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.
