The representative. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1893-1901, 1893-06-28
Contraction.

Money monopoly is the nearest and
most dangerous enemy that opposes
the welfare of the people and free
coinage of silver is the readiest wea-
pom with which to strike it. Presi-
dent Cleveland has declared his pur-
pose to convene the national legisla-
ture in September for the express
purpose of reducing the country to
the single gold standard. To do so
will be to deliver the people, bound
hand and foot, into tho clutches of
the gold bugs. Gold is commodity
and can be cOrnered like any other
commodity, and to make it by law
the sole vehicle for carrying the fat
of the government is a dangerous
thing. Gen. Garfield said: "Whoever
controls the volume of money in any
country is absolute master of all
commerce and industry" To reduce
the country to gold basis is to take
one-half the metallic money out Of
circulation and thereby contract the
currency. "That prices will fall or
rise as the volume of money is in
creased or diminished, says Prof.
Walker, lis a law that is as unalter-
able as any law of nature" Under
the relentless operation of steady
business has been trans
acted upon steadily falling market
until the country is on the brink of
bankruptcy. "a decreasing volume
of money and falling prices" says
the United States Monetary Commits
sion, "have been and are now more
fruitful of human misery than war,
pestilence and famine. They have
wrought more injustice than all the
bad laws ever enacted"
According to the report of the in
vestigation of the United States CEN
sus bureau into the subject of mort
gage Indebtedness of Minnesota.
which report was published last
Thursday, the incumbrance upon
the farms and homes in Minnesota
amounts to $197, 745, $3.50. These fig
ures could, we are convinced, be
largely increased without doing viO-
lence to the truth, but the facts as
published are bad enough. Abraham
Lincoln said: eff a government en-
acted a debt with a certain amount
of money in circulation and then
contracted the money volume before
the debt was paid, it is the most
heinous crime a government could
commit against the people"
What congress will do, if it con-
siders the welfare of the country or
if it's members obey the will of the
people whose bidding they are paid
to do, will be to remonetize silver up
on ratio of Is to l and impeach the
president if he yetoes the bill.
= If President Cleveland impresses
his wishes upon congress and takes
silver out of the volume of money in
what of the people Of
Minnesota who owe two hundred
million dollars for which their homes
are mortgaged? John Stewart Mill
says: "If the whole volume of money
in circulation were doubled, prices
would double. If it was increased
one-fourth, prices would increase
one-fourth." And it follows, as a
matter of course, that if it were de-
creased one-fourth, prices would de-
crease One-fOurth. In other words, if
333 million bushels of wheat would
pay the debt now, 444 million bushels
would be required to pay it after
such contraction. Or the value of
Ill million bushels of wheat would
be juggled, by the scheme of con-
traction. out of the pockets of our
citizens into the Golfers Of their cred
itors in the east in addition the face
of their debt.
Daniel Webster says: Liberty
cannot long endure in any country
where the tendency of Legislation is
to concentrate wealth in the hands