The progressive farmer. [volume] (Winston, N.C.) 1886-1904, 1893-08-15
THE HoNEsTBUsHELo OF WHEAT

R~-Oy A]C1A ga "PGAAON 49, LIN SOEP~N
short off. Sad! sad !! sad!!!
THE HONEST OF WHEAT
Mr. EDITOR: There has been Of late,
in these days Of financial disaster and
SO called ''silver lunacy," so much said
and written about the honest dollar"
that the honest bushel Of wheat, the
honest pound of cotton and the honest
pound OF tobacco has been entirely
owe looked.
This, 40 doubt, is largely due TO the
fact that few of the producers of these.
articles have had an opportunity to be
heard in such matters. While the
''gold-bugs," Or capitalistic class, have
ample time and money to secure the
best talent to write up the honest dol
lar" the poor farmer has had, hereto
fore, neither the money to secure such
talent, nor the influence to make him
self heard in behalf of the honest
bu shell of wheat.
Fortunately, however, for the past
few years the farmer has thought a
great deal, and many of these thoughts
have taken shape in useful legislation,
and brought other and numerous bene-
fits to him. And now the dishonest
bushel and the dishonest pound have
created a condition which still further
e~nforces decisive and concerted action,
and the farmer now realizes, as meyer
before, that He who would be aee
must himself strike the blow"
The trainers Of u constitution in
c~orporated in that instrument the prin-
ciple of the equality of silver and gold
coin as standard money. Both metals
had the equal and absolute right of free
and unlimited coinage. But modern
fnancieTs have violated the ~constitu-
ton by denying equal rights to silver,
and have thus ~discredited and degraded
the white metal. The basis of the
metal standards of the constitution has
been, by the decentralization Of silver,
fundamental law provided; and gold
only being recognized as standard
money, has doubled and trebled in
value, due to the destruction of tie
competing power Of the white metal.
And instead of the honest dollar Of the
constitution, the gold dollar has be-
come the dishonest dollar of the gold
bugs" or ~capitalistic class.
And so it is, that the standard money
Of our fathers having been reduced
more than one-half has corresponding
Iy reduced the farmers honest bushel
of wheat of one dollar and ffGy cents
to the dishonest bushel of fifty cents.
Formerly, silver and goId-as standard
money-represented thefarmer's wheat
product and gave him an honest 81. so
for an honest bushel of wheat; but now,
gold having usUrped all the powers of
standard money, gives him a dishonest
hushel of wheat worth only fifty cents.
Where is the other two thirds of the
honest value of the farmers bushel of
wheat? It has been stolen from the
honest farmers pocket and given to
the dishonest gold bug" Dishonest
legislation has thus increased the gold
dollar of the "gold-bug" threefold,
while robbing The poor farmer of two
thirds of his honest toll.
Let the farmer continue the fight he
has so auspiciously begun with re
newed energy and zeal. Let our motto
be ''neUer Surrender" but fight together
in solid column for the restoration of
the honest metal money standards Of
the constitution, and ultimately we
" - ~~1-
bushel of wheat, but the honest value
of every product of the soil as well.
RUFUS AIMS.