The representative. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1893-1901, 1894-08-08

globe are waiting in prayerful patience to
see this country give some proof of its
courage; and while the old parties have
halted in fear and trembling; the industrial
classes OF the whole world have continued
to suffer, and tens of thousands have sunk
into degradation and death.
"Cowards are cruel, but fhe brave
Love mercy and delight to save"
We should have free coinage of silver
OF Horace Greedy, the way to resume is
10 resume" When by law 16Iparts of silver
are declared to be equal to one part of gold
our people viii not want to Exchange silver
LOT gold any more than they wanted to ex-
chaHge paper money for gold or silver on
the day specie payment was resumed.
Another cry which isl used as a kind of
bogle man. to frighten little children. and
which is very effective with men who de-
pend on others to do their thinking for
them, is the idiotic wall about fiat money
This epthet is always supposed to answer
any argument in favor of the free coin
age of silver, or in favor of any proposition
Ior the issue by the government of suf-
nclent currency to enable the people to
transact the ordinary business of the coun-
try. Yet all money is fiat money Fiat is
the vital and elementary essence in money:
the thing which makes the difference be-
tween mere slip of paper and a fifty dollar
oiAi' 'hC tHlHS WHICH makes the difference
between the silver bullion and the silver
dollars, and last but by no means least tho
tnlng which gives the insignificant gold
product or the world the power it has so
iong possessed and SO crully exercised. of
battling for the strong against the weak
Oh ropplng the poor to pamper the rich and
y! AoldlnS IN darkness and chains the best
oiood and brain of the human race What
more worthless metal would there be on
earth than gold should some Delilah fan
upon 1t, shear it of its fiat tresses and ex-
pose IL IN all its puny helplessness to the
eaplng crowd who in the 18th century fab
down and worship it with the same super
stltlous Veneratlon as did the Israelites of
old.
Still another threat is made. that to restore
silver to :ts rightful place IN our coinage
would result in driving all the gold out of
the country. Suppose it did Would the
country lose any of its real capital?
Inc difference between the gold theory
ana the theory of honest bimetallism is
luhdaplentaL The former ranks capital
above labor, the latter places labor above
capital The theory CT bimbetallism is that
man makes the money. The theory of the
gold standard is that money
makes the man. The one is the
worship of the golden calf the other of
the true and living God. The one is a be-
def in the divine rights of kings. the other
History repeats itself. The Israelites were
punished for their worship of a golden idol
ana retrlbut1on has fallen upon us in these
latter days for the same sin We need
new financial dispensation. 1t is at hand
CHRIST drove the money changers from the
temple. The people, whose government this
is, will as surely drive the gold gamblers
from the national capitol. Again. there
should be government control of railroads.
nave been slow to adopt this theory.
ana nave given it much study of late
years. The success which has followed
municipal ownership of light and water
works, and the dangerous growth of pow
er IN private corpora tons, the Wholesale
robberies perpetrated by them upon the
stockholders. the people and the govern
ment, their attempts to influence legisla ton
ny bribery and to control prices by con-
splracy. and the inability of the railroads
as common carriers to meet the business
requirements of the country without fed
eral assistance, all point to government
ownership as the only solution of these
evils.
rms suggests another question close akin
10 the money question and one which de-
mands the thoughtful attention of every
patriotic citizen. The constitution of the
nlted states expressly prohibits congress
or any of the states from comforting any
ute OF nobility. The plain purpose of the
trainers of the constitution was to pre-
zens of the United States. Yet under the
special privileges given in this country to
corporations, abuses have grown up which
are subsersive of the liberties of the peo-
PIE ana contrary to the spirit of our whole
political system. The barons of old re-
celved, individually. letters patent of no.
bllity. The barons of our time receive, col
lect1Vely, charters comforting upon them
greater power and property rights than
any of the feudal lords of olden time The
ir,I;,
individually responsible to the king for
the abuse of his power and amenable to
poth church and state for violations of the
civil and ecclesiastical law The modern
lord is mere legal entity, with no heart
to feel, no body to punish and no soul
to save.
There is. in my Judgment no two dan
gers which so threaten life, liberty. and
the pursuit of happiness in this country
as the gold fetch and the corporation oc-
topus. They are partners-twin relics of
barbarism; and unless the people can soon
be aroused. by patriotic appeals, to a solu-
ton OF these grave questions at the bal
lot box, no one will care to forecast our
future.
iii fares the land to fastening ills a prey
Where wealth accumulates and men decay:
Trusts and corporations may flourish or
may fade
A breath can make them, as a brea tn
has made
But bold peasantry, their country's pride
When once destroyed can never be sup
Piled
The principal stock in trade of the news
papers dominated by the money power, is
abuse of those who favor free silver coin
age or an expansion of our currency
Their editorials TEEN with the terms crank
1mbeclle, demagogue etc, as applied to all
who favor honest money and who oppose
legislation which discriminates in favor of
the gold of the few and against the sill
yer of the many. These denuncations
may brighten the timd but they have no
terrors for men who do their own think
ing and their voting.
The old anti-slavery advocates We're all
called cranks. abolitionists and fanatics.
equality Lincoln and his associates were
persistently accused of being black Re-
publicans and yankees.
They were not frightened by epithets or
swerved one hairs breadth by billngsgate.
The martyrdom of Lovejoy. the abolition
list, and Lincoln, the black Republican,
are the monuments which mark the grave
of human slavery. Though John Brown
was legally convicted and hanged for trea-
son, his soul goes marching on! Time is
a great leveler! Terms of reproach ap-
piled to men of patriotic purpose, have no
deterring power. They can bear them now
with patience that they may wear them
hereafter with honor.
W. H. SMALLWOOD.
Duluth, Aug. 2, 1894
FISK AND McCLEARY.
An Interesting Debate May Come