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About The American. (Omaha, Nebraska) 1891-1899 | View Entire Issue (Sept. 18, 1896)
THE A M ERICAN FREE SILVER ; FALLACIES. Ably Exposed by Ex-President Harrison. SPEECH AT CARNEGIE HALL Encouraging Words For Sound Money Democrat. PTEGEITY Of THE SUPREME OOUBT eontlhitln. When It beeonve the rule that vloletm rarrt.w It end, have an archy , a condition destructive to hotmt UUirand It remards a death I tlw UmumoI the human Spirit luxoinltoa at blraca. The atiu.h.-re if the Chicago conven tlim wm surcharged with the uplrlt of rev olution. TliU plalfiTm wn carried and IU tioinhuitlti iiuwlo wltli v-c'iuiniiylinr In cident of frenxy fluit tartlwl the onlook er and amaicd the country. Th court tint the president were arraigned f'r en forcing the lawn, and government by the mob wn given preference over government by the U enforced t'jr lh urt dtvrws and lijr executive order, lb spirit that exhibited tteclf In thl convention wu ao wild anil trngvly enthuaed thnt Mr. Hryan himself likened It to tlw leal that Mnuiitd the rruador when they re sponded to the inipaiwloned p(ial of IV ter the Hermit to r.eue tlw aepulcher o( our lord fnii ii tlie lnuid of the Infidel n-Uc riiifn-ji and a reiki executive tn ulirdinte and prwiUwlly dwtry tl eupreiiM' curt by Urn prowa I luv Jut dWrilm, and th Englishman, after Sjimkllig of till. aaj": "What prwrrnt such, assaults on tha fundamentel law? Nothing hut the fear of the people, Who tiKml. gl """ a'"1 att.u limriit to th principle of tin) conntl tutWii limy I giiii-mlly rll.l on to con demn such a j-rverl.n of In power." 1 Uur English friend did wot misjudge, I think, Iib sound K1 sense of tin Ameri can people when an lii like la Ut he presented. Whatever the . W :lon I, whether Mr. Bryan view or Mr. Till nian'a view of tlut constitutional question ahall prevail or that of the august tritiuiuil appointed by the constitution to aettle It, the court are the defense of the weak. The rich and powerful have olbT rwotirc, but tin? poor have not. The high mlndud, liid.i- iul. ut judiciary that will bold to tlie ( line on qiutlona lietwwn wealth and la ta me V, k'lnl.T of Ohio, would TtaltiIy l elrt td levaUk-nt, bow the wmr would take to rover on tlie .-t-n k Kn hanKW to- My friimdit, a a TUpublin I am proud on if own aoroant not forthe mine owo ar and It baa phdid tM aarml h-'i" It would nutke r-ery one of tlieee all dol lar aa p"d ana gold dollar. And that I priwiTful aupimrt. of many thlntr, but I win aum up a the I Wih.Hit Itdi-i-rityhKwetheaemeiaw hllt wtW tion I have bad In the would at oik a r lt--lf In tlw Bi.vk.t-, twrty and lu earner ht K pHt rf Mul ti- re would l m.m M In tlw la k k.,1..hlka.nau.neverdi"3dlturlibuiil IwhU h our 1'opullMie fnenda lndul,je In th CofintltuMoa Moat We riwrved. Aa laana Ik-vlda Whlrb Tarl aad Cola ' mf Sink Into IinlgulAnaaoa Kvol 1 linear? BtrM of tha Chlcao Connatlua. , I"ol..l ut ttaw the l-wldeat Could IH( t'a 1 a Mllver IWmiU Wlthoet Igla ; latlua by rongtwa National Honor at ili 4'lear r illlon of the rinaaelal Qiintloa. Kx rwidont Urnjotiiln Harrlaon ojiened Hi Republican ciiinulgn In Now York elty t CiiriH-ul liH n Thtirmliiy even lug, Aug. 12". with the following njHwh: L1)IK8 AND CiKNTl.KMKN I am on the Republican r.-irwl lit not by txvxmm of any k jimii, mr iy tne puwoi any mo- ib I. !.... A thai watt la 111 hUUirical lllutratlon wa. more po ' . r?"JZ'l7'Z-T..Zrt:" Mitand in. re fon-lblo than h. f, , " !T ' " 7 1 u trot Ion, but thnt the younger men might Jwvc a rliiinoo and thnt I nvlght have nwt. Rut t urn not uml or illniii)liilMl or bedridden cltUen. My lnlenwt In tny country did not cease when luy laiit aiilary elieek wan canlied. I ImiimI to add to the relief from offlelal flutle the rtlrement from the arena of jiolMeal diitmta. Hut the gentlemen hav ing In clmrgo this emiatn mimed to think that, 1 might In anuie way advance the Interest nf those prluolplea which are rot b dear to me than they are to you bv making hen in thin great city a public nddreM. 1 thought they greatly inngnilliHl the Imporuuieo of anything that 1 could any, but 1 could rmt qulto content myself to Mibnrdlnntewhnt ot hers thought to be a public duty b) my private convenient. 1 am hew tonight, not to mako a 'key note' upoeoh, but only to express my jM.r annul vlows, for which no one else will Ins In nny measure responsible, for thl speech lias not Ihhmi sulmlltHl to the judgment of any ono until now. I shall sisvik, my fel low citizen, mi a Republican, but with perfect respect to those who bold differing nnliitons. Indeed. 1 liave never hud so much respivtfor Democrat I have now, or jHrhaps 1 sliould any 1 never had so much reajiect. for so many Dcmocrnt its I liave now. 'J'lmt juirty has oiue mure cx liibltetl Its ciipm lty to lie ruptured, and a party Uiat eaiiuot tie split is a puhlio men ace. The Time to Bolt. When the leader of a party assembled In convention depart from It traditional principle mid advocate doctrines that threaten the integrity of the government, the social order of our couniiuiilliea and the security and soundness of our finance, It ought to split and It digntflc Itself when it d.H'S split A bolt from any party ' o now and then a most reassuring Incl i -nt, mid it was never more reassuring . and neve had lx'tter muse than now. Hut these Democratic friends who nro disposed, more or lex directly, to help the cause of sound finance in this canialgn ouuht not to expiH-t that the Kcpulilleaii iirty will reorgitnlie itself Invause the Vmocmtln ivirty has dlsorgnnlwil llsiilf. The Republican party, the Republican voter, If sound money triumphs, as I lie llcve it will, must. In the nature of the thing, constitute the body nf the success ful army. Wo ought not, therefore, to be asked to do anything that will affect tlie aolldity, the loyalty, the discipline or the enthusiasm of tho Republican ivirty. The Republican party fronts the destruc tlonlstBtul trumiicts it defiance to tho enemies of sound money. It will fight, however, without covering any of the glo rious mottoes nml inscriptions that are upon its banner. When tho house Is on lire and many of our Democratic, friends Iki lleve that to lie the present domestic situ ation -tho tenant on the top Moor ougnt Dot to ask tho tonnut in the basement to bury any of his opinions before he joins the fire brigade, and so our Democratic friends, who realize as wo realize the grav ity, the famvK'hlng consequences of this campaign, ought not to ak the Republic an party to reorganize itself, to put asldo Buy of the great principle that it has ad vocated in order to win a vote. If their opinion is sincerely hold, as they Insist, it ought to determine their action for themselves without reference to what anybody else sliould do. And I submit to these gentlemen, for whoseopinions I havo .0 highest Jpwts whether, tf It bo true aa tCv sav thftt tho suoeiis of tho Chicago tlie mil of the crusader waa blind and titnoraiit leal. Tla-y sought to Tftcue tho transient and Ineffectual aepulchor that luul held the Ixsly of the Son f IJod while t Iimv trHiiudcd uiHin the iirmi-iiU of love and mercy which he had left fur their guidance In life. He told ti that tills sil ver crusade had arrayed fat hi again on and brother against brot her, and liad uudcred the teuderwit tie of love. Kocmll Hvnator Hill' Anion. Senator Hill, watching the strange pro ceeding, had to extend that brief jiolttteal code from which he ha gained ao much re nown. Ho felt onmiNdlcd K cay, "1 am a Democrat, but I am not a revolutionist." Henator Vost, rcallsdng that they were in augurating a revolut Ion, reminded the con vention that revolution did tint licgln with the rich and prosperous. Mr. Tillman felt that the change in the management of pub lin affair wa to he no radical that he proposed lulphur fumigation for the snip before tlie new crew txk possession of it Now, my friend, all these thing indicate tho temjier in which that platform wa adopted and tho plrlt that prompted the nomination that wore mado. There wa no calm delllieration. There wa frenr.y. There wa no thoughtful searching for the man who from oxiorleiioe waa most able to direct public affair. There wa an 1m pulslvo reiKitiM to an Impassioned speech thnt selected tlie nominee. Not amid such surroundings a that, not tinder such Influences, are those calm, di oroet thing done that will commend them aolve to tho judgment of tho American people. They denounce in their platform Interference by federal authorities In local affair a a violation of tho constitution of tho United State and a crime against free Institution. Mr. Tillman In hi speech annmved thl declaration. It wn intend ed to le in word a direct condemnation of Mr. Cleveland, a president of the Uulted Htate, for using the power of the execu tive to brush out of tho way every obstacle to the free passage of tho mail train of the United States and t he Interstate commerce. And, my friend, whenever our peoplo approve the choice of a president who be lieve ho must ask Governor A ltgold of any other governor of any other state per mission to enforce the laws of the United States we have surrendered the victory tho boys won in 1 801. Ills Appeal to tha Veteran. Onco wo were told, and a grave question was raised, that the United State could not jmss Its troop through Kentucky to meet a roM army In Tennessee. My friends, this constitutional quostlon, thl division between the general and local au thorities, Is a plain and easy one. A dls turlmnee which Is purely local in a state lb a state affair. The president cannot send troops or lend any aid unless the legisla ture calls upon him for help, or the gov ernor, If the legislature I not in session. Hut when ft law of the United States 1 In vaded and broken, it is the sworn duty of the president to execute It, and this con vention arraigns the president for doing what his oath coniwllod him to do. Comrades In the groat war for the Un ion, sons of those who wont out to battle that the flag might not lose its luster, will we consent after these years thnt that doc trine, that was shot to death in the great war, ahall lie revived and made victorious In a civil campaign? But this assault doc not end there. The sunreme court of the United State and tho federal lower courts are arraigned because they used tlie familiar writ of in- I do not intend to wnd any time in tha dlncusston of the tariff question. That de flate ha beeu won and need nut be pro tracti xl i It mean that it might run on eternally I upon theoretical line. We had had oine ' experience, but they were historical, re ! mote and not very Instructive to thl gen eration. We needed an experience of our own, and we have had It. It ha been a hard lesson, but a very convincing one, and everylxidy wa in the choolhou when it wa given. Mr. Dow, whose absolute ac curacy and verity when he tells a story you can all boar wltnes to, In Wiling that utory of our talk on tno w niio uouse sie did an unintentional injury to my modesty, j I did not for a moment suppose that any of those Influence that liave elevated American prosrlty until the mark on the stones wa higher than any other record that had been mado were at all significant or of consqucnce. All have more than once said, It was a controversy, not of men It wa not a question of what men controlled the gov ernment it wa wholly a controversy be tween Democratic follower and Republic an followers, and In thl W-riff deliate, If It 1 to go on, we have history so fresh aud recent, history o indelibly written on the heart and tnlnda of our peoplo, that cer tain thing must be admitted, and among those things is thl historical fact that in 18U9 we had the most prosperous times, the most general diffusion of prosperity, the most universal participation In pros perity, end the hlghct mark of prosjierlty we have ever attained a a nation. Now, what has happened sinoef Then our business prosperity wa like the strong current of the mighty river; now it 1 like a failing spring in an Au gust drought A panio In 18U8 of most ex traordinary character has been succeeded by a gradual drying up, loss and less and less, until universal business distraction and anxiety prevail all over our commu nity. I do not believe there has ever been a time, except perhaps In the very heat of some active panic, when universal ousiness foar and anxiety and watchfulness, even to the point of desperation, have charac terized this great metropolis as they do to day. Men have boon afraid to go away for a vacation. They have felt that they must every day in this burning heat come Into the city and watch their business. That Is the situation. What brought it about? Gentlemen, who is there to defend the Wilson tariff bill? Who say it Is a good fjirlfT nuuLsiirnP t A voice. "Nobody,"! I do not liellove a Democrat can Vie found to ay that It is. Mr. Cleveland repudiated It. It was o bad that he would not attach hi ofllolal signature to It, and It became a law without it. He said it was full of in congruities and Inequalities. And it Was a lietter one than ho wanted to give us What has been the result of that measure? When a few years ago, during the Morton eamiiaign In New York, I discussed this question, I said that the old Democratic doctrine used to be that the bunion of our public expenses should lie laid upon impor tations, that the tariff should provldo for Ua ru.nt,, riinnloir mir mivernmeiit. and I I ...I 1..,n Knar mil 1 fc.mocratlo A Graco Usaftr. Io online, t ion with thl financial niat Wr, do we all realia how Important the choice of a president I ! you know that a the law I in .Mr, without the paaNnge of any free coinage or stiver law at all, It 1 In tlie power of th prw.ld.-nl of tlw Unlt.'d State to bring the buslnes of thl country to a diver lauds? All be baa to do Is to let the gold reserve g, to pay out li ver when men ask for gold, and we are there alrmdy. It I only Iwcause the prec IdenU of the United Suite that we have had and the one we have now have regard ed It under the law a their public duty to maintain the gold basis, maintaining that purity between our sliver and gold oolus which the law declare I the policy of the government, and because they have had the courage to execute the powers given to them by the resumption act to carry out that declaration of public law. 1 under take, therefore, to say that If Mr. Uryati or a man holding his view were in the presidential chair, without any legislation by congretM, we should t on a stiver basis In a week' time. The silver question what la It? Do we want silver because we want more money a larger circulating medium? I have not hoard anybody say so. Mr. Hryan is not urging it upon tlmt twsla. If anybody ! r-rlor nt lab. In thl .httT. ? Wn M into tl. lif of it UU-ring tJt ena!h him W put by. that give bi.n 'a keln 'd i"? i tlie cuntrv, U the poUcy that "" ' our Aim-rlcan policy. I "" v's,,dj niany campaign l hi idea, that cdetd ' currency could help tlie workingman. ! The first dirty errand that a dirty "l'ar wheo tlK-y .peak of tl p..w,-r of thl. gov- 1 to chew a - Tnonmr- croment if ihey propo to put tins ,..wer friend, a e. .Id tatlMical coinage. But tliey tti n. ; imn ' " ,i liehlnd their fir coinage Tt7 propu that tlie man who dig silver out rf tlie mine may liring it to tlw mint 1 and have It staiuped and haiuk-d iwk to ! him a a dilbr, tlw government having no i responsibility about it. The men would t M..,tM...t,c dut t.riH.ttion that , I J , V .... V " -" , -" , - free coUiage wa to come with a pl'-dge on behalf of the government to inatntaku Uie parity of the two dollar. Hut thl feeling Uwell adapted to touch the prevailing American buniptiousnesc and well adaptd Ut Much tliat prejudice againt fcjigUuid which many people have. rM of th Gowrnmriit. But can we do thl thing ourselves? I It a question whether we will do it or ask omeljody' coiient whether we may, or ask tho eo-ope ration of Miieliody? Not at alL I will WU you what this government can do alone. It can fix it money unit. It can declare by law what shall Iw tlie rela tive value of an ounce of gold and an ounce of silver, but it cannot make that hist dec laration good. It l unquestionably fully within the power of this government to bring this country to a ilvcr basis by coin ing silver dollar and making them legal tender. They can do that Thl govern ment shall ay you shall take one of those dollars in discharge of any debt owing to were to seek to give that a a reason for . y(m fjr , doUur notwithstanding you may junction to suppress violence, to restrain j friends haulcltinat piaiioriu ami m-reium endeavoring to obtain revonuo by internal taxation rather than to allow tho support of the government of tho United States to lie maintained upon the Importations of foreign goods. Maintenance of Gold Reserve. What has been tho result? One of theso oxiicrimmits in internal taxation, tho ln- nomlnee would plunge this country into Irremedlal commercial distress and drag the nation's honor In the dust, there can be anv question for such gentlemen but this: How can we most surely defeat the Chicago nominee? ! The Attack oa the President. Neither conventions nor committee, can create issues nor assign thorn m tneir places as to their importance. That la the leading issue of a campaign which most agitates and most Interests tho penpla In siy opinion there is no Issue presAifcxi by the Chicago convention mors important and vital than th question they have raised of protecting tho power aud duty of tlie national court and national executive. The defense of the constitution and of the Integrity of tho supreme court of the United State and of tho president's power and duty to enforce all of tho law of the United States without awaiting the call or ronsent of the governor of any state is an Important and living issue in this cam paign. Tariff and coinage will be of little Bjoment if our constitutional government Is overthrown. When wo have a president who believes that It Is neither his right nor hi duty to see that the mall trains arc not obstructed and that interstate commerce has Its free itTvwTw.rivB of state lines and courts, who' f oars to use our ancient and familiar t,- restrain and punish lawbreakers, tree trade and free silver will be appropriate accompaniments of sucn an aannnisu-a- tlon and cannot ana appreoiauij- w tlonal distress or tne national aisnunur. i There Is only one rule by which we can live usefully as a nation or peaoefuny as tiazens. It la the rule of the laws consti tutionally enacted and finally Interpreted by the judicial tribunal appointed by tho men from breaking the law, and that plat form plainly mean I will show you that It was so understood In the convention and in tho committee on resolutions that the Democratic policy was that when the su preme court, exercising Its constitutional power and duty, gave an Interpretation to a law of tho United States that was not pleasing to congress they would Increase the number of judges and pack the court to got a decision to please them. Th Assault fpon the Court. My friends, our fathers who framed this government divided Its great powers between three great departments the leg islative, the executive and the judicial. They sought to make theso independent, the one of the other, so that neither might overshadow or destroy the other. The su preme court, the most dignified judicial body In the world, was appointed to Inter pret tho laws and tho constitution, and when that court pronounces a decree as to the powers of congress or as to any other constitutional question there is but one tight method if we disagree, and that is the mothod pointed out by the constitution to nmend it to conform to our views. That is the nnsltlon todav. Mr. Hill said in lilsspcecnoi imsassauo. . ....... . i upon the court: "xnai provision, u iv moans anything, mean wan u is ure umj of congress to reconstruct the supreme court of the country. . It means' ana now note bis words "and It was openly kt-nwed that It moans, the adding of addi tional members to It or the turning out of office and reconstructing tne whole court I will not follow any such revolutionary stop as that." You are to answer, men, my icuow uiu eons. In all the gravity of a great crisis, wwhor von will sustain a party that pro poses to destroy the balance which our fa thers Instituted in our sysieiu ui " wontL and whonever a tumultuous con gross disagrees with the supreme court nrt a subservient president Is in the White House that the judgment of the court shall be reconsidered and reversed by in creasing the number of judges and pack ing the court with men who will decide as congress wants tnera to. Faith In tho People. I cannot exaggerate the gravity and the Importance and the danger of this assault npon our constitutional form of govern moniL One of the kindest and most dis criminating critics who ever wrote with a foreign pen about American anairs, air. ti in ki.oimArinin f Vimmonwoalth" oointed out this danger that the constltu tion did not Ox the number of the supreme come tax, was hold to be unconstitutional by the supreme court. So eager wero our Democratic friends to relieve their emlwir rassment and to put directly upon our peo ple, according to the English system, a tax to support our government that they pass ed an unconstitutional act In order to levy Internal taxes and help out a tariff bin which had reduced the duties upon Im ports. Now, what has been tue etioct oi that? It baa failed to produce revenues enough, supplemented by our Internal taxes, to maintain the government. There has been an annual deficit approaching 150,000,000 every yoar, and the national treasury has been continually In a state of embarrassment. Our manufacturers, left without ade quate protection, have been successively and gradually closing up and putting out their fires. But not only has this produced such an effect, but It has practically con tributed to the financial depression that we are In. The maintenance ot tne goia re serve up to 1100,000,000 by the govern ment for the redemption of our notes was essential to confidence In the stability oi our finances. When tho government reserve runs down, peoplo begin at once to say: 'We may come to a silver basts, iioia is going out The reserve is going aown. And this fear Is greatly Increased. But how can you keep a goiu reserve oi 1100,000,000 when you have not got $100, 000,000 In the treasury all told? How can you maintain this gold reserve for the re demption of notes when you have an an nual and continual ooncit in your luoume not Kinallnir vour expensosr So that, my friends, this tariff bill has not only contributed, by Increasing lm TvirtaHon. bv taking away the needful sup- 1 . . It V. for our own manuiaciuro, uuu iv um contributed In the way of increasing the silver scare to bring us into the present condition of distrust and dismay whioh now prevail. The bond sales have been made necessary by reason of this deficit, because, I think, nverv ono will agree that as a financial nroblem it Is one thing when you have 1300,000,000 surplus In the treasury to keep one dollar In throe in gold and quite another when you have only f 125,000,000 In the treasury all told. But I did not Intend to follow that ques tion further. I am Quite as much, how ever, opposed to cheapening the American wnrklntmian and working woman as I am to cheapening our dollars. I am quite as fwinulv In favor of keening days' work a bnm as I am (told dollars. If it could be known tcntght that that gallant soldier, wanting free silver, lie would lie very soon ooufounded by the statement that free sli ver would put more gold out of circulation than the mints of tlie United States could possibly bring In In years of silver, and that Instead of having more money we would have less. With our six hundred and odd million of gold driven out of circula tion, wo will reduce the per capita money of this country between and ; o it is not for more money. About the Katlng of Values. We have an abundant supply of circulat ing medium gold, silver, national bank pa(ier, greentutcks, treasury notes, fraction al silver. We have something like 123 per capita of our population. What Is It, then, that create this demand for silver? It Is openly avowed it Is not more dollars, but cheaper dollars that are wanted. It Is a lower standard of value that they are de manding. They say gold ha gone up un til It has ceased to tie a proper standard of value, and they want sliver. But how do they want it? Now, my friends, there Is a great dual of talk about bimetallism and tho double standard, and a great deal of confusion in the use of those terms. Bi metallism is the use of the two metals as money where they are both used. By a double standard they mean that we shall have a gold dollar and a silver dollar which shall bo units of value by which all prop erty and all wages and everything is to lie measured. Now, our fathers thought that when they used those two metals in coinage they must determine the intrinsic relative value of tho two, so that a comparison of the markets of the world would show just what relation one ounce of silver bore to one ounce of gold, how many ounces of sllver .lt took to be equal to one ounce of gold In the mar kets of the world where gold and silver wero used, aud they carefully wont about ascertaining that. Thomas Jefferson and Alexander Hamilton gave their great pow ers to the determination of that question, and they oolloe.tod the market reports, and they studied with all their power that ques tion, aud whon they had found what ap peared to bo the general and average rela tivo value of these two metals they fixed upon a ratio between thorn. Now, what was tho object of all that? Why did they lump It all? Because they fully understood that unless these dollars wore of the same Inherent. Intrinsic value both of them could not be standards of value and both could not circulate. Why, every boy knows that It is essential that tho length of his stilts below the tread shall lie tho same. What is the law that governs here? It is just thl slmplo law of human selfishness and self protection that, If you have two things, olther one of which will pay a debt, and one is not as valuable as the other, you are sure to give tho least valuable one. It Is just upon the principle that a man who oan pay a debt with one dollar won't give two precisely that; so that, unless these two things maintain ap proximately the relative value, so tliat 18 ounces of silver are wortn i ounce oi goiu, von cannot make such dollars circulate to gether. The one that Is more valuable the man will keoD in hi pocket or he will sou it to a bullion broker, aud everybody will use the other. It Is an old law, proclaimed years ago in Kngland by Grosham, that the cheaper dollar drives the lietter one out. At nas been Illustrated in our history repeatedly. Ti-. lrna haen illustrated in the history of ev ery commercial nation in the world, and anvbodv of half sense could see why it is so. You might just as well say that If we had two kinds of bushels, if the law should .Wlnre that 60 nounds of wheat was a bushel and 30 pounds of wheat was a bushel well, what farmer would deliver wheat by the 60 pound measure if he had sold It by the bushoL" In Calculating tne nana. Now, so nice were our people about this in trv-inir to adjust it, that thoy wont Into decimal fraction We say 16 to 1. In fact, that is not the ratio. It is 15.988 nlus. Now. that Is the actual ratio. It is , , , . . , . .i bo near 10 tnat we can it io, u"i wo um who made our silver dollar and our gold dollar were so nice in their calculation that they went into decimal fractions, into thousandths, to adjust It accurately. Now, rlr those neonlo DTooose to do? To take any account of thousandths? JMa When the markets of the woritt iix tne rel ative value of silver and gold at 81 ounces of sliver to 1 ounce of gold, they propose to say 16. Well, my friends, tnere nas dobu nothing more amusing and yet I foar that with the thoughtless It may have been In some measure misleading tnan tne repeat ed declaration of Mr. .Hryan wa every body admitted that bimetallism was a good thing there Is no debate on that subject and that the debute of the campaign has come down to this fine point: ine rtepuo lloans say that we cannot have this good thing without the consent of England, and we may say we can have It ourselves, and he has endoavorea to pivot mis ton" palgn, with its tremendous issues, upon that pinhole. We hear a great deal about the great re sources and wealth and power of the ooun try, and I do not allow anybody to go be yond my application of them, but what is the use of talking about aU that when you do not propose to put this wealth and pow er and influence behind the silver dollar at all? As things are now, the silver dollars hat, have are supported by the govern ment, and the government that supports court judges, and it possible for a gulshed that typical Voung American, that dlrtta gulshed and useful statesman, WUllam i this silver oum have loaned gold dollar. But it cannot sav and enforce Its decree if you should call out the regular army and navy and muster all our groat modern ships and add the militia and put William J. Bryan in command of thorn it cannot enforce tho decree that 1 ounce of gold is the equiva lent of 16 ounces of silver. Not only thak Not France and England and Germany can do that unless the mar kets respond, w hy? You make me taKe a silver dollar for a debt, but If I liave bought my gnods at gold prices you cannot make me give as many yards of cloth for a silver dollar as I have been In the habit of giving for a gold one. If I have a gold dol lar In this hand and a silver one in that, and you declare they are equal and I can take that gold dollar to a bullion broker and get ti for it, I know it Is a Ho. If 1 have nothing but a gold dollar and sugar Is 20 pounds for $1, I will not give thut gold dollar for 80 pounds of sugar. I will take It around to a broker and got two sil ver dollars for it and get tho 20 pounds of iiiar and have one silver dollar left So it is, my friends. We can of ourselves, of our own wisdom, declare the unit of value. We can coin silver freely, but we cannot make 16 ounces of silver equal to 1 ounce of gold unless It Is And It Is not unless tho merchants take it at tliat rate. What Free Silver Mean. That 1 whore all this thing comes in. It is trade, it is the merchant, it 1 the man who exchanges and deals In theso things, that fixes their relative value, and If you do not take the value ne uxes tne irol'd dollar will go back to the gold vault, and the gold will go out of circulation. What Is another consequence? in tnis connection these gentlemen say, "Why, didn't we win the battlo at Bunker Hill? Didn't we whip the British at York town? And do you mean to say we can't do it again?" The loglo of these gontle- ,uenif I runy use such a term In connec tion with such balderdash Is that a na tion that can do these great things and establish Its political Independence can also be financially and commercially free. It cannot lie free of the laws of trade. They can sny that ton muskrat skins are equal to one beaver skin, but that min t mass it so. The fur trader fixes that question. Whnt is the next suggestion? It is. mv friends, in the case-of free sil ver, what Is the financial and moral equiva lent of a declaration that B0 cent pieces are doUur. Thoy might just as well pass a law that 60 cent Is a dollar. That would not make It so, would it5 But it would lie legal dollar; but It would not buy a dol lar's worth of anything. What is the effect of thnt? The merchant would take care of himself. A man keeps a store down here on Broadway, and the law is going into operation tonight. He summons all his clerks and buys 25 cents' worth of pencils, and before he opens his store In the morn ing he has marked up his goods to the new scale. He can do all that But there are great numbers of people, numberless peo ple, who enlist our Interest, and some of whom enkindle our sympathies, wno can not use the pencil. Take the workingman. He cannot go to the pay roll with a pencil and mark It up. He has got to consult somebody. He has to enter Into an argu ment He has got to get sonieothor man's consent before he can mark up his wages. Then thore is the pensioner, those that are receiving pensions from this government for gallant deeds done in the war, and oth ers for the loss of beloved ones. We cannot take his pension certificate and when it roads 18 make it read 116. He must wait for an appeal to congress, and a congress that Is Populistlo in character would be unsympathetic Always Truthful to Worklngmen. He must make an appeal to congress to have his pension raised to twice what it wa before he Is made oqual. What can the depositors in our savings banks this great company of widows and orphans, the peo ple of small means, who are putting by a few pennies against a hard time In life what can they do when this chango oomes? Can they take their bank passbooks, and where it says tlO write 20? Not at all. Take the men who have life Insurance. A man who has providently taken out a pol icy that his widow and children might not come to want wnen tne Dreaowinning hand was stricken in death can they, where the policy reads 15,000, mako It $10, 000? No. Can the managers of these in stitutions make it right with them? No. This policy coerces Integrity. However honest a president of a savings bank may be, however full of sympathy the president of a life association may be, he Is compel led to say: "All of the loans of this com pany are scaled down to 60 cent dollars. We loaned dollars that were worth 100 cents; we are now being paid In the re duced dollar. Although our integrity re volts against It, our honesty is coerced, and we must pay the widow half. " My friends, these men surely do not con template the Irretrievable and extensive character of the disaster and disturbance and disruption which they are proposing for all of us in all our business affairs, great and slmpla Take the laboring man. How fuU of sympathy they are for him I My countrymen, I never spoke a false word to the laboring man In my Ufa I have never sought to reach his vote or Influence by appeals to that part of his nature that will pollute the intellect and the con icience. I have believed, and I believe to lay, that any system that maintains the .J th vnabt in 1MM) ana "!! lowing yrtira. The committee wa com posed ? Democrat and Republican, and th.-y set out to study a tatilician the relative prior of commodities, and wage at different period In the hiatory of our eountrv. Thl investigation eoerwl the year of the war. It showed how prices of good went up and in what proportion la bor advanced. Good went up rapidly be raiuw the pencil prices is a quick process. Wages went up haltingly and lowly be cause the employer ha to be persuaded, and tlie pencil won't serve. Now, I have here somewhere a memorandum of some of these fact resulting from that investi gation. Labor In one period advanced 3 per cent Goods, tlie thing the men had to buy out of hi wages for hi family and his living, advanced 18 per cent Through another period the laborer' wage advanced 10 per cent and the prices of goods advanced 49 percent Io another period the wages of the laborer went up 25 per cent and the price of merchandise advanced 90 per cent In another period the laborer' wages went up 43 per cent and tho price of goods 117 per cent Now, those statistic are the re sult of a cold scientific Inquiry made by mon of both parties to determine wna wie truth was, and the truth they found waa that the enormou disparity between the advance of the cost of living aud the ad vance of wage falls in exactly with what we would conclude in advance. Laborers, men who work, whether with head or band, In salaried positions, would do well to take these facts to heart and settle tho question after that broad, deep Inquiry to which Mr. Bryan Invites you, as to whether you want to enter into another experience such as you had during the war, when wages ad vanced so slowly and tediously and the cost of your living moved on so swiftly. Who Will Gain the Profit? I have sketched very hastily some of the evils that will result from this change to a dchased dollar a contraction of our cur rency by the exporting of our gold and a readjustment of everything. I read the other day In a paper a most amusing de scription of the troubles of the ticket agent at Laredo, a station on the Mexican rail wav, who had to sell tickets to people who came from the United States with United States money going Into Mexico, and then to iieojile who came out of Mexico, and who offered him Mexican money. He had a large book bound up with yellow paper, and he had to cover one whole sheet in his calculation usually when he sold a ticket That is what would happen everywhere. Everything would have to be readjusted, the prices of everything, the whole intri cate business adjustments of the country would have to be readjusted, and while that process is going on uncertainty would characterize business, resulting in panio and disaster. Now, who will get any benefit? Well, the man who owes a dobt thnt ho contract ed upon a gold basis and is able to pay It with a 60 cent dollar. He and the mine owner, who gets an exaggerated price for the products of his mine, are the only two people or classoes of people that I can see that would have any boneflt out of it My friends, the people who advocate this class legislation this legislation favorable to the mine owners to double the plrco of tho products of their mines, and who offer this temptation of repudiation to the hotter class are the party that have for 20 years been proclaiming against class legislation. They make a strong appeal to the farm er. Thoy say It will put up prices, vteu, In a senso, yes. Nominally, yes. Bonlly, no. If wheat goes from 60 cents to $1.20, the price has boon Increased, you will say, but if tlie price of everything elso has gone up In the same proportion a bushel of wheat won't buy for the farmer nny more sugar or coffee or farming implements, or anything else that he has to purchase. If that dollar won't buy for tho fanner any more or be a better dollar than the one wo have now, where is the good to anybody of Introducing these fictitious prices thnt are not real? It would work very well for the fanner if the prices of wheat, hay, oats and rye would double nnd nothing else would, double. But if everything doubled, who is the richer? Who is richer than he was before? Shall This People Be Repntllators? Only the man who bought whon we had an honest dollar and paid in a debased one. Only the mine owner, who uses this gov ernment to add 60 cents to the value of every dollar's worth of metal that he pro duces from his mine. That is not even a Democratic doctrine. It involves the idea that this government of ours shall pay not only its dobt of honor, but that it pay the interest on its bonds and the circulating notes in a debased currency. My country men, this country of ours during the trou blous times of the war may have had se vere trials, but theso financial questions are scarcely less troublous than those. During those troublous tlmoswe had ac cumulated a debt so large that many of our pessimistic Democratic friends told us we could never pay It We had had a cur rency which we were compelled to make a legal tender and use, that the constitution might live, but no sooner had the war end ed than the great conscience of this people declared the nation that has crushed this great rebellion, that has lifted itself in its pride and its constitutional glory to a fearless position among the nations of the earth, should not continue to have a de preciated and a debased currency. And we walked up to resumption, and we made the greenback dollar a par dollar in gold Shall we now In these times, when all the Ills we suffer are curable If we only pass a revenue bill that will generous ly replenish the treasury of the United States, that will generously , -t Amer ican labor against injurious competition and bring back again full prosperity to all our people shall we now contemplate for a moment or allow to have any power over our hearts and minds this temptation to debase our currency and put it in its financial position alongside of the Asiatic countries or our weak and struggling sis ter republic of Mexico? Does not every Instinct of pride, does not every Instinct of self interest, does not every thoughtful, affectionate Interest In others, does not our sense of justice and honor, rise up to rebuke the infamous prop osition that this government and its people shall become a nation and a people of re- pudiators? A useful addition to toilet articles Is a pumice stone set in silver after the style of a nail polisher. It Is designed to remove ink spots, fruit and other stains from the hands.