The Conservative *
cnls or what you may , nro the worst
foes of labor to bo found in this nation.
In order that they may hurt , in their
blind prejudicea single stockholderwho
perchance can af-
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forgo the drill ,
they render idle the forest axe , and send
a crowding throng of unemployed to
other already overcrowded pursuits to les
son there the value of labor. But there
is hope , indeed there is promise , for the
men most concerned are thinking , and
the wise among them are saying , in
reply to the charges of every enemy of
a railroad corporation , "What isyoir
motive ? Ls il office for yourself p'is it
concern for my welfare ? If it * is the
latter , how am I to be benefited , by a
reduction in the size of a loaf , my
present share of which exceeds two-
thirds of the whole ? "
Men who with the courage of their
convictions adhere to and fight even for
a bad cause command respect. The
world loves courage in peace as well as
in war , courage of the soul , the mind ,
the judgment. And now in the United
States , with all the complex questions as
to our foreign relations , and with the
possibility of jeopardizing the solution of
the vast problem of self-government by
the absorption into our system of more
than ten millions of semi-barbarians
looking into our eyes there is need for
moral coui'age. There is need for lead
ers to do right for the sake of right.
There is need for patriots to speak for
their country and its welfare. Wo have
had enough speeches in behalf of office
holders , office hunters and their welfare
We need a change.
The Omaha exposition is really am
truly a very interesting , instructive anc ;
useful presentation of the industrial
capabilities and output of the mid
continental country. Every citizen o :
intelligence and powers of observatioi
and memory who visits the oxpositioi
will be repaid an hundredfold for time
and expense.
To see the horticultural exhibit ii
charge of Prof. Taylor where one car
study the glorious fruit displays from
Idaho and Wisconsin is worth a long
journey. And the agricultural implc
monts and the products of the daily am ;
the apiary are likewise worth a long and
careful examination. These exhibits
are superb. There will bo no exposition
to surpass that at Omaha during the next
ton years.
It is wicked for anybody to have much
wealth who has earned and saved nmch
wealth. But it would bo perfectly just
and proper for those who have no
wealth , and who work only with their
imaginations and their mouths to talk
that which has been honestly earned
and frugally saved away from its own
ers into the possession of the idle and
the thriftless.
- -
-
Abstract of Mr. Hnraro White's nddtrss at the
National Currency Convention at Omaha.
Mr. White said that he had treated
the history of the gold standard at the
World's Congress of bankers and Finan
ciers at Chicago in 189U , bringing it
down to that date. He should not re
peat what ho said then. The world had
advanced in knowledge since that time
and the subject was not so interesting
now as it was then. The history of
the gold standard was a narrative of
.ttempts on the part of governments
nd peoples to make two metalsvariable
n their nature , stable in reference to
iach other. These attempts were honest
nit futile. The pursuit of bimetallism
as like the pursuit of an ignis falnus.
" "ho nations , one after another , had
Abandoned it , so that in 1891 } all coun-
ries of any commercial importance ex
cept frmr had adopted the single gold
itandard. The four were India , Chili ,
Japan and Russia. All four were then
silver-standard countries. All have
since adopted the gold standard , or have
; aken steps to that end. The only na-
rion that has gone back from gold to
silver is Spain , and this has been in con-
lequenco of her recent misfortunes.
Mexico and China are the only countries
of any magnitude that voluntarily preserve
serve the silver standard. There were
: io bimetallic countries now. As to in
ternational bimetallism Mr. White
ihought that Senator Wolcott had
preached its funeral sermon after ho
; ame back from his fruitless mission
some six months ago.
Mr. White next considered the com
mon saying that there is not gold onougl
in the world to do the business of the
world. He could prove that there was
enough gold to do our business. At the
present time the banks of New York and
Boston had throe dollars of gold to one
dollar of paper in their vaults. The rea
son for this was that the West and
South had drawn nearly all their pape :
currency away from them. Gold had
flowed in from abroad to take its place
If the West and South thought there
was not gold enough to do their busi
ness , lot them send this paper back t (
New York and ask for gold in exchange
The countenances of the New Yorl
bankers would bo wreathed in smile
while handing it over to them. Th
reason for this plethora of gold was etls ;
to understand. The large crops of tin
last two years , coinciding with partial
failures abroad , had turned the balanc
of trade in our favor. Accordingly w
had imported one hundred and eleven
millions of gold during the fiscal year
ending Juno 550,1898. Wo had produced
fifty-eight millions in our own country
which wo had retained , and wo had re
ceived somewhere from five to ton mil
lions from the Klondike. Our stock of
gold had increased about one hundred
and eighty millions in little more than
one year. Our holdings of gold were
now fully eight hundred and fifty mil
lions , being larger than those of any
other country in the world , and it was
perfectly absurd to say that there was
not enough gold to do our business with.
But the evidence was overwhelming that
there was enough for other nations also.
The amount added to the world's stock
during the last , eight years was one
thousand three hundred and seventy-
seven million dollars , and it was increas
ing by leaps and bounds.
Mr. White thought that a more inter
esting subject for discussion would bo
found in the present phase of the cur
rency question. That question was
greenbaclts vs. bank-notes. What was
a greenback ? It says "the United
States will pay the bearer one dollar. "
The supreme court has decided that a
dollar is a piece of metal of a certain
weight and fineness. Accordingly , the
alue of the greenback rests upon the
fulfilment of the government's promise
o pay this thing on demand. If the
jovernmont lacks either the means or
; he inclination to fulfill this promise its
credit is impaired , all business which de
pends upon its credit is disturbed , and
the greenback fails of its first and chief
attribute , that of an honest and safe
medium of exchange. Mr. White then
sketched the several convulsions of
redit that took place between the years
189J3 and 1896 , all growing out of doubts
whether the government could , if it
would , or would if it could , continue to
redeem its legal-tender notes on pre
sentation. The various bond issues
made for this purpose amounted to two
hundred and sixty-two million dollars.
It was duo to good luck rather than to
design that the promise of redemption of
the greenback was kept during those
years. It was good luck that we had
an administration which was determined
to use all its powers to that end. It was
good luck that there were laws already
on the statute book which could be used
for that purpose , because the congress
then in session refused to enact any. In
short , it depends upon politics whether
the greenback shall be redeemed or not.
One political party is opposed to re
demption in gold. A third party is op
posed to redemption in anything. The
members of both these parties are hon
est. Nobody doubts that , but by threat
ening to prevent the redemption of the
greenback in gold , or perhaps in any
thing , they keep trade and industry in
hot water.
Mr. White showed that the amount of
now bonds issued in the two years 1894-
1890. and the interest on them to their
maturity , was greater by $250,000,000
than the saving of interest on the green
backs from 1879 , the year when specie
payments wore resumed. The cost
of preparing , renewing , and hand
ing the notes was one million dollars per
year additional. The loss to private bus
iness arising from the uncertainty
which surrounds the redemption of the
