Ellsworth American. [volume] (Ellsworth, Me.) 1855-current, 1893-10-05
The People"


llsk|y. - fully cover, phase Of the
money agitation now going on that we
are minded TO reprint it entire 1t
eulrges upon topic touched upon in
these columns three weeks ago in a
few short paragraphs on the same sub
ject. Even our sincere but hopelessly
dcuoralizcd correspondent from tab
may see some logic III it, Following
j. the article:
Nothing could be more presumptuous
ttsn the pTeteusion Of the advocates of
fre, silver coinage and of cheap money"
to they are representing ",he people" a.
a.anst the capitalists
MS pretension has not the merit Of
originality. II has accompanied the preach
Ing OF almost every financial doctrine or
sch me calculated 20 make people believe
tbs they could get money without giving
sorething Of equivalent value for It, so
tia they could honestly get rid of their
deits without paying them In full When
tie partial reputation Of our national
dti by paving 1t of in deprecated green
hao Is was advocated, the supporters Of
TIE dishonest scheme We're quite sure that
u people were, without substantial dis
sens, ardently in rs favor
hen later the imitation Of irredeemable
psl er money was by the magic OF the
g-e :nback printing press TO relieve"
everybody Of his burdens and to pour a
I, j, i Of new wealth all over the country.
!! 4 imitation leaders vociferously insisted
Is their cause was the cause of 1.-THE
people" and that the peoples will spoke
Trough nsir months And now the free
>.fer coinage men again parade the
int rest and the viii Of .the people" as
the especial warrant for what they are
dot1g or endeayoring to accomplish
J ut ii has, in point of fact. turned out
that in all Of these instances the preten-
si9a Of the agitators 10 be the embodi-
melt Of the popular viii was false pre-
tan 'lon, supported mainly by good deal
Of aoisy impotence, and that 1.-THE people
-ilst Is. large majority OF the citizens
SIS soon as they had an opportunity for
eXi ressing their real sentiments, either
81 city or through representatives obey
Ing the command OF public opinion, were
otnd on the other side
he reason was ALWAYS the same. The
az ators for reputation, paper money in
hs'4on, or free silver coinage always COM
mir ted the same mistake as 10 the con-
1T On Of the great mass Of the people a
We as the motives actuating them. The
great mass o: the people does not consti-
tut the debtor class" if we may speak
OF = debtor class at sll.
J he employer of labor, be he manufac-
tlrer. or contractor, or an agriculturalist,
or merely householder, will almost al
was owe money in the shape of accrued
va 5es to the persons he employs, but
taey hardly ever owe money to him He
l. heir debtor; they are his creditors.
IN y are but seldom debtors 10 anybody
els, for their small credit hardly enables
them TO contract debts. Bat they are
creditors in various ways-creditors Of
savings banks, Of Insurance companies. of
mutual sid associations
he savings banks of the country owe
about LOO millions to their depositors.
wh) are almost all people earning their
d! bread by their daily labor. Il is the
evident Interest Of these people to receive
what i due them not in the cheapest but
in be best possible money, and they easily
uno ersiand this as soon as they begin TO
think about il. People Of small means
generally, whether they are laboring-men
or not. are similarly situated. Most of
til n have Invested their savings in Sc
curities Of various kinds. and their inter
est is the same
he hundreds of thousands of pension
err be they otherwise ever SO poor. are
ere iitUrs Of the government, and highly
int rested in the full value of the dollar
they receive. Business men, small and
great are ordinarily creditors as well as
del tors, and their interest as creditors Is
no .ess than their interest as debtors As
sensible men. they know that they cannot
exTect to pay wha; they owe in cheap dol
lar while receiving what is due them in
good ones. The farmers and other owners
OF real estate whose property is cucumber
Ell with mortgages are usually represented
a. ynical OF the debtor class interested In
cheap money. But the number Of farms
So encountered is proportionally much
smaller than it is commonly believed to be,
ahd very large number, probably an over
wh lining majority, of the mortgages pro-
vide for payment Of principal and interest
in gold.
The great mass of 1.-The people," there
fore, after soberly considering the matter.
understand their interest quite differently
from what the cheap money agitators
represent it to be; and even among those
who do not so understand it there are very
many-a large majority, we trust-who
ins-inctively resent and repel arguments
and appeals that are addressed to what
may be called the dishonest impulses of
human nature.
So it happens that after q period of
thorough public discussion of their
schemes, the repudistionists and cheap
money agitators have always found "the
people against them. The people" are
against them now, as the recent two-thirds
vote in the House of Representatives for
the repeal of the Sherman law, which was
evidently mere expression of public
opinion, has conclusively shown.
This indisputable fact stamps upon the
flibustering efforts of the silver advocates
in The Senate a peculiar character. We do
not pretend that flibusteripg-that is,
TIE resort to dlatory tactics in oppo: ing
measure of legislation-is under all cir
cnilstances illegitimate. 1t may happen
that tyrannical party majority in legis'
l2tive body attempts to hurry through an
important piece of legislation upon which
public opinion has not had time to form
and express itself.
If then the minority resorts to hlibuS-