People's party paper. [volume] (Atlanta, Ga.) 1891-1898, 1892-07-29

by President Whitney, of the bank
er's association of California, who
lives at Los Angeles, and he says if
the banks were called upon today to
pay what they owe to depositors, and
ale confined to pay gold exclusively,
that they could not pay two cents on
the dollar and if they pay gold and
silver, they could not pay over three
cents on the dollar and if they pay
in currency, gold and silver, they
could not pay over ten cents on the
dollar, and that is exactly true &C
cording to the statistics here. And
if the banks were called upon today,
there is not money enough in actual
circulation to enable the people to
pay what they owe the banks alone
ten cents on the dollar
Yet we are afraid. Oh, we'll /;
but if the bullion owner is going to
make the difference between the bull
lion value on the dollar, and the coin
value on the dollar, that is a conces-
sion then on the part of the legisla-
ton that they are to blame. ZAP
plause.)
1t has been legislated down to
seventy cents on the dollar basis, and
what does that enable England to
do? 1t enables England to take your
seventy-cent dollar as bullion, and it
is worth in India a hundred cents,
and on every cargo of wheat that
they buy in India with your money
they realize in London and Liverpool
the difference, and that comes out of
the wheat raisers in this country. 1t
brings the wheat raiser of India in
competition with the wheat raiser of
this country, and has the same effect
on cotton. But, my friendS, the bull
lion owner would not realize the
profit you think he would.
Let me show you. The very mo-
ment you have free and unrestricted
coinage of silver in this country it is
true that the coin value and bullion
value will be about equal. If | take
it and have it coined and own the
bullion, then | own the dollar. Then
[ have an increase in the circulating
medium of this country to the extent of
the coin that would be realized. That
puts that much coin in circulation.
Wha5 effect does that have? Wal
ker, one of the best authorities in this
country, says this in his book on po-
litical economy: "That other things
being equal, the average price of
all commodities is regulated by the
amount of money in circulation,
and this is as invariable as any other
law in nature" If | throw ball in
air as soon as the force that propelled
1t is lost it will come down to the
earth. He says that this is as inva-
riable as that law. Suppose [ have
that coined up. The bullion that is
shipped here, even though it should
reach here, there is not one penny
weight that can come here, but the
very moment that it is coined up
your money is increased to that ex-
tent that it brings up the price of
your day labor, your corn, your beef,
your hay, your pork and your farm.
Then if [ come and try to buy your
wheat at the price that we have be-
fore the unlimited coinage of silver
you would laugh at me and say: 1T
is not 68 cents now, it is a dollar a
bushel.' Who makes the profit, the
man that sold the wheat Or the man
that sold the bullion? This profit
will be distributed among the whole
people. The producers of wealth in
this country will get it. And who
are the producers of wealth in this
country? Those who toll in work
shops, in mines, in the fields, those of
you who are listening to me here to-
day, and who feed the open, hungry
mouth of the world who feed and
clothe and shelter the world; you
are the men who produce the wealth
of the country, and the free coinage
of silver will fall into your pockets
instead of the men who own the sill
yer bullion. Who owns the money
of this country? The few.
1 AM NOT DIRECTING TO THE BANKERS.
| am above any assault of that kind
upon any respectable class Of our fell
low citizens. The bankers of this
country are just as good and no bet
ter than any other class of our fell
low citizens. Idon't make war upon
the men and upon their callings, but
| do upon the system. [ don't object
to man being rich. It is his duty
to accumulate wealth, if by honorable
means. | am like the Dutchman. I
wish everybody was rich; it would
be so much better for the poor. But
| want to have a system of political
economy that is adequate to our
growing civilization, that has some
respect for the wants of our people