p V S v * * * > * * * . us * * * * * . . . I y REPUBLICAN PARTl ! IE- THE PF'ESS ' OF THE COUNTRY | | | - k , DEFENDING ITS RECORD. Igtr . . - Mexico I a Simple ) of Wlmt "Would W& " Itntult Shoul I Itryan Win : Silver t Kt ? < Wave 1 HatsvilUts Tito Silver Syn- t ife- , - dlciitc. Hj The condition of Mexico is naturally K attracting a good deal of attention , B from the fact that it is on a free-silver , Hi 50-cent dollar basis. Its example is , Kg however , of very little Importance as H an object lesson for the United States , H for the reason that other factors of Kj much more potency enter into the case B to determine the real condition. Still , H ! it is pertinent to inquire into the facts , Kj apart from making an argument for or H | against any particular theory of money. Bj Whether one concludes that Mexi- B | co is prosperous or not depends alto- B | gother from one's point of view. So B | far as concerns business men , those , B | ' whether foreign or native , who < ive Hjj enterprise and capital. Mexico is pros- It is wholly Immaterial to those poor people whether Mexico is on a silver era a gold basis. . .They themselves . r.n a copper basis , and are bound -o ' v there until their general plane o' c' " - zatlon is raised. To hold up Mexico aa a model for America , or as an ex ample in any point of vie" ' , is simply preposterous. Another reason why Mexico can fur nish no criterion by which to judge a monetary system is that the money metals are the great staples of re duction in that country , except as agri cultural products are raised for do mestic use. The gold yield is much larger than statistics Indicate , for the reason that there is a tax on the out put of both gold and silver. There is not much attempt to smuggle out the 3ilver it is too bulky but a great part " "of 'the gold produced escaps taxation , and , in escaping taxation , eludes the statisticians. There is supposed to be $5,000,000 in gold in the country and ten times that amount in silver money. There is more than that amount of each metal produced annually. The statistics of 1894 gave the gold output as $4,500,000. The actual amount must have been at least $6,000,000. The sil ver output was $60,817,300 , about three times as much as all Europe , Asia and Africa produce. To go to Mexico for lessons in finance is much like what it would be to study theL * peon hovels for models ofworkingmen's homes. Chicago cage Inter Ocean. Silver AVa\o Keendlnjj. Indications are growing stronger every day that the silver craze has reached high water mark , and that the wave is receding. From all over the country the testimoney is the same , and it is particularly applicable to the i i silver mines who are supporting the free-coinage newspapers , distributing ' free-coinage literature , paying the sal aries of free-coinage stump speakers and "backing" free-coinage candidates. Are they doing it for the good of the country or for the money there is in It for themselves ? Do men go into specu lations that promise 100 per cent profits out of philanthropy or out of greed for dollars ? Will the people who have al lowed themselves to be imposed upon by these silver kings persist in a scheme to add millions on millions to the enormous fortunes of a few score men by depriving the plain people of half the value of their savings and their wages ? The only people in this country who could profit by the > free and unlimited coinage of silver would be the owners of mines , bankrupts who wish to re pudiate their debts and speculators in the- returns of the men who toil for , their bread. If this nation ever should sink to the level of a silver basis the workingman would not be able to lift his head for a generation to come , the farmer would plunge deeply into debt because the working classes , who are the greatest consumers of farm pro- dcte , would have their purchasing power cut in half , and this whole coun- ti/ would become the victim of the money sharks of the world. But the American people will not commit so foolish , so outrageous , so criminal an act as to vote half of theii own belongings into the pockets ol rapacious and unconscionable silver kings. New York Press. St. John's Fatal Admission. Mr. William P. St. John of New York. in able and persistent advocate of the free coinage of silver , while testifying HJ j HIS CURIOUS WAY OF SHOWING IT. I ! LLLL-t H'lplllii ' K j " V * - ' " 'JlIUIIllllUIUW//// , . -5-1 * " H PROM CHICAGO INTER OCEAN : MR. BRYAN ASSERTS THAT HE IS OPPOSED TO FOREIGN DOMINATION H J IN OUR AFFAIRS. Hj perous. It has vast resources of gold H | and silver , and no end , hardly , of good H [ ! land. The industrial class are fairly Bl industrious and never think of strik- H | ing. They work long hours and are H | ; | much more contented with their wages Bj | than our laborers , skilled or unskilled. H | * The government is stable. The yro- m i verbial unrest and chronic state of revolution which prevailed prior to the administration of that truly great statesman , Juarez , no longer nurses the land. The term "Mexicanize , " as formerly used , ought to be blotted from I our language. It is positively slander ous. Not only is there peace at home , but Mexican credit is good abroad. The national debt is being paid , inter est and principal , in gold. No advantage - _ tage is taken of creditors to force a B depreciated silver currency upon them. m We repeat that from a business man's B point of view Mexico is prosperous , H highly so. 1 But when viewed from the stand- m point of the people , their condition and M I opportunities , it is altogether different. M The great mass of the people are ab- M jectly poor and wholly illiterate. Their M contentment is due to their ignorance H and to the fact that they and their m ancestors never knew any better con- H v dition. The climate is mild and their M absolute necessities are few. The best H paid labor , the labor in mines , towns h and factories , does not command over M one-half the pay common on this side M of the line , and that , too , in a 50-cent m dollar. The agricultural labor is paid m about one-quarter the United States 1 rate , besides the depreciation of the 1 money. A citizen of the United States , H accustomed to our ways of living , can VAVJ hardly conceive the abjectness of the H poverty of the peons , the class which H does about all the work of every kind M and constitutes at least 90 per cent , of M the people. . They have nothing in the B way of clothes except the rags on their M backs , live mostly on beans and a 1 vile native coffee , their only luxury m being a kind of liquor worse than M barrel-house whisky , and on which one H can get beastly drunk for a few cents. B Their houses are like pig pens , no such H things as bedsteads or chairs being M found in them. A few descendants of M the Spanish grandees have great H estates , and are very rich , while the M I peons , attached to them by a system of H practical serfdom , get less actual share H in the profits of the land they work M than did the plantation negroes of the m cotton belt before the war. western states. The argentiferous en thusiasm that aroused Colorado , for instance , to a high pitch hao percepti bly declined , and there are not a few republicans in that state who are sanguine that it will be carried for McKinley and Hobart. In Kansas it is the same way. There is no defection among the republicans of the Sunflower state , who are well organized and are showing a compact and aggressive front to the enemy. The republican newspapers of the state , without exception , are supporting the national ticket most enthusiastically , and thLs is of itself a tower of strength to the cause. Kansas has not forgotten the glorious traditions of the past , and can be relied upon in the crisis now be fore the country to cast her vote on the side of prosperity and national honor. From Nebraska , the home of Candi date Bryan , who is now swinging 'round the circle , the word goes forth that the republicans of that common wealth will not be satisfied with less than 25,000 majority for McKinley. They know Bryan there , and all that he stands for , and are eager to register their opinion at the polls. Missouri , too , is lining up for the battle for sound money , and every day sees new ac cessions to the ranks of national credit. In fapt , the same story comes from all 'over the country , and the Bryan managers are perceptibly alarmed. They are making herculean efforts to bring about a display of enthusiasm , and the tour of the "boy orator" through the east "has been arranged In the hope that his presence may arouse his followers to a semblance of life. So far the indications are that the plan will not he a brilliant suc cess. All the glittering generalities that Mr. Bryan can find among his book of quotations , together with his latest stock of "new and pleasing metaphors , " cannot swerve the people from their purpose to give the advo cates of financial heresy a lasting les son. Kansas City Journal. The Silver Syndicate. The New.York Press gives to-day an other chapter of the great speculation o'f the Silver Mine Owners' Syndicate. This free-coinage movement had its ori gin with these silver kings , v/ho wish to sell their white metal for twice what it is worth in any market in the world. It is financed by men who , already enormously rich , hope to double their vast fortunes. It is the owners of ! in 1894 before the house committee on banking and currency , outlined a bil ! for free coinage which provided "tha * Ihe silver dollar now existing shall bi coinable without limit in amount on producing the bullion for it. and on thj same terms now prescribed for gold. ' 1 In answer to the direct question "Would your theory put the country 'on a silver basis ? " he replied : "Momen tarily it might. I think -would im mediately. " He was then asked : "How long would that condition prevail ? " He answered : "I would not predict the achievement of actual bimetallism in Ihe United States under the bill earlier than two years ; that is , two years at the outside. I should expect it earliei if conditions now existing abroad ex isting outside of France prevail ; 1 would expect it to be accomplished within one year. " Sample Object Lessou in ray Envelope * Chicago Special : The "business man's" political campaign is proving remarkably prolific in practical devices for educational purposes. The latest i-omes from Easton , Pa. , from which point it was sent to this city by the vice president of the National Switch and Signal company , which corporation has a branch office in the Monadnocb building. The educational feature , devised by Charles Hansel , the official mentioned , is a pay envelope. The work of this corporation is entirely with railroads , and , outside of the eastern states , in cludes large contracts in California. THIS CONTA'NS SOUND MONEY' It will buy ICO CENTS worth of goods for EACH DOLLAR. Do You Prefer 53-Cent Dollars FOR SAME LABOR. i Conditions Prior to 1873. Some of the free-coinage men still say that all they want is to "restore the conditions that existed prior to 1873. " In 1873 the total world's produc tion of silver was 61,100,000 ounces and the silver in & dollar was worth $1.04 in gold. Last year the world's prod uct of silver vras 165,000,000 ounces and ' the silver in a dollar was worth only 50 7-10 cents. Will the silver miners restore the production of 1873 as * he first step toward "restoring the condi tions ? " _ ' - ' " " ' trr * * - ; ; -j _ * HISTORY OF MONEY. USED IN DIFFERENT STAGES OF CIVILIZATION. Qr.tdnil Evolution from Slclnn , Fish hooks , Shells , etc , In Hunting btn o to Silver and ( Sold in J'resent Com mercial Stugo. A study of the growth of money may be useful just now in order to give a more definite idea of exactly what mon ey is and to learn why certain articles or substances have been discarded , and others retained. The natural and gen- eial tendencies well understood , we have only to juage of the future by past experience to predict what will and what will not be the principal money metal of the near future. Hunting and rishlmj Staue. The kind of money in use in any country indicates the degree of civili zation attained. Man probably first be came a trading animal in the hunting and fishing stage. Weapons of war and the chase , together with skins and furs , were then the most important kinds of property. Hence we find that the more useful , stable and portable of these articles were first used as money and are so used to-day in barbarous countries. Beaver skins or "beaver" was the unit of value when our forefathers " traded with the y Indians. Thus 1 \ I beaver equals 1 \ jj brass kettle ; 1 . | beaver equals 2 / Jj * I shillings ; 6 beavers - ' \ \ ' vers etlual 1 Sal" * 1 I lon brantly etc- Y v- ' ' > - / i. $ \ I Fishhooks form- O ' j'j' ' a ed the currency MS , | | y on the northern KM [ U/9 JL shores of the In- \ jjt7ff dian ocean from 1 2 3 Persia to Ceylon , f. Beaver Skin. II. Latterly , how- Fishhook. III. ever , pieces of Wampum. bent wire were substituted for real hooks. Wampum was the currency of the more civilized Indian tribes in New England and on Long Island. It consisted of white beads , made from the ends of a peri winkle shell or black beads made from a clam shell arranged in strings or belts. It became the official money of New England and New Amsterdam and 'lost its place as money between 1650 and 1700 , when the "Smart Alecks" among the whites began to debase it by leaving the beads unpolished or un- pierced or by making them of bone , horn , glass and even of wood. The colonists legislated much trying to fix prices , and to save wampum from de clining in value , hut it was being pro duced too cheaply. Natural law was against it and it had to go. The use of shells as money is still common on many tropical coasts. Their wide use is probably due to the strong passion , common to primitive man , for personal adornment. This gives shells a permanent value. Besides they are very durable , comparatively light and are convenient for small change. Whales' teeth , arrowheads , beads , tusks of ivory and engraved stones are some of the other money materials of this and later stages of civilization. The I'nstnral Stage. Man early tamed the domestic ani mals. The sheep and the cow being the most useful , they naturally , with their skins ( and some times with their / t milk ) , formed the { \ currency and the I / unitof value.Our LjLjiA - * / words feepecun- T\ % s iary and capital -jgShQ come from the 4 use of cattle as IV. Sheep , money. Similar words in nearly every language testify to the once general use of cows and sheep as money. A man's wealth was estimated by b > herds and flocks. It was in this stage that conquerors stopped eating captives because it was discovered that they were worth more as shepherds and carriers of water , wood , etc. Hence also slaves often fig ured as money. Agricultural stage. In the agricultural stage man owns land , has fixed habitations and is pos sessed of a far greater variety of prop erty than when he was a nomad. Though he continued to use cattle , slaves , etc. , as money , yet he some times added staple farm products and began to uee metals , especially copper and gold , which at first were usually estimated in terms of cattle and were measured roughly instead of being weighed. Wheat , barley and oats are now , as they have be n for 2,000 years , a medium - ' um of exchange [ $ * / & * & & in Norway and MYVvS\ other remote * / / $ \\W parts of Europe. f vAmlMaize'or ) Indian \ IV mil corn' once iovm \ ffljl ec * the currency 3 > > * of Mexico , Cen- 5 6 tral America and . - - f = ara- = - , j' ? some of the early \ / c ° l ° ne3Tobac - \ , ' | a J co formed the W. ii M principal money W JJT W of Virginia and \ j' if Maryland. It was le al tender inv W * \ > V vW Maryland inV v\ Jk V V/ 1732' The price f % ' , \ of wives varied / MMfrom 100 to 150 7 pounds of tobac- V.Indian Corn. VLTo-co. Dried Codfish bacco. VII. Codfish , was one curren cy in Newfoundland. Sugar , rum , gin ger , olive oil , eggs , indigo and mo lasses r.ee some of the products that have bsen used in different countries. The friends of tobacco and corn tried hard to prevent these "crimes against humanity , " but the copper , gold and silver bug conspirators came out on top in spite of special legislation in the 1 wmmmammmmmmmmmmmm mmmmrnKSM interests of tobacco and corn. Thla was a hard blow to our country. Thera lo plenty of tobacco , corn , eggs and mo lasses to give us all the "per capita" we could carry if the crime of demone tization had not been committed against them , thereby causing prices of these and other articles , except the precious metals , to fall precipitately. Economists tell us that these articles ceased to be used as money because they lacked some essential quality. They say that some were perishable ; others bulky and hard to transport ; others could not be easily divided for the purpose of mo.king change ; others wera not uniform in size or quality , while nearly all lacked stability of value. But every tobacco , corn , mo lasses or egg producer and every lover of the weed , of omelets or of johnny cake and sorghum knows that they were demonetized because they were so plentiful that the shylocks could not monopolize them as easily as they could the precious metals. Manufacturing ; Stage. The manufacturing stage Is not clear ly defined. Hoe3 were once -money in r. . . - . . , t 7 China and they \ /f \ f ? are t0-dav In | py ) < l If Anam. Little 11 \ I hoes' such as tne IrfjA Aj \ II one here figured. iffl real hoes and beN - oil vv N m II ) \ canie a truemon- M | Hand made jJLJJ | 1 l\ \ nails once circu- 8 9 lated as money in VIII. Chinese Hoe. some Scotch vil- IX. Handmade lages. Some of Nails. the other money articles that may perhaps belong to this stage are 'cotton cloth , straw hats. cubes of salt , tea , beeswax , knives and 6ilk cloth. It was probably in this stage that the precious metals began to be measured and weighed more accurately and to be cast into standard forms. Commercial Stage. 1. Internal Trade. When men began to live in cities , to have regular mar- 10 11 12 13 X. Bronze Decussis. XI. Iron Manilla From West Africa. XII. Chinese XIII. Copperas. "Cash. " kets where products were exchanged and to have shopkeepers or merchants and professional traders , there v/as great need of a more exact and scien tific money such as could be supplied only by the metals. These began to be cast or stamped into regular forms , sizes or weights. Bronze bars and stamped bronze pieces were used in Greece and Italy. The bronze piece here represented shows the evolution from cattle money to stamped metallic money. Weights in the form of sheep indicate that sheep were in Biblical times the unit of value in Palestine. Iron was used as money in Sparta. Pieces of bent iron ready for the black smith pass as money in west Africa and elsewheie. "Cash" or "sapeks" or "le" is the only native coin and the only legal tender of China as well as the principal money of small accounts. Cash consists of round disks of a kind of brass with a square hole in the cente. * . The evolu tion of cash is interesting. About 200 B. C. the Chinese were still using a bronze currency representing knives 5 14 15 v % , < , • • * / Wo < v 16 w s 1\ \ * / " 17 XIV. Romano-Campanian Coin. XV. • Gold Solidus of Julian II. XVI. Mexican - I can Silver Dollar. XVII. English { Gold Sovereign. , 2-5 inches long , with a hole In one end ' of the handle. By 500 A. D. the knives ! ' were 7 1-5 inches long and the hole or ring was larger. Later the handle dis appeared and the ring was attached to the blade , which was increased in thickness to give the same weight as formerly. Still later the blade was ' gotten rid of and the ring was pierced with a square hole for the string. Thus > transformed the original and cumber some knife money became a comparatively - J atively convenient currency , though the value has depreciated greatly , part ly because of reduced size and inferior cuality of metal u ed. i Cash Is the basis of all price compu- JLi H tatioca in China. Considerable sums > 1 iHf may .be paid in gold or silver , but they * Hare merchandise and are . t H are treated as Sought and sold by weight without a * > . ,7jBH ; government stamp to guarantee weight ' j H and fineness. \Mi H The as was a brass coin used in Italy Jri l until after 200 A. D. * I j H 2. International Trade , When trade 'f J H became international there was still V l H greater need for the most accurate and / > i H reliable counters of value possible. Real f ifi lH coinage began when governments first * { l M M guaranteed weight and fineness with an Jll H official stamp. A great part of this lm- | mense gain to commerce and clvlllza- xi B tlon was lost when , after awhile , mon- S B archs began to abuse this coining privi- S H lege and to break faith with their subjects - H jects by stamping light weight or oth- sl l crwise debased coins as genuine. Such Ja l coins would continue In use , but would 2 H soon depreciate in value. ( l a Figure 14 represents one of the ear- /Hl H liest sliver coins. It was struckin tf'l H Rome about 300 B. C. [ 1 Gold was coined in Rome In 206 B. C. t ( | H Figure 15 shows the gold solidus of /l H Julian II. The solidus weighed four ii l scruples from 312 A. D. to 1453 and j i H formed the baais of more modern Euro- J ? | pean coins. The florin , coined in Flor- . l/j M ence In-the fourteenth century , was the < * ' * 1 1 first regular coin of western Europe. i. ; j H Ir. soon became the recognized unit of M1 1 value In commerce and was replaced > .V - | only by the English sovereign , which -4 B - has since remained the standard unit . Hflfl of value for international trade. 1 1 The commercial world has chosen j JI H gold as money because , all things con- ' ' 3 H sidered , it is better fitted for this pur- $ \ 1 | pose than any other metal or substance. i 3 It owes its position entirely to its in- # l t trinsic worth. It has needed no special . . , ' | H legislation to sustain it , nor has the * < * > > H almost unlimited special legislation in c ' H the interest of silver and other metals i H and substances been able to make them i | "as good as gold" in any modern civilized - ] H ized country. It has come by evolu- i | tion and will not go even by revolution. ' | We have passed the fishhook , wampum , H tobacco , iron and silver stages of civilization - ' H zation and have entered the golden H stage. Each year sees some progressive • H country stop experimenting with the H fickle and fluctuating silver standard • H and declare for the stable and world Y | recognized gold standard of value. Possibly - , • H sibly we may , by foolish legislation , H make silver legal tender for awhile and , - H drive gold out of circulation , but our H commercial interests will continue to * fV H use gold , and soon all interests will bo I i M glad to drop Mexico and China and to H return to the society of civilized na , ' H tions. Byron W. Holt. 3jT ' * * W Suppoin You Shoul 1 Io .MUtaken. ' & i H Farmers who think that free silver * : M will help them to get rid of their mortgages - / | gages should consider carefully what 4 * " ' effect a 1G to 1 law will have on the y lenders of capital. The silverites are tS fe telling you beautiful stories about the * tI B great volume of money which will be v 1 | ready for loaning at low rates of in- * jH | terest assoon as we adopt the silver | standard. But suppose the scheme . . M should not work in the way they ox- / i' M ject ? Suppose that as soon as it be- y jf fl comes likely that a free coinage lav/ - " Srlk | will be enacted there is a general de- * , RW | mand that all mortgages should at * Pu .J once be paid ir full ? Thepromise of cheap money when free silver comes H won't help you now. Where are you fl going to get the money to pay oft H your mortgage ? Do you suppose any | a M man is going to make loars while there V is a possibility of his being repaid in f ' 50-cent dollars ? And if you can't raise } ' the money when it is called for , and if ' H your farm is sold at a sacrifice , where ( _ H will you be then ? - JB Think these things over. Don't be I fooled by the free silver idea that 9 cheap money means low rates of inter- est. The facts are just the other way. - Interest is far higher in all silver-us- I ing countries than in gold countries. [ M If we go on the silver standard the men | l who have capital to lend will charge more interest than they do now in . ( order to cover the risk of being repaid f -1 in depreciated silver dollars. So if ' 'I you succeed in borrowing under free Ik coinage you will pay higher interest % M on the loan. Ask anybody who known 99 the facts whether interest is not much ' 11 higher in Mexico , India or the silver -1 South American countries than in the | United States , England or Germany , " t with their currency based on gold. ' , , , ' Then make up you mind that you will ; vote for the financial system which , | if left undisturbed will benefit you far „ I more than free silver will. J M I BlfiT Prices for V.irmer * ' Products. * * " j &i The Chautauqua News of Sherman , V * ' N. Y. , contains in its latest number an advertisement which we copy free of r , charge : rsr WAR PRICES. In order to assist those who believe s in the "white metal" I will pay the following - ] lowing prices in Mexican silver dollars / ( no change given ) for live stoclc and / Produce delivered at Sherman : i Steers welshing 1,000 pounds or / y orer. line and fat n c per pound / Heifers neighing 000 pounds or f ' * a . fine and fat ' orer. 5 c f per ponnj , - , . Slcep. fat and h.-ary 5 fi e per pound t lCml , < . fat and heavy 7 , pcr , > - \ eals. Jine and fat 8 c per pound / I'igs welshln ; 100 to 150 pounds..5c per pound -I f Hest Holstein milk cows ? 50 * > per head T -So. 1 butter - creamery 28 c per pound * Ine factory cheese 10 c per pound \ 'rhese dollars contain more pure silver - . ver than tb * United States dollar. Those who deliver stock in drove3 ' ' should bring an extra horse to fe > % draw home their money. rff % Dated August 1. r % A. B. SHELDON. V- v % Mr. Sheldon is able to do what ho X' promises to do. He is giving the farm- f\ W ers of Chautauqua the benefit of the Jh * * < ffl inflated prices , which the advocates ( ip S' if of a 50-cent dollar desire and is do'n * * ' II it without asking the United States - km government to become a repudiator and i D a swindler. \ D The first false teeth fl were made en I lead plates. , B iim