People's voice. [volume] (Wellington, Sumner County, Kansas) 1890-1917, 1893-01-20


convenience, that silver dollar con
tainS seyenty-fOur one hundredths o
silver, which you know is a LITTLE
more silver than is contained in a sill
yer dollar, as the balance Of the meta
in dollar is alloy or base metal. Or
this basis find, first, what a silyel
dollar costs the government. Well
you have the cost, ffty.fOur cents
leaving out the fractions. Take fifty
four from one hundred, we get the
difference in the dollar that is paid
the rondhOlder and the dollar of the
labOrer, mechanic and farmer. This
difference at the time referred to was
fOrty-siX cents and is greater today
than then, being now about forty
eight cents and as silver goes down in
the market, the greater the differ
ence and | would not be surprised
should this difference reach sixty
cents. | will say in this place that
the bondhOlders have all the money
of the nation, the people have none.
You may think this statement is I'M
true; you may think | will fail in the
proof, but listen: Our congress in 10
demOnetized silver. Is not that a
fact? Well, it has never been remOn-
etized, has it? These two points con-
coded, as they must be by every man
of common information and con-
science, proves my statement and it
follows as certainly that the people
have only a fiat money, as that silver
was in '73 demonetized and has not
since been remOnetized for the rea-
son that by that act silver became a
commodity and must always remain
one unless our national legislature en-
acts it into honor again. These being
facts and you knowing them as such, ]
put you these questions. lSnOt every
silver dollar that is coined and every
silver certificate that is circulating
among the people simply fat money
and would not be money in any sense
had not the government reached forth
an arbitrary arm and said these things
shall be used as money among the peO-
pie? l ask you now in all candOr,
would not paper dollar be just as
good based on any other indeStruct-
ible commodity as regards the money
value and would it not be just the
same in paper dollar based on moth
ing, but having the stamp Of the gov
eminent saying it shall be accepted
as dollar among the people? FL
nally, my friend, to conclude this di-
vision of our subject, let me submit
the last question in regard thereto.
How is it possible for government to
make money out of material that it
has solemnly declared by act of its
congress is not and cannot be money?
Let us 60 back and see how far we
have got and what points have been
brought out.
First, we find the enormity of the
public debt, two billions and more;
that this debt is based upon the cred.
it (bOnds) of the nation; that by an
act Of congress in 1873 this debt was
refunded, running thirty years, and
the entire debt made payable in gold,
,gether with the interest on the same
We find in this same act that con
gress bound or attempted TO bind u:
to perform an impossible thing, in
that we have found that it would
take several times as much gold al
there is in the world to perform it
We have found the bondholder's dol
lar cost the country fOrty-six cent:
more than the dollar used by the PEG
pie, with a trend to still greater diff
ference fayOring the bondholder. W,
have found the banking system of tn,
nation in the hands of the bOndholder
the government furnishing him mon
ey Treasury notes. at one per cent. +,
do his banking business; by this ar
rangement we find that for every SIS,
900 invested by the hondhOlder, $50
is flched from the people, and extend
ing these figures little we find tn
people are paying $780, 5000 annuall
more than is just to these bondhOld
ers. Extending this figuring over
period Of seventeen years since tn
act, we-find the people have paiC
more than s2,OOO,OOO,O 900 interest tina
was their just due, a sum just abou
equal to the public debt when the &C
was passed. Wehave seen that ther
is no money in this country, excep
the gold that is in it and that by tn
act Of 70 flows direct to the bono
, holder and we have found that tn
people have no money at all wit
which to do their business, except
few struggling gold coins, which the
catch and use momentarily while o
their way to the Golfers of the easter
bondholders.
1t having been well established tina
/ l. Ill -