St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1891-08-28

1 UC6u SOll2 Oll. WIFI SOlilC AOl
four centuries. Gold was cheaper to
| handle. cheaper to coin, had sixteen to
twenty times as much value IN proper
ton to weight as silver, was better i'll
ternational standard in great transac-
tons than silver, and was and is
adopted as such by all the great
commercial nations of the world.
| Silver declined in value for the
same reasons that iron. copper, zinc and
nickel have declined. 1t was produced
in our mines in far greater quantity
than before, especially in comparison 10
| gold. The modes Of separating 1t from
the ore have been improved. New mines
have been opened by the hundreds.
! Formerly, from 1850 TO 1870, the annual
production of gold WAS from S25,OOO,OOO
to S65.000.000, while during the same
time the production of silver was from
$4,000 to SO, 100000 year. Now more
than sixty million of silver is produced;
the same may be said of iron. 1t was
worth four cents pound a Few years
/ ago; now it is worth one cent. For
| merly one days labor was equivalent to
| 120 pounds of iron, now one days
| labor is equivalent to $50 pounds
! Of iron. The cost of the pro-
| duction of silver is now less than
! One-third of what it was twenty years
! age. 1t is one of the most profitable in
| duStrieS in the world. 1t has made
| nearly as many milliOnaireS as petro-
| leum OF iron or steel or railroads. Why
should the people of the United States
be called upon to pay for this favored
| commodity more than 1t is worth in the
| markets of the world? The only answer
to this is that it is
4 Money Metal.
So it is, and so it will be. Our laws
now give it the widest field for useful
ness as money. We buy more than all
we produce. We pile it in our vaults as
the security for our notes and run the
risk-a very serious One-Of its further
decline. There is now 10000 tons of sill
yer in the vaults of the treasury. But
| this is not enough for our silver
barons. They want US to buy it
at a fixed value, a fixed ratio to
| gold. They want US to demOnetiZe gold
! and to make silver alone the standard
of value. They are not willing to take
the ratio fixed by market value. which
is about twenty to one. They demand
the ratio of sixteen to one. The iron
master might as we'll demand the old
price for iron or nails. The price of all
commodities is fixed by the law of sup
| ply and demand. You, as farmers, sub
nit to this lawn your grain sales, now
! that your barns are filled with plenty,
and the supply is great you might eX-
pect lower prices; but as the people Of
other countries have not been so fOrtu-
| nate in their haTveStS, you expect and
| have reason to expect that their demand
for food will insure you higher prices.
| Now let us examine the position taken
in this canvass by the Democratic
party in OHIO on this silver ques-
! ton. | have already read their
| platform. 1t was adopted only
| as political expedient to catch
votes for this election. 1t is at war with
all the traditions and principles of the
old Democratic party. l know and you
| know that if the Democratic party sue
ceeds this fall in Ohio, the free coinage
of silver will become the fixed policy of
the party.
President Cleveland
in formal letter points out clearly the
| inevitable results of this policy. While
he was president. with a Democratic
| house of representatives in congress,
no such measure was proposed. Presi-
dent Harrison is known to entertain
the same opinions. Yet, now, under
strange leadership. this scheme to
change the standard of value is
| pIGSS6u lUlO Jul SJdJ6 CduNdSS.
| believe it is the result of barg ain
between what is called 1.-The national
| executive silver committee" composed
of representatives of the great silver
mining corporations of the United
States, with some of the leaders of the
Democratic party, by which a portion
of the profits of these corporations is
to be invested in this Ohio canvass to
defeat the Republican party, and espe-
cially "tO down John Sherman" on the
issue of the free coinage of silver. AS
for myself, it is a matter of little i'm
pOrtance. have had some experience
in such contests before. l am very will
ing to abide by the judgment of the
people of Ohio. On this question | ap-
peal to the wage workers, farmers and
business men of Ohio. They have not
planted their lands with mortgages eX
cept to enable them to improve or in.
crease their farms, and are ready anC
willing to pay as they agreed. But few
of them are fortunate enough to owl
stock in mining corporations in the
silver belt. What they want is fail
wages for good days work and home
market for their productions. Bushes!
men want a stable standard of value fOl
their wares and merchandise. The pen
siOner, the widow and orphan, the de
pOSitOr in savings banks, the investor il
building associations, everyone who re
ceIves wages or has fixed salary has ;
right to demand that the
Purchasing Power of Money
shall not be diminished to advance the
interest of a single production already
among the most profitable industries O
the United States. This question ough
not to enter into the schemes of poll
ticians to promote temporary success
Democrats and Republicans are inter
ested alike in having good money o
fixed value. They have been laugh
this lesson by sad experience. Ever
severe panic in our history has beef
caused by the initiation Of currency anC
credit. After the panic of 1878 we haC
the courage to resume specie payments
We are familiar with the Outcrie:
against this policy by the very class o
men who now demand free coinage o.
silver, but resumption scattered to tn,
winds all their gloomy prophecies, ant
was followed by the most prosperous
era in our history, or perhaps in tn
, history of any country. They nov
invite us to change the standard o
value, to cheaper our dollar, TO open NJ
a new period of speculation and doubt
[ | in which the steady worker in the shol
, and on the farm will be at great disad
vantage, and the gambler in future
r will play his cards with more chance
= in his favor than are now held by tn
dealer in baccarat or faro or poker
As we now are we know that our none
is all good, wages are fair, crop
: and prices are good, productions of al
: | kinds are increasing, our country l
i | prosperous. The South freed from it
, chains and slavery and conscious of it
great resources, is inviting US to he'll
them in their development. Our HON
industries, under the influence O
the tariff, are extending to new fields
, and many articles now impOrte
will be added to home productions
1t is for you to say whether it is nc
better for us to retain the good we hav
: than to embark in dangerous expert
ment that may leave all our industrie
on silver basis, constantly falling i
value, with
Gold RemOUetiZed,