The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1893-08-12


gold was flowing freely into ne 81 prsbs s de
OF Silver Purchase law Wl VIII ~, =, r.
cannot be said that the workingman has
suffered by disturbances OF me rei n,.llin,
between gold and silver, Inc + mo1 hs
mans wages have remained soo o1s1a ~
and, as prices declined, the os -
each dollar enlarged. For niin' o eoh
sidered alone, no better torIuno sb 6ouid
befall than that the condlt1Uihis a anuai
remain re- aal as they have been 1;ar vas wa never
at any time real. Behind the silver
dollar was, and is, not merely ghe 5 sane ~ =
federal guarantee that alone upn99igGiee; one
national bank note, butt II ny, Saue'io .le.
one of the precious metals. I ne mai
who doubts one dollar dou bts az, anu
he doubts the faith upon when re a,.s
every bond issued by govelcnlinnooni'
600 OF the richest people in the WolI':
No workingman ever really entertalned
doubt of the worth of the dollar ne nag
earned, nor can any one REASONABLY uoupe
that, if there had been no silver currency,
the scarcity of money long ago Moulo
have plunged the country INTO c9 nio
ton OF depression which Wou ~, na nav
forced multitudes of men into loieness.
The worst thing that could posslpIy
he that the silver dollar should lose its
gold value, and thus fall below par.
But this would simply be, IN ellecl' q
reduction of wages from the nlgneso
point, and such reduction IS posleive5iy
assured, at any rate il Nh. Cieveial.u :
tive policy is to be fulfilled. Thus re
President is in the somewhat discred1,t-
able position of mourning because the
workingman may lose from depfsclatloh
of a dollar that can hardly deprcclaGe,
while the Presidenb declares, III tne
same message, that he will proceed 20
reform" the tariff il such a manner tna1
the workingman will be sure TO LOSE
In truth, because of this menace 20
the tariff the workingmen Of the country
have already lost heavily. Congress mas
met and the long expected message mas
been delivered, and the chances are good
that the purchases of silver Will stop;
but where is the cheer for the Frustrated
industries of the country? Where are
the signs of returning confidence ana Jne
removal of depression? The stock market
promptly gave the answer of the country
to the message byslosing strength. Stlll
the mills are shutting down; still the
banks are closing; still the idle factories
remain idle; still the army OF the unem-
ployed, unable even to earn "buzzard"
dollars, swells it's ranks; still money IS
boarded and hard to get, and still hope
lessness and dismay refuse to give way TO
buoyancy and cheerfulnessc. The blight
upon business remains
The nation read the message with
faint expectation that it might contain
the single declaration that would prove
helpful in the shape of an announce
ment that tariff reform" would be
resisted. Instead, it found a plain state
ment that the tariff smashing pledge
Of ,or.fyr Wi IL he
fulfilled What is that pledge? 1t is
found in the Chicago platform. We
denounce the Mckinley tariff law
as the eliminating atrocity of class
repeal as one of the benefcent results
that will follow the action of the people
in intrusting power to the Democratic
party" This and this alone is the in
fiuence that is forcing honest men into
bankruptcy and taking the bread from
the mouth of the workingman, who is
deprived by Mr.. Cleveland's party Of the
chance to earn the dollar in the value
of which all workingmen have undis-
turbed confidence.