Barton County democrat. [volume] (Great Bend, Kan.) 1885-1915, 1891-01-22

SUBMITS of the Sierra Nevada and from the
Yellowstone to the canyons of the Rio
myse since that time voted to admit seven
States into the American Union, neither
harvest nor nusbandry, neither habitation
nor home, save the hut of the hunter and
the wigwam of the savage.
Mr.. President, we have now within these
limits, extending southwark from the Brit
ish poss, Ssions and embracing the States of
the Mississippi Valley, the Gulf and the
Southeastern Atlantic, a vast productive
region the granary of the world, majority
of the members of this body, of the House OF
Representatives and of the Electoral Col
Leg. We talk with admiration of Egypt
For thirty centuries its ruins. its cities, its
arts, its religions, have been the marvel of
mankind. The pyramids have survived the
memory OF their builders and the sphinx
still questions with solemn gaze the vague
mystery of the desert. The great heroic Of
Egyptian civilization. with its wealth and
power. the riches of its art, its creeds and
faiths and philosophers, was reared from
the labors OF i few million slaves under the
last of dcSpotS upon Il narrow margin $50
miles long and ten miles wide, comprising in
all, with the Delta of the Nile, more
than 1eGc0 square miles of fertile land.
Who can foretell the future of that region TO
which have adyerted. with its -, 900 miles of
navigable water cours :, with its hundreds
of thousands of square miles of soil. excel
ing in fecundty all that of the Nile, when the
labor of centuries, of freemen under the i'm
forth its perfect results:
DESIRE OF THE WET.
Mr. President, it is to that region, With that
populat on and with such "A future, that the
political power of this country has Mt last
been transferred. and they are now unani-
mOuSly demanding the free coinage of sill
YER 1t is for that reason that shall cordial
Iy support the amendment proposed by the
Senator from Sevada In doing so I not
only follow the dictates of my own judg
ment but AIRY out the wishes of the great
majority of my constituents, irrespect We OF
party or political affiliation- have been for
the free coinage of silver from the outset. and
am free 10 say that after having observed
the operations of the act of 1878, am more
than ever convinced of the wisdom of that
legislation and OF the futility OF the accusa-
tiOnS by W Iich it was aSsaile0. The people
of the country that 7 represent have lost
their reverence for gold They have no
longer any superstition about coin. Not
withStanding all the declarations OF che
monometaliists, Notwithstanding all the as
eaults that have been made by those who
are in favor of still further increasing the
value of the standard by which their posses
sions measured, tney know that money
is neither wealth nor capital, nor value, and
that it is merely the creation of the law by
which all these are estimated and measured.
We speak. SIR about the volume Of money
and about its relation to the wealth and cap
ieal of the country
Let me ask you, sir, for moment, what
would occur If the circulating medium were
to be d. stroyed- suppose that the &oic and
silver were TO be Withdrawn suddenly from
circulation and melted UP into bars and in
gots and buried in the earth from which they
were taken. Suppose that all the paper
money-silver certificates, gold certificates,
National bank notes, Treasury nOteS-wero
stacked III one mass at the end of the Treas
ury building and the torch applied to them
and they were to be destroyed by fire and
| their ashes spread, like tne ashes of Wyck-
life, upon the Potomac, to be spread abpOad,
wide as its waters be. What would be the
effect? Would not this country be worth ex-
actly much as il is day? Would there
not be just as many acres of land, just as
| many farms, as many days OF labor, AS Inuc n
| merchandise and much property. i'm
! proved and unimproved, as there is to day2
the result would be that commerce would
| languish, the sails OF the ships would be
furled in the harbors. The great trains
would cease TO run to and fro on their er-
| rands. trade would be reduced to barter, and
the people, finding their energies languish-
| ing, civilization itself would drop and we
should be redu"ed to the condition OF
| nOmadiac wanderers upon the priine<al
| plains.
suppose, on the other hand. tn at, instead
OF being destroyed, all the money in this
country were to be put in the possessio OF
| a single man-goId ond paper and silver
| and he were to be mOored in mid ATLANTIC
| upon a raft with his great hoard, or be sta
| TONED in the middle of the Sahara desert
| without food to nourish or shelter TO cover.
| or the means OF transportation to get away
Who would be the richest man tlie poSseSsor
| OF that gigant treasure, or the humblesg
settler upon the plains OF the West with 4
! dug out 60 shelter him and with cornmeal
and water enough for his daily bread:
| SCRIPTURAL.
Doubtless, Mr.. Pres dent, you search the
| Scriptures daily, and are therefore famili al
with the story of those departed politicians
| of Judea who sought TO entangle the Master
in his talk by asking him il IT was lawful to
| pay tribute TO Caesar or not. He, perceivinS
the pur pose that they had ia view, said unto
them: ''Show me the tribute money and
they brought Him penny. He said: W hose
is this image and superscription:" And they
| replied, "CRsar's" And He said: "Rendex
| unto Caesar the things that are C2sar's and
unto God the things that are Gods
| hold, Mr. President, between my thum b
and finger n silver denarus or penny" of
| that ancient time, bearing the image and
| superscription Of Cesar II has been money
| for more than twenty centuries IMPERIAL
Cesar is dead and turned TO clay He has
yielded to mightier conQueror, and his
eagles. his cnsigns and his trophies are in
distinguishable dust His triumphs and his
victories are school boys tale. Rome her
self is but memory. Her marble porticos
! and temples and palaces are in ruins. The
| slugg oh monk and the lazy laZzaroni haunt
che senate ouses. and the coliseum and the
| derisive owl wakes the echoes OF the voice
less forum. but this little contemporary
disk OF silver is money still because
| il bears the image and superscriptior
OF Caesar And, sir, it viii continue 20 be
| money for twenty centuries more, should il
resist so long the corroding canker and the
gnaWing tooth OF time. But, il one
of these pages here should take
this coin TO fhe railway track and
allow the train to pass over il, in
one single instant its functions would ksv.
disappeared and it would be money III
longer, because the image and superscip
ton of Cesar would have disappeared. Nj
President. money is the creation of Law, and
the American people nave learned that les
son; and they are Indifferent 10 the assaults
they are Indifferent to the argument. they
cast upon them for demanding that the las
of the United states shall place the ina g
| and superscr.ption of Cesar upon silve
enough and gold enough and paper enough
to ENABLE them 60 transact without em5ar
rassment, without h.nsirance, without della,
and without impoyerishment- their daill
| business affairs. and that shall give them :
measure OF values that VIII not make ti.ei
belongings the sport and the prey of tn
spectators
ONLY ONE IsSCE.
| Mr.. President this contest can have bu
one issue The experiment that has begul
. | will not fail It is useless 70 deny that man
, | Irregularities have been tolerated here. tha
, | many crimes have been committed in tn
, sacred name of liberty that our public affair
have had scand ilouS episodes to which ever
| patriotic heart diyerts with distress; tha
there have been envy and JEALOUSY in hig
: be- T...<.r.