The Dalles times-mountaineer. [volume] (The Dalles, Or.) 1882-1904, 1893-09-09
WHAT rs THE CAUSE?

MIR. I. ". Powderly, the representa-
tive of the intelligent laborers, having
been for many years at the head of the
Knights of Labor In this country, has
written an open letter to President
Cleveland, published In the last Jour
nal of the Knights Of Labor, which is
very trenchant to say the least. This
letter was called out by the effort to
repeal the ver-purchase clause of the
Sherman act and by the general par
alysis of industries throughout the
land. He believes the former would
result in the decentralization of sill
ver," and would therefore be radically
wrong. What is meant by this uni
versal howl about demonstration"
we are at loss to understand. Dol
lars and half-dollars have always
passed current in this country for their
face value for certain amount, and
always will, we presume. When it
comes to international exchange they
are depreeiated and always will be
whlle they are coined in the ratio of
Is to l of gold, when they are only
worth in the markets of the world 90
to l. Congress cannot remedy this.
1t may pass a free COINAGE bill, and
while this may give an advantage to
mine owners to mint their metal it
cannot force foreigners to accept the
deprecated currency at its face value.
In other words, if we desire to be dis
honest among ourselves we cannot
force Germans and Englishmen to be
duped by any initiation of our cur
rency. At any rate, the repeal of the
clause will not have the least effect on
the currency, except to stop the drain
of gold from the treasury
For some reason Mr.. Powderly
opens the door for the discussion of the
second point, but does not cross
the threshold. He does not :hink
the Sherman act paralyzed trade.
On the contrary he agrees with Sem
ator Sherman in thinking that it
helped us tide over the Barring Broth
ers failure, acting as a buffer to protect |
this country from the shock of that
crash, but he does not so much as a.
lude in any way to the appr hension
of tariff tinkering. He does, how
ever, tell the president:
"When you were elected this coun-
try was enjoying an era OF prosperity.
Trade and commerce fourished, manu-
facturers were hopeful for the future.
For once in the history of the nation
the cry of overproduction was not
heard, and, so far as statistics GO,
those engaged in manufacturing pur-
suits were working on orders and had
no stock ahead to threaten labor with
fear of dismissal. Crops were good,
the general health of the country was
as good as it had ever been, we were
not threatened by either war, pesti-
lsnce, or famine, and there were work
and food for all. Since November,
1892, not one of the dangers has
us with visitation, and yet
we find millions of laborers out of en-
ployment, we walk by factories in
which no sign of life is manifest, we
zee the workingmen and the farmers
Of the nation-sthe first and most de-
victims of unstable money
and a fuctuating currency with
stalking but one week in
advance of them"
1t is to be hoped that Mr.. Pow
lsrly will presently write another
open letter to the president, and point
out the cause of this deplorable con-
dition of things and the remedy. He
says the cause is not the Sherman act,
and consequently repeal will not furn-
ish the remedy. Why, Mr.. Powderly,
was the country enjoying an era of I
prosperity when Mr.. Cleveland was ,
elected, and why are millions now out 6
Of employment, with starvation stalk t
ing but one week in advance of them2 ,
Be honest, and frankly confess that {
when the laboring men marched to I
Democratic victory at the polls, the :
shadow cast before by the moving 8
column was none other than this same I
stalking starvation. We have no DIS
oofition to gloat over the mlsfortunes
hat followed the victory last Novem- 8
,er; but the distress is so widespread s
hat the true cause should be ascer- o
aimed, and the remedy applied i'm i
nediately. American citizens and t
heir families are starving in almost t
very city, and humanity and good 8
overnment demand that careful ex- n
mination should be made of the acts n
hat led to the result. The scalpel
lust be used, and every tissue and
luscle must be segregated to find the :,
iseased part in the administration of
fairs inaugurated March 4th that
as SO foully impregnated the whole !.
Tstem of the industries of the nation,
'tely so healthful and prosperous
JOHN SHERMAN'S SPEECH. 81
The speech of Senator Sherman, de- ;,
vered Wednesday, is sure to be ac-
,unted one of the most nneu,orah hle of |