Image provided by: University of Nebraska-Lincoln Libraries, Lincoln, NE
About The Conservative (Nebraska City, Neb.) 1898-1902 | View Entire Issue (Oct. 13, 1898)
hns lntelj * come n messngo so strange , so unexpected , nncl , nbovo all , so pro foundly significant , that it does not seem easy to exaggerate either its im portance or its timeliness. I am speak ing , of course , of the recent Ukase of the Emperor of Russia , proposing a con ference of the great powers to consider the subject of international disarma ment. I am not at all unmindful , let mo say , of the reception which this memorable proposition has met at the hands of foreign diplomatists and native pro-imperialists. I am as little unaware of the gentle and often kindly scepticism with which it has been greeted by many clever and acute minds in both hemi spheres , whose attitude to all great na tional questions has come to be one of good-natured cjTnicism ; and whose phil osophy of life is summed up in Carlyle's axiom that brute force is the master of the world. For myself , I do not believe that axiom ; and I think that a Christian ought to be ashamed to believe it. Nor do I believe that , because some people have dismissed the present young sovereign eign of Russia as a dreamer and a vis ionary , you and I are called upon to dismiss his remarkable utterance as un worthy of serious consideration. This world has forever been divided between the dreamers and the "practical" people the men who have seen visions , and the herd that has laughed at the vision and the visionary. But , sooner or later , once and again , all around the world , some such dreamer has struck a great note , the clear and penetrating reson ance of which has waked and roused the nations. Most opportune is it , I think , that , in the ear of a nation al ready dizzy with the dream of what it may achieve by conquests through the force of arms , there should sound that strong , temperate and most cogo1 ' , ly reasoned message which rings through the Ukase of the Emperor of Russia. It is an unanswerable indictment of the enormous folly and essential madness of the international race for increased arm ament ships , and forts , and men , piled up in ever greatening proportions , until , at last , the utmost limit of a nation's re sources in men and money has been reached ; the last man has been dragged from his family ; the last shekel has been borrowed from reluctant creditors , and the empire or the republic makes its wild plunge , at length , into irredeem able bankruptcy. And this is called "statesmanship" and "the wisdom of diplomacy , " as against the visionary dreams of an imaginative sentimentalism - ism ! For myself , it is better described iu those very recent words of a singu larly clear , hard-headed and acute Eng lish statesman , whom nobody will accuse of being visionary or a dreamer , I mean Sir William Vernon Harcourt , who pro nounced the present rivalry of the great powers of the world in the matter of ships and men as simply "insensate folly ! " Has such a folly bewitched and blinded us ? Has the lust of empire and the pas sion of conquest made the people so mad that they cannot see the mischiefs and the misery that such a policy is destined to entail ? Is it true , above all , that the followers of Him who came to teach men how to beat their swords into plow-shares and their spears into prun- ing-hooks , are eager , instead of striving to abolish the bloody and brutal duello of nations , to re-enthrone it ? Are ' 'peace and happiness , truth and justice , religion and piety , " to prevail among us by cut ting one another's throats ? For one , I disown so barbarous a conception of our calling in the world as at once a libel upon our civilization and a dishonor to our common Lord and master. And so I hope that this convention will not sep arate without some expression of sym pathy and of admiration for an act so truly noble and words so greatly wise as those of the ruler to whom I have al ready referred. May God give him courage to persevere in his high and holy purpose , and may the Ruler of rulers turn the hearts of kings , presi dents and peoples toward an aspiration so generous and a purpose so truly Christ-like ! Nebraska credit may be improved everywhere. Capital is now anxiously watching Western opportunities for safe and profitable investments. By as much as the men of Nebraska by voice and vote show their fidelity to an honest , gold-basis system of finance will they allure money to come into and help build up Nebraska. Capital for sugar factories , mills , starch works , broom factories , strawboard - board manufactories ami tile plants can be either led in or driven out by the votes which the citizens of Nebraska , cast in the autum of 1898. Those votes will be for men advocat ing silverism , inflation and the payment of debts in money of less purchasing power , or for men who represent gold standard conservatism and are in favor of honesty in all the dealings of mankind. Who prefers Mexican financial and social conditions to those of England ? Who wishes the metallic currency of the United States made of over-valued silver and sold , as Mexican dollars are sold , as plain pig silver bullion in all the commercial centers of the world ? Competent men only should bo elected to servo either city , county , state or the Republic in official stations. Honest men , temperate men , industrious men and reputable men only should be called.by an intelligent majorityinto the public service. A premium upon the highest intellectual and reputable char acter should bo cheerfully awarded at each election , by all truly patriotic voters in this country. STATEMENT OF THE UNITED STATES TIIEASU11Y. The New York Evening Post , Wed nesday , October 5th , 1898 , contains in its financial columns the following lucid and terse statement of facts and figures : "The treasury's so-called 'circulation statement , ' showing the amount and kinds of money in the United States , in and out of the treasury at the opening of the month , is interesting ; first , be cause of the $10,767,000 increase which it shows in total circulation during Sep tember , despite the treasury's large ac cumulations , and second , because of the large use of gold in payments shown by it. For instance , the legal-tender notes iu general circulation increased during September $21,048,000 ; yet the circula ting gold supply decreased by $8,043,000. This was in spite of large new gold pro duction ( five to six million dollars monthly ) , and gold importations of at least eight millions since the beginning of September. But the explanation is easily found in the increase of $14,190- 000 in the government's holdings of gold coin , and of $11,128,000 in its holdings of gold bullion. The truth is that gold has now , as in the several years prior to 1890 , become the natural medium of ex change for large banking balances .chiefly because , with the present active trade , the legal-tender supply is in full em ployment. Yesterday's annual state ment of the Now York clearing-house illustrated this truth in a curious way. When the legal-tender supply is exces sive for needs of current trade , the paper money will , of course , be used for bank ing settlements , and gold will be ex pelled by export. When the legal ten ders are in normal or relatively insuffi cient volume , gold will come from abroad , and will instantly begin to do the work of institution exchanges. Ac cordingly , in the clearing-house year which ended September 80 , 1895 , it was found that in all the money balances paid from , bank to bank during the twelvemonth , only § 1,415,000 out of a total of $1,890,574,000 was paid in gold. But in the clearing-house year just closed , in which the total balance pay ments were $2,888,529,000 , no less than $1,194,892,000 was paid in gold coin or cer tificates. Of course the same influences which cause the banks to settle in gold with one another will make them by preference settle in gold with the govern ment. It is rather an interesting fact that tin's 1898 percentage of gold payments to total balances is the clearing-house larg est since 1891. " In view of the above array of solid , stubborn gold facts what have the de votees of the silver fetish to remark rel ative to the utter impossibility of the agriculture , commerce and manufacture of ths United States continuing a pros perous career upon a gold basis ? Promise is most given when the least is said. But promises make debts and debts make promises.
