The Iola register. [volume] (Iola, Allen County, Kansas) 1875-1902, 1893-08-11
cd of time and then almost invariably through

4
Whereas, Silver, one of these ancient metals
i was in the year 1873 without any previous de
1 mand by any political party and by any par;
i of the people or even by any newspapers and
| without public discussion stricken down from
/ the place it had occupied since the days OF
Abraham under circumstances of such secrecy
| that Allen G. Thurman James Beck William
| NJ Stewart Daniel W. voorhees,, James G.
Blaine then speaker Of the house, James A
| Garfield, William d. Kelly and others present
and voting for the bill, senators or representa-
| tives publicly declared that they did not know
| until long afterward that so grave and great a
| change had been made in the financial system
| founded by the fathers OF the republic: and
Whereas The debates in congress show that
the parentage of the measure was in part as
cribed by the friends of the bill, to one Ernest
| Seyd, q London banker who, ii Is claimed, was
| sent over to Washington by the moneyed class
| OF the old world to secure its passage by secret
| and corrupt means; and,
| Whereas, President Grant who signed the
| bill declared long subsequently that he did not
know that IL demonetized silver; and,
| Whereas, The purpose of this attack upon
| one of the two ancient precious metals OF the
| world, was by striking down one-half OF the
money supply to-wit, silver, to double the pur-
| chasing power Of gold, by making 1t the equiva-
| lent of more of everything possessed or pro-
| duced by the labor of man, thus reducing the
4
| impoverishing the toiler and degrading man.
| kind. That these results were not only newt
| able but foreseen, appears from the following
| language, used at that time, by the then presi-
| dent of the Bank of France, who said: III by
| a stroke of the pen they suppress one OF these
metals. they double the demand for the other
metal, TO the ruin of all debtors" And,
Whereas. The awful consequences thus
| prophesied are now upon the people OF the
| whole world. We stand in the midst of unpar-
| alleled distress and in the shadow OF impend-
| ing calamities which are beyond estimate. The
| ruling industry Of the people who inhabit one
| third of the area of this republic has been
| stricken down, the property values destroyed
| and the wOrlzmen compelled TO fly as from pes
1 thence Everywhere over this broad land hon.
| est toilers numbering thousands have been
thrown out of employment and will have TO eat
| the bitter bread of charity or starye; the prod
| ucts of industry; of the farm and the workshop
| have deprecated in price as shown by Of
| fetal and public statistics until production
ceases to be profitable; the money Of the coun-
| try, inadequate for the business of the land,
has gravitated to the banks: while the people,
| distrusting the banks have demanded their de-
| posits TO hoard or hide them; mercantile houses
| are going to the wall by thousands because the
| masses have not the means to buy even the ne
cessities of life; TO supply the lack Of currency
/ the banks of the great cities have issued a
Il
called clearing house certificates; the move
| ment of the great crops, now being gath
| cred, demands a vast amount of currency
! which the banks are unable TO furnish.
/ and in the midst of these conditions the
| daily press is camoring for the repeal OF the
| act of July IL, 1892 called the Sherman act, al
/ though the repeal of that means the stoppage
| of the issue of more than .3L0D0,O1O OF money
| every month, thus shutting OF the supply of
funds for the business OF the country in the
| terrible conditions which surround u.s. and ig-
| noring the fact that to hold the balance level
between debtor and creditor the supply OF cur
| rency must increase side by side with the in
crease of population and business and in this
nation the growth of population is at the rate
| of about 80 per cent every ten years. while the
increase of business is greater; and,
| Whereas. The great expounder OF the consti-
/ tuition. Daniel Webster said: Gold and silver
| at rates fixed by the congress, constitute the
legal standard of value in this country and
| neither congress nor any state has the author
| ity to establish any other standard or to dis
/ place that standard" and
| Whereas Hon lanes G. Blaine quoting
this utterance adds: ..Ou the much vexed and
/ long mooted question of bimetallic or mono
| metallic standard, my own views are suffi-
/ GENTLY indicated in the remarks 1 have made.
1 believe the struggle now going on in
this country and in other countries for a single
Il
produce widespread disaster throughout the
| commercial world. The destruction OF silver
| as money and establishing gold as the sole unit
/ of value must have a ruinous effect on all forms
/ of property except those investments which
| YIELD a fixed return in money These would be
| enormously enhanced in value. would gain a
/ disproportionate and unfair advantage over
/ every other species of property. If, as the
most reliable statistics affirm there are nearly
| 81, 900 0O)OOO of coin or bullion in the world,
very uneQually divided between gold and silver.
/ il is impossible TO strike silver out of existence
i as money without results, which will prove dis
/ tressing-to millions and utterly disastrous 10
| tens of thousands Again he said: 81 believe
gold and silver coin to be the money of the cor
| stitution-indeed the money OF the American
4 people anterior to the constitution which the
great organic law recognized as quite independ.
ent of its own existence. No power was con-
| ferred on congress to declare that either metal
should not be money. Congress has. therefore,
| in nv Judgment no power TO demoretize both
If, therefore. silver has been demon
etlzed l am in favor Of remonetizng It, II its
coinage has been prohibited / am in favor OF
| ordering il to be resumed l am in favor OF
| having IL enlarged" And
| Whereas The present secretary of the treas.
| urv ON the f,oor Of congress- February 81 1875
| said: "I know that the worlds stock Of pre-
cious metals is none too large. and see no rea.
son To apureheud that IL will become so. Man.
| Kind will he fortunate indeed. IL the annual
production of gold and silver coin shall keep
| mace with the annual increase of population
| commerce and industry According TO my view
| of the subject the conspiracy which seems 70
have been formed here ana in Europe to
DESTROY by legislation and otherwise from
| three .seyenths to one-half of the metallic
money of the world is the mos
gigantic crime of this or any other
age. The consummation of such scheme would
ultimately entail more misery upon the human
| race than all the wars nestilences and events
| that have ever occurred The instantaneous de-
| struction of one-haIf the entire movable prop
| erty O. the world including houses shops rail-
| WAYS and all other appliances for CARRYING or
comnarca ,vbile IL uonld he felt moro sensihl Z