US Presidency
1892

The traveler could not use in a journey to the East the issues of the most solvent banks of the West; and in consequence a money-changer 's office was the familiar neighbor of the ticket office and the lunch counter. The farmer and the laborer found the money received for their products or their labor depreciated when they came to make their purchases, and the whole business of the country was hindered and burdened. Changes may become necessary, but a national system of currency, safe and acceptable throughout the whole country, is the good fruit of bitter experiences, and I am sure our people will not consent to the reactionary proposal made by the Democratic party. Few subjects have elicited more discussion or excited more general interest than that of a recovery by the United States of its appropriate share of the ocean carrying trade. This subject touches not only our pockets but our national pride.