Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1893-09-02
Cranky IntrOductiOns.

| large as a sheet or wrapping paper. and
| some were in typewriter under the business
| letter heads OF the writer's.
| Cranky IntrOductiOns.
l A number of these letters came from
| cranks. There are in nearly every COM
muniry in the United States one or more
| men who think they can advise the Pres
| ident and his cabinet on all sorts of ques-
| tons and they don't fail to do So a look
at the introductions of some of these let
tiers gives an idea of the people. Here Is
one from the west:
HON. JAMES G. CARLISLE
Secretary of the Treasury,
Washington, D. g.
4 want to say a little about the Silver
although great financial Minds are giving
this question careful attention still q hum
Die person may advance an idea worthy of
constdera ton l think it is a great mis-
take that the present dollar was ever coin
ed. etc, etc.
The letter goes on to the extent of two
rect OF fooIscap paper, the sheets of which
are pasted together In one continuous strip.
10 say that the writer does not believe in
free coinage and to propose that the sill
yer dollar should be limited to AGO grains
You note that the writer speaks of him
self as "a humble person"
The most of these writers are humble.
Here Is one from Missouri:
SECRETARY CARLISLE,
Washington, D. G.
We. though a humble farmer. would
Ike to ask your honor a few questions
concerning the financial situation of our
party to depart from Jeffersonian princi-
Piles on the silver question? we
have the utmost confidence In you as a
discrimination against silver under t1eye-
lands administration
Letters From bankers.
Many of these letters are from business
men. Not a few Of them are well written.
and contain good suggestions. A big Ohio
business man introduces himself as follows:
Mi
Hon. JOHN G. CARLISLE.
Warrington, ID. c.
My Dear Sir: Drops from Heaven make
oceans Drops from individuals have been
known to change governments. A drop
from one as obscure as myself might work
The man then went on to say that
the trouble lies in the national banks He
stated that the people have lost confidence
so that no one connected with a bank, from
the president down. should have the right to
borrow of the bank.
A letter from one of the best known New
York bankers, in speaking of the strin-
gency of the money market, says:
why, had :,0n man in my office today
erty. which, at an extremely low valuation.
is worth more than a million and a half of
dollars He cannot get extensions. and he.
This banker urges that something be done
at once. and says that Congress will have
corpse to deal with II 1t does not act very
A letter from a Baltimore banker reads as
follows:
Treasury.
Dear sir: As a sound democrat. Cleve-
protest against any refusal to redeem, the
treasury notes of 1880 in gold" The letter
then goes on to say why he protests and to
predict a panic.
Some Of the letters come from foreign
countries. famous bimetallist OF Eng
land writes hfteen pages of typcwritinz
rency question. and there is a letter from
one of the most famous ex-Sena tors Of the
south advising Secretary Carlisle to adopt
his views, and thereby become the next
President of the United States
Down ON Wall street.
A large part of the correspondence is
filled with denunciations of Wall street
Here Is letter from New York, which is a
fair sample Of this class:
Zion. Secretary Carlisle. BuzzarJs Bay,
81 thank you, honor you, Pay no at
tention to the banks or bankers. except to
be sure the proper officer watches them.
They will bear that, Wall street reflects
the fires of hell raging in the speculative
bosom now. The best of the bankers can
not refrain from bias. The country is all
right. Sooiiy pursue the even tenor of your
| way. The country is rich. Crops good.
Health good and the good Lord over us all
We have confidence that the fearless and
headed and neither fears friend nor foe.
Country first. party afterward.
"(SigneO YOUR ADMIRER."
Another letter from a Pennsylvania law
''Hon. John G. Carlisle. Washington. d. c.
My Dear Sir: For Gods sake keep our
| kings. the bullion brokers. the railroad
wreckers. the stock gamblers and such like
The letter goes ON in favor Of free COIN
/ age. and concludes with an appeal to Mr..
Carlisle to stand up for the sake of the
party.
| Wants the Government to Act as
| Banker.
One of these anti-banking letters is writ
ten on eight thin strips of paper about two
| inches wide and twelve inches long. It is
closed with a request that the writer be
pardoned for not copying his notes, as he
Is very busy. His eight pages begin as fol-
To the Hon. Secretary of the Treasury:
Dear Sir: Your position of relying upon
York bankers IS the correct one. The
banks are no more nor less than an i'm
mense money trust, organized to enrich
themselves at the expense of the whole
country. Bank stocks in twenty-five years
In New York city have risen from par or
below to from $40 TO $3.50 per cent. The
government ought to do a general banking
business. 1t ought to send money from
place to place. 1t ought to issue 500, 0OO, 900
at IL per cent and form a safe and con-
venient method for the investment of saw
ings all over the country. Let every citi-
zen be stockholder in the government
and We be all right. The people are with
you. Be courageous, as you have thus
far and all will come out we'll"
My next letter Is from a newspaper edi-
tor. He lives in Illinois, and compliments
| the Secretary on his standing out against
| the banks and Wall street.
Another letter. from Tennessee. de-
nounces the Wall street brokers as thieves
| and underscores the words the people say
down with Wall street This man is a
| wholesale cigar dealer, and he is anxious
| to have state banks.
Want to Pay the Pensions I'm Silver.
| A large number Of these letters suggest
| various ways of getting our silver into cir
| culation. One is as follows:
| Wilmington. ILL.,. August 2 1893.
To Secretary United States Treasury,
Washington ID. c.
| Why not pay the pensions in silver?
| Yours respectfully,
| (Signed)
| A New York letter on page of legal cap
| advises Secretary Carlisle to see that sill
I yer banks be created and that the silver
| war be closed in this way. Another party
/ advises that the silver be shipped out of
| the country in the place of one and two
| dollar notes and states that the women of
| the United States would so object to the use
Of the silver dollar that no man would dare
I to raise his voice in favor of 1t. On the
| other hand. a farmer telegraphs from Wis
| cOnSin asking that silver be kept as the
/ standard of value. and another farmer