Washington standard. [volume] (Olympia, Wash. Territory) 1860-1921, 1893-12-29
TO THE PRESIDENT.
OPEN LETTER BY GOVERNOR
PENNOYER.
The Governors Views as to the
Causes of the Present Depression
Criticism Of the President,s Ac.

The Governors Views as to the
Causes Of the Present Depression
Criticism Of the President,s Ac.
ton.
The following letter was mailed to
the President Monday:
SALEM, Or, Christmas, 1898.
To the President, Washington, ID. C.
Sir: The extraordinary circumstances
which greet the return of this holiday
must be my excuse for writing you.
To-day is the first Christmas in the
history of Oregon when more than
two-thirds of its people are without
employment and more than one third
are without sufficient means OF sup
port. Business is almost completed
stagnated, money is not to be OBJ
tanned, and the debtors are powerless
to avoid the seizure of their property
and their homes to satisfy, at small
percentage of their value, the claims of
the creditor. Repeated appeals have
been made to me as Governor of Ore
gon to assemble the Legislature, in Or
der to alleviate the condition of affairs
and avert the the impending calamity.
The redress, is, however, not in our
hands, but in yours, and hence my
earnest appeal TO you. The laws of
Congress, which have Disseminated
against silver and made gold alone full
legal tender money, giving to the
money-lender the privilege of refusing
both the silver dollar and the silver
certificate, thus rendering unavailable
more than one-half of the national
currency as absolute debt paving
money, are the sole causes of the de-
cline OF values, the paralysis of bust
ness, and the consequent impoverish-
ment of the great army OF wage-earners
and of the impending starvation of
their wives and children. If, when you
stood upon the eastern portico of the
capitol on the 4th of last March, YOU
had announced to the people that you
would speedily convene Congress in
extra session to carry out the pledges
of the platform to which you gave
your assent and upon which you were
elected, which declared for the "use
OF both gold and silver as standard
money without discrimination against
either metal" this widespread revul.
sion Of business, which has diminished
the value of the property of the nation
by fully one-half, would never have
occurred. And, If now you would give
such advice to Congress, the further
downward tendency would be checked,
and, with favorable Congressional leg
islation, business would again visit our
land.
And why should you not do so? 1t
is honorable to carry out the pledges
OF q party to the people, and is it not
most dishonOrable not to do so? The |
responsibility lies entirely with you.
The complete obedience OF the lower
house OF Congress to your wishes has
been observed throughout the wide /
world. 1t would obey your behest,
and in this the Senate would give you
support. The burden, therefore, rests
upon your shoulders. The
power lies with you, by carrying out
the pledges upon which you were
elected, to restore business TO its ac-
customed activity, and again to give
to the unemployed, thus
comfort and hope to many
a cherries home, or by a continued
refusal to do so to indefinitely prolong
and intensity the present most disas.
trous condition of affairs.
You are father, and you no doubt
feel grateful to God when you, upon
to rest, look upon your Sleep
ing babes, the picture Of hdalth, conse-
quent upon their having sufficiency
Of food and clothing. I pray you,
however, to enlarge the scope OF your
vision, and behold, as you can, in many
and many cot, children loved as
much by their parents as yours are by
you. weak and sickly from insufficient
food and clothing, the innocent vic
Tins of a most vicious financial policy,
whose sleeping forms are bathed by
the scalding tears of mothers bending
over them in sorrow and despair, and
then resolve, as you should, faithfully
TO casry out the pledges your party
gave to q confiding people. If you
will do so, God will bless you, and
grateful nation will applaud you.
Very respectfully,
SYLVESTER PENNoYER.