduce such a bill shows to what extent the republican vot ers have been degraded. Even ten years ago, if a congressman had introduced such a bill, he would scarcely dared to have gone home afterward, but now the ignorant poverty sticken tools of the money power will reuominate.and shout ing for "sound money win vote to return him to congress. They have no more sense than to shout for "old glory" and vote to establish a Russian censor ship over the press. FUANCE AN1 SILVER. France keeps over $700,000,000 of sil ver at par with gold, which is a little more than $17.00 per capita of silver alone, and she don't resort to the Sher man Carlisle endless chain scheme to do it either. She don't redeem her paper money in gold, and the terrible disasters which the republicans predict would hap pen if a civilized nation should refuse to do that, do not happen. In fact it has the very opposite result. It brings, not disaster, but prosperity to France. The report of the director of the mint shows that England keeps at par, of sil ver, $100,000,000; Germany $210,000, 000; France $700,000,000; United States $615,000,000. If the United states car ried as much silver per capita as France does, we could safely carry twice the amount we now have and that without any endless chain, bond issuing attach ment either. TAIl FOR KY THE BANKS. The Independent acknowledges the receipt of the following letter: Reform Club, 62 William Street New York, April 2, 1S98. Dear Kir; Iu order to push the educational work for sound currency and to resist the efforts of free coinage advocates to put this country on a silver basis, this committee has arranged to snpply sound currency to newspapers in certain states. We offer to snpply It In two forms: 1. Sound Currency Plates. We will snpply these through either the American Press Asso ciation, the Western Newspaper Union, the A. N. Kellogg Co , or the Century Press Co. A page Is Issued every four weeks; later we may Issue as often as every two weeks. There will be no charge for these plates, but you will h ave to pay expressage' on them. All orders for plates must go through our office. 2. Beady Prints. If your, paper Is a ready print and la printed by the Western (NewsPaper Union, A. N. Kellogg News paper Co., or the Ne braska Newspaper Union, or any of the branch offices, you can have from one to two columns of onr matter Inserted by notifying your company to that effect. Yours truly. CALVIN TOMKIN8, Chairman of the Executive Com. As the Independent is located in the same buildiua: as the Newspaper Union, it would not have even express charges to pay. Populists will now see at what a disadvantage a populist paper is pub lished. A republican paper gets its mat ter set up and stereotyped free, while a populist paper has to pay a good round price for any matter that is fit to send into the house of a patriotic American family. WILL IT BE G ROVER AGAIN ? The New York World has had re sponses to the question of wbo their choice is for the democratic presidential nominee. From the officers of the demo cratic state committee in nearly all the states, from many senators and repre sentatives in coneress and from other political experts, their opinions, many of which are printed are sum marized as accurately and tersely as pos sible in the table which follows. Summary. States. Delegates. Favorable to Cleveland 1 268 Flatly against Cleveland 5 102 Prefersome otter candidate 1 For anv tree silver candidate 12 92 Total delegate M It may be remarked that the result obtained by the World is not at all in ac cordance with the views of Mr. W. J. Rrvan. He figures it out this way. For silver 454. Azainst silver 356. Donbfc- ,ful84. A "BUSINESS" GOVERNMENT, They are always saying we want agov ernruent conducted on business princi pies by business men. Well, they tried that plan up in Blue Earth county.Minn. They wouldn't let the populists have any thing to do with the connty govern ment, for they were not business men. They were only farmers and working men. The runuingof the county govern ment on the "business" plan resulted this way. "The total receipts of the county for 1895 amounted to $48,296.31. The ex penditures for the same time were $60, 449.42. A balance on the wrong side of the ledger of $12,154.21, and every one of the county funds overdrawn! That's the situation" ENGLISH HARD TIMES. The gold standard policy of England seems to have as injurious an effect on the masses of the people of England as it has elsewhere. The few rich there are are very rich while the many are growing poorer all the time, as shown in the following item from the New York Independent: "The churches in England are feeling the hard times. The stipend of the Dean of Ely has been cut down from $8,000 to $6,100, and that of the canons from $4,- 550 to $2,870 each. The Dean of Can terbury has $3,900 instead of $10,000, and the canons $1,940 instead of $5, 000. The canons of York have been re duced from $8,000 to $4,500, and those of Winchester from $4,550, to $2,500, while the Dean receives $4,500, instead of $8,000. At Chichester the cut has been forthe Dean from $5,000 to $3,500, and for the canons from $2,500 to $1,. 750. At Norwich there has been a gen eral reduction of 20 per cent., and at Rochester of 25 per cent, and similar re ductions at Salisbury and Peterbor ough." Now that they have got to cutting the preacher's salaries may be some of them will go to preaching the gospel of Christ instead of the gospel of plutocracy. THE NEBRASKA CLUB. We publish by request in another col umn a letter of Mr. Chas. E. Williamson secretary of the Nebraska club. It con tains some queer logic. His syllogism is this: 1. The Nebraska club is organized for a distinct purpose, that of securing immi gration to Nebraska. 2. Nebraska freight rates would have a salient effect upon immigration. 3. Therefore, we will have nothing to do with Nebraska freight rates. JUST A SAMPLE. . As a specimen of the literature fur nished free, to republican papers by the Wall St. Reform club, we clip the follow ing sentence from the sample page sent us: It is the labor of the country that most deter minedly demands the gold basis; that demands stability in the currency; that objects most pos itively to a loss of half Its fixed Income. This is a speciman of the fearful lying that is inflicted on the readers of these republican patent insides. The man who wrote that, knew that the Federation of Labor, the Knights of Labor and every other labor organization in the country that has spoken on the subject, has de manded in the most unequivocal terms the free coinage of silver, and that the labor organizations of Chicago only a few days ago, through their constituted authorities, refused to attend or assist in a gold standard meeting to be ad dressed by Secretary Carlisle. These Re form Club writers are certainly the most fearful liars that exist outside of perdi tion. The above is just a sample. What are Messrs. Bryan, Bland et. al., going to do about that two-third rule which has been the law in national dem ocratic conventions ever since the old slave power ruled that party? Do they imagine that they can get a two-third majority for free silver in the national convention? They can't make a nomi nation without it. In reply to several private letters the Independent Publishing Co. says: The importance of a daily populist fiaperis conceded. 27 It will begin the publica tion of one when 1,000 subscribers are secured at five cents a week for six issues per week. That is all there is to be said on the question. John U. P. Thurston says that the re publicans of Nebraska have their hats off for McKinley. naif of them have had no hats for the last four years, being forced to buy dear money with cheap corn with which to pay their debts, interest and taxes they haven't been able to buy hats. All they can do is to shake their sorrel tons and veil. "Rah for McKinley," So their hats are off all the time. 1 v 1 - Not one of these country republican editorial roosters who are crowing for Mckinley and protection could write a column article on the tariff to save their souls from perdition. IF one should ask them what the tariff was. they would probably reply: "It's a hundred cent dol lax." - Thepusillanimous and poverty stricken republican papers of Nebraska are tak ing the free matter and the free cartoons of the Wall street gamblers and filling their columns with it. These Bwindlers lone aeo bought the dailies with clean cash. Now they are capturing the week lies with small tips. The democrats ran a free silver candi date on a goldite platform in Kentucky and lost the game. Now they propose to reverse the program, and run a goldite on a free silver platform for president They will lose again. ROSS HAMMOND ANSWERED. Since France has nearly twice as much money per capita as the United States, according to the believers in the theory that the quantity of money fixes prices. goods should be twice as dear in France as in America. Now it is notorious that such is not the case. On the contrary, the products of French mills, factories, etc., are sold so cheaply that it is ne cessary to impose heavy duties on them to prevent their competition with high priced American goods. V ill some per capita financier explain why the large volume of money in France does not raise prices in that country? Fremont Inbune, We credit the above clipping to the Fremont Tribune because it was clipped from its editorial columns, but it was not written by the editor of that paper. It is one of the prepared editorials sent out by the Wall street sound money club. We have seen it several times before. the Tribune asks: "Will some per capita financier explain why the large volume of money in France does not raise prices in that couutry." We will answer, although we know the question was not asked for tne purpose of ever printing the reply in that paper. First then, the whole statement on which the question is based is false. France does not have "nearly twice as much money as the United States!" It hasjless per capita than the United States. It has more legal tender money but of other forms of money it has very much less. Prof. Francis A. Walker says, "Always and everywhere the thing that does the money work is the money thing." In this country the thing that largely does the money work and is the money thing, is bank credits. Add this to the metallic and paper money in this country and it will be that found the per capita circula tion in the two countries does notgreatly vary. Of this credit money France has but little. People using credit money may obtain a higher leval of prices there by, but they lose in that all credit money bears interest from the moment it is put in circulation, while money coined from gold or silver, or issued by the govern ment goes into circulation without this burden of interest. It is that, which largely accounts for the prosperity in France. IN THE SAME BOAT. The eastern farmers, are mostly gold bugs and protections because they never had any Farmers Alliance to enlighten them or greenback speakers to talk to them on the subject of money. On account of their location, the fall in the price of farm productsdid not reach thera so soon, but they are in the same boat with the west and south. The New York society for improving the condition of the poor recently made an exhaustive study into the causes for the depression in agriculture in New York state. An intelligent farmer of wide ex perience was employed to travel and make inquiries, and a correspondence bureau covered tht districts that could not be reached by personal inquisy. The report says that farming land has de preciated at an average of some 48 per cent; that 30 per cent of the farmers are anxious to leave their farms and would drift into the cities if they only knew how to get work there, and that 86 per cent of the farmers report that their children, as they grow up, cannot be induced to remain on the farms; that tenant farm ing is on the1 increase; that 35 per cent of the New York farmers are losing mon ey; 50 per cent dangerously near it, 14 per cent are making a profit, and 20 per cent don't know whether they are or not. REV. FAY MILLS. Rev. Fay Mills, the great evangelist, is begining to preach the gospel as Christ preached it. The consequence is that theN. Y., Independent, the great goldite organ of the plutocratic church, is open ing all its batteries upon him, Mr. Mills says that: "The theory of salvation that causes the church to sit like a sick child, sing- ng, 'We, we are the saved,' and failing to realize that like her Master she has come 'not to be ministered unto but to minister,' is the demonology of Hell rather that the theology of Heaven," And the Independent don't like that at all. so it speaks of him in this way: "If we are to understand that it is his purpose hereafter to seek chiefly not the conversion oi unDeuevers dui tne ae- velopment of a higher type of character among Christians, that is a good object; but we fear that it will give too much scope for the agitation of false theories of political economy." TheNazarine political economy is not to the Independent's liking, so it gives a correspondent large space to trounce the evangelist. Mr. Mills held a series of meetings in Omaha a year or two age, and the popu list and common people took to him like a duck takes to water. The common expression concerning him at that time was: "He's the rightkind of a preacher.' TWENTY TWO YEARS AGO. , Twenty-two years! It is a long time. But it is just twenty-two years ago to day that the editor of the Independent wrote his first article on the money question. He remembers how he went over it time and again, and with what distrust he handed it to the managing editor of the great daily on which he was employed. It appeared the next morn ing as a leading editorial in a paper that is now one of the mainstays of goldocacy and which, in these later days, would discharge a member of its staff known to write such stuff. The article began with a poetical quotation. Gotdl Gold! Goldl Gold Blight and yellow, hard and cold, . Molten, graven, hammered and rolled; Heavy to get, and light to hold; Hoarded, bartered, bought and sold. Stolen, borrowed, squandered, doled. Spurned by the yonng, but hugged by the old To th very verge of Churchyard mold; Price of many a crime untold; Gold! Gold! Gold! Gold! Then it went on to wonder why all the world was running a mad race for gold, which, when obtained would satisfy no human want. The conclusion was that it was because gold, either by convention or positive legal enactment, was a legal tender for all obligations and no other reason. It was not wanted for any in trinsic quality in the thing itself, but it was wanted because it could always be exchanged for other things. Since that time many hundred books treating upon the subject have been read. The libraries of N. Y. city, Boston, Wash ington, Edinborough, Glasgow and the Brittish Musem have been ransacked by the writer in search of light and know ledge upon the subject and cognate sciences, but still he holds that the great fundemental truth underlying the whole subject was hit upon in that first article. The article, however, was not the work of the inspiration of the hour. One year before, Peter Cooper had remarked in ' conversation with him, that although the west had the most productive soil on earth, land owners would eventually become tenant farmers and serfs of the- soil, because John Sherman was doing in this country just what Ricardo did in England at the close of the Nepoleanic wars. During that year every book that could be got that treated the subject had been studied and read, and that) article, written just twenty-two years ago, was the result of that reading. It has been a long and fearful contest. But we are just as full of fight as we were twenty-two years ago and know a great deal more. If it takes twenty years more to fight it out we shall keep on , fighting, or, if we fall on the field of con test, we know that there are hosts of young men rallying around the flag who. will take up the banner, when it falls from hands grown feeble with age, and seizing the sword of truth will make a braver and more able fight than we have been able to do. Truth is eternal and never lacks for brave defenders. The eastern goldite papers are begin. ing to poke fun at the "parity" business with which the two old parties have fooled the people for the last four years.. The New York Sun says: "Four years ago silverites, democrats- or republicans, joined with the goldites of their respective parties in accepting declarations in favor of "legislation. which shall insure the maintenance of the parity of the two metals." The quo tation is found in both democratic and republican national platforms. This-will-o'-the-wisp of a promise worked, even on the broad stage of national politics,. . but it cannot be expected to work again. Silverites and goldites, democrats or republicans, have shown that they are- equally tired of further juggling with the subject, and the next time each party will insist that the truth as to its beliefs- and intentions shalll be squarely told."' So neither old party told the truth "as- to their beliefs and intentions" in their platforms four years ago and now they blithsomly tell their dupesthatthey were only fooling them. Some of them however have become so accustomed to shouting "the parity must be maintained," that it will be impossible to stop them un til a new set of catch words has been fur nished. When a populist two years ago said that this parity business was a will-o'-the wisp, the idiotic clacquers of the goldites, drew themselves up to their full height, put on a look of wisdom and said "Oh! you've got wheels in your head." There is no fool like a goldite- fool. A nice, new journal, the Lutheran Her ald was laid on the Independent desk this week. It is a sixteen page sheet with' tinted cover, edited by Rev. A. C. Gear heart, D. D. and will be the organ of the various bodies of Lutherans in this state, who claim, when taken all togeth er, to outnumber any other protestant church in the state. It is published by the Herald Publishing Co. 1120 M St. Lincoln, Nebr. Foreign owners of American railroads- have secured control of the Niagra elec tric power plant and the patented device for electric propulsion of boats on the- Erie canal. They are not going to have their dividends threatened by low water rates. It is a sign of lunacy to advocate the public ownership of transportation monopolies. The Bishop of Winchester says: "The zones of enormous wealth and degrad ing poverty, unless carefully considered,, will generate a tornado." That is what populists have been saying for four years. A District Delegate. Mr. Coxey has been elected a delegate to St. Louis by his congressional dis trict in Ohio. The convention refused ts consider him in the capacity of a can didate as delegate-at-large and he with drew as delegate-at-large. The conveu-jl tion instructed its three delegates for Senator Allen of Nebraska. It Means Slavery, the rep.dem-publi-crat-i-gold-standard--English-party of this country means slavery. Will you vote to sustain it in this country? Peoples Searchlight. - i 1