Mexico weekly ledger., 1893-08-17
The Silver Meeting.
A LARGE AND ENTHUSIASTIC At
DIENCE ASSEMBLIES AT THE
COURT HOUSE.
Speeches by Hon. John NJ. Barker
Hon. W. III. KEENAN, and Col.
Green Clay-ResOluti0ns Passed
FaYOring Free Coinage at a
Ratio of Is to I.

order by J.B. Pool. On motion of r.
NJ. White, Z. Z. Jones was made
chairman on motion of J. \. Cross.
B. F. Dobyns was made secretary.
MIR. E. f. Jones then made an APP
propriate address, accepting the
honor. Secretary Dobyns then read
the call, which showed the meeting
was not called for by any party, but
by the people. The letter of regret
from Governor Stone was then read.
The Governor would have been pres
ent, only he was absent from the
State. The committee on resolu-
tons was then appointed by the
chairman as follows: J. n. Cross,
A. c. Barnes, S. B. Cook, r. NJ.
White and James Craig. The COM
mittee on resolutions retired while
Hon. J. NJ. Barker made his address.
SYNOPSIS OF Mr.. BAREER's ADDRESS.
Hon. John NJ. Barker, who has
always been a free coinage advocate
and who was invited to address the
meeting, delivered a highly appre-
ciated speech. Among many things
he said:
"Avarice is not found alone in
the breast Of the gold bug, nor is it
a creature of climate-it is not the
type of any race, but is in the breast
of most all men.
"The gold bug now, however, is
the most avaricious animal in Gods
creation. For thirty years he has
governed this fair land of ours, and
has brought more misery to it than
all the invincible leglons of Federal
and Confederate dead, who met in
waves of blue and gray and blood
and fire, and who now sleep on
Lookout mountain, Chickamauga's
mills and from Gettysburg to Gal
weston.
"The financial system of this
country patterned after the mandate
Of the English financiers, assisted
by their American allies, has stop
ped us on the high road of national
wealth and renown for fifty years,
and has made thousands Of good
citizens into tramping vagabonds
and semi-anarchists. And nov the
fight is on between gold and silver,
despotism and a free people.
"The single standard man to-day
is raising the same cry he did in
1878. He then said the passage of
the Bland law would drive all
our gold to England and fill our
land with degraded silver. What
were the facts of seven years after,
in 1880? We then had as the pro-
duct of our own mines, and put in
circulation by that act $3.50, 000, 900
of sterling silver and every dollar of it
as goods as a gold dollar, and we had
$15O,0O0,0 900 more of gold at the
same time than in 1S7S-that was
the rich harvest of q little honest
legislation.
"Mind you, | deny every one of
the premises laid down by the gold
men as a basis of discussion.
"They say money is created by
the market-that is if they are al
lowed to make the market.
81 contend that money is the
creature of the law, and the great
curse of this country has been that
the gold bug has been allowed to
make the market and also make the
law.
"Be it said to our own condemna-
ton and humiliation that we have
been dallying with the enemy too
long. We have made as gallant
political campaigns for free silver
and the right as mortal man ever
did, but with all the strength of the
mighty west and south we allowed
the Delilas to clip our hair. Just
look at the Presidents message. 1t
has some honest truth in it, but it
has the dagger also for all western
prosperity. He tells us of the awful
condition of u country, and says
it is mostly because of the purchaes
of silver provision of the Sherman
law; that MIR. Harrison and himself
for two years have been buying sill
yer with gold and that that gold has
gone to Europe, and that they have
piled up the silver as rubbish in
the treasury. What does the Presi-
dent mean by that? Why did he
not coin it and buy the silver with it
or give out silver paper for it? Cruel
and outrageous as thai law is it did
not require tit gave him the ''des-
cretion" Of staying the hand of dis
truction. That would have left in
circulation the gold he claims to
have sent to Europe. Why did he
do it? Why did Mr.. Harrison do
it? If this Republic lasts impartial
history will answer it so as to rattle
their bones in the grave.
1.-THE mean mistake of the mes
sage is the statement that the silver
dollar is a degraded coin and that it
cannot compete with the gold dollar
under any existing circumstance.
The undisputed facts are that al
though our own silver dollar has
been cut, hacked, stabbed, quarter
ed, burnt and its ashes scattered