St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1894-07-12
GREAT TRANSACTION DONE
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through want of confidence or through
spirit OF fear or timidity. have tight
ened or have become entirely longest
ed. In consequence Of this fact. to a
very large extent, the field OF labor has
been greatly reduced and narrowed.
This in its turn has largely increased
the army OF the unemployed, and in
many Instances reduced the wage scale
or those who still have something to do.
With capital in hiding and labor fam
ishing for want of something TO do,
economy and want have brought about
reduced state Of consumption and an
enlarged state of over-producti0n and
0ver-supply. The whole situation has
been further intensified by prolonged
strikes of unusual magnitude, which.
whatever may have been their intrinsic
merits. have yisibiy aggravated the in
dustrial condition, increased the army
OF unemployed, frightened still more
capital into hiding. and, worst of all,
loosened the bonds of organ
lied society and threatened 1t
with upheaval and chaos. In the
face of an industrial and social situation
such as this, it seems selfish and heart
less in the extreme to parade before
troubled people, as the cause OF these
Ills, the fact that wealth is unevenly
distributed. that there are few excess
lively rich people. that the relative
wealth Of the farmers to the aggregate
wealth of the country is not so great as
in 1860, that we had great national
debt and have been paying it off in gold.
and, chief of all, that silver was demon.
etized in 1878. The statesmen who fur
nish us this diagnosis have one universal
cure-all for all our ills. Need L name
it? 1t is the unconditional free coinage
OF silver on ratio of Ii to |.
While in critical times like these.
when our house is afire. as it were, and
our first aim should be to put out the
fire, and rot to dispute about the cause
OF it, you will pardon me il / pause to
make these remarks: 1t is at all times.
and III these times more than ever. cruel
and savoring of foreign nihiliSm to seek
TO array poor against rich. class against
class. There has always been,
and always will be, an I'M
equal distribution of wealth and
few who are excessively rich, as
compared with the any. But in our
country, where there Is neither primo
geniture nor entail. and where large
fortunes are 80 often and so easily dis
sipated by profiigate sons, there is no
serious menace in rich men. If there
ever was any doubt OH this point, these
trying times have dispelled it, for who
have been more worried. more haraSsed
and more helpless than the rich. Watch
ing them and their trials, have not many
of us felt like praying, 20 Lord. give
me neither poverty nor riches"
Our national debt was incurred for
that greatest of all purposes, the preser-
money from all over the world, and,
like honest people, we have paid the
debt in the universal money Of the
world. And as long as we were ell
| gagged in the honest task of paying this
| debt prosperity was With us. 1t is only
| since we have ceased 10 pay. and have
| incurred new debt. that t@eSe serious
and depressing times have come upon
| Us.
The decentralization Of silver in 1873
| is an obsolete fact, too remote to have
| any bearing on present conditions.
| When silver was demunetiZed in 1873 it
was, and for nearly half century had
been, practically out of circulation. Our
| to the time We resumed specie payment
| in 1879 was paper, and nearly year be-
| fore such resumption silver was duly
remonetiZed under the act of 1878.
Since 1872 silver has gradually depreci.
ated In value, chiefly from two causes !:
| The almost unanimous demonstration
| of the same in Europe, and the largely
| increased production thereof throughout
the world. During all these years since
1878, aside from India, the United States
| has been the best friend that silver has
| had. From 1878 until 1890 we purchased
| and coined silver bullion to the extent
| of over $24,000.000 annually, and from
! 1890 to 1893 we purchased silver bullion
| and issued paper currency thereon to
| the extent of 81, 100000 ounces annually.
| And today we are carrying upwards of
S625, 000 600 OF silver in our circulation,
us against $3.50, 900, 900 of gold, of which
| $780, 00O, QUO is or should be kept in the
| treasury as q redemption fund for the
| S346. 000, 900 of greenbacks. France has
| silver circulation of 500, 000,-
900 as against gold circuIa-
| ton of SS00.O00, 900. while India
with it's population OF 255, 100000, has in
| circulation only $500. 00U, 900 of silver, as
| against no gold, and only $4,000, 900 of
uncovered paper. While Chiua, with
| its 40O, 000.0 900 of people, has only $780,
| 900, 900 of silver, circulating on its bull
| ion value, in circulation. These figures
| indicate, if we take into account the
| aggregate OF our population and the
| aggregate OF our currency, rs we'll as
| the mode of our doing business, that
! silver has not been stricken down, but
| that, OIL the whole, it is in as much
favor here as anywhere. We have not
only maintained a parity in value,
but also parity i'll quantity
of circulation between the two
| metals We are all in favor of the free
coinage of silver under such conditions
that it can maintain itself in circulation,
dollar for dollar, on parity with gold.
without requiring an ultimate redemp.
ton fund in gold and without driving
our gold out of circulation. Silver
recommendation would In one fell stroke
diveSt US of full half of our metallic
currency, and would place US CONNER
cially in touch with such countries as
China, India, Mexico aud South Amer
lea, while honest, sound Dimetailism will
keep us in touch. for purposes of COM
merce and exchange, with the entire
| civilized world.
Those who today, for selfish purposes,
aud Invested of patriotism, see mt to
decry the course of our government dur
ing the last quarter CT a century, over
LOOK the fact that the very goodness of
chargeable with our present ills. Amer
lea has been until within the last year,
as compared with other countries. the
laborer'S paradise. Labor, attracted by
better wages. better living and better
homes than elsewhere, has flocked
to our shores in great num-
bers, and we are today more
embarrassed by this overplus of
labor than from almost any other
single cause. We have absorbed much.
but there is limit to the digestion of
even a giant. Could the labor that has
| come to our shores within the last ten
years again find work abroad the labor
problem would be much simplitied and
be much easier of solution. Granting,
| what is far from certain, that strikes
may maintain or increase wages, it is
quite evident that they do not tend to
| enlarge the field of labor or increase the
demand for it. Capital may build
railroads; engineers and firemen,
conductors and brakemen may stand
ready to operate them. and yet there
will be nothing to do. nothing to earn.
| unless there are farmers and producers
| to furnish the traffic. Ii is phrase of