The Seattle post-intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, Wash. Terr. [Wash.]) 1888-1914, 1894-10-20
CAUSE OF THE PANIC.
Certainly Not Due to Lack Of
Money, Harrison Says.
BUT THE MONEY WAS LOCKED.
Because OF the Uncertainty People
Were Afraid TO Invest. Net knowrng
what the Democrats Would Do.

IxpIASaroITs. Ind, Oct 19.-Ex-Presi-
dent Benjamin Harrison started on his
second and last speechmsking tour Of the
present campaign over the Lake Erie &
Western a. 80 today.
FogT WAIVE. Ind. Oct. i9.-After day
Of phenomenal audiences Gea- Harrison
arrived IN Fort Wayne about an hour later
than he expected. finding q crowd that
exceeded anything he had previously seen
on this or his last weeks trip. The side
walks and streets, out to the carriages
which bore the party TO the Eveline hotel.
were dsnsely packed with people who kept
up continuous cheering. The ex-presi-
dent was escorted, Immediately upon
reaching the hotel, 70 the balcony. from
which he spoke TO > crowd of fully 1900
This was another speech outside OF the
schedule, arranged especially for the ben
eft Of the farmers who could not
stay for the night meeting. At 8
o'clock he was waited on by
the committee. and, attended by an in
formal procession. escorted to the skating
rink, in which 1000 people had sand
wiehed themselves TO hear the great
Indianaian. When he entered the hall an
extraordinary scene ensued. The great
building shook with applause. Hon
Charles D. Everett, chairman of the county
committee. introduced Gen. Harrison. who
said in substance:
Ny FelIotr Citizens: When We have q
debate on l always like 10 find in the first
place the points Of agreement so that We
may go on 10 discuss the things about
which We differ. | find there is a very
general agreement among Republicans
and Democrats upon two propositions
One is that We have had a very wide and
disastrous panic, IN which all our people
have shared the second is that one party
or the other, Democrats or Republicans, is
In a considerable measure responsible to
the people for these evil times. Now that
makes the discussion easier a little.
I'VE have lad, and we are still in the
shadow OF very evil times. The farmer
has felt them, the merchant has felt them;
above all, the man who was dependent
upon his daily wages for his living has
felt them. because when he lost his Job he
lost everything: whereas the merchant,
when his goods were marked down, had
still something left. There were one or
two features of the panic that / want to
talk to you about In the first place,
want to say that in nv opinion il was not
one OF those psnics which sometimes come
from overtrading and overspecuating: it
was not relapse from some balloon en-
terprise that we had entered into. We
have had such panics as that in this coun-
try and they we're always characterized by
great deal of litigation in our courts. In
the panic of 1873, where the courts all over
our country were crowded with collection
suits, men were being sued on notes and
mortgages were being foreclosed. That
state of things has not characterized this
N hav ms
1t was not overtrading and overspecula-
ton; 1t was not validating in business
that brought this panic on rs. If II had
been we would have seen the necessary in
cidents and concomitants of that sort of
thing in the collection Of notes and fore
closure of mortgages all over the country.
when this panic began We had more
money IN circulation per capita than We
have had for many years. This had come
about In this way: In the first place,
under what Is known as the Sherman law,
the silver-purchasing law under which We
bought 1, SOC, 600 ounces of silver every
month. We issued large amount of what
was called treasury notes, SO the money in
circulation ad been increased about $780,
OO0. 600 by this new currency that had been
put out among the people. The money in
circulation had also been enormously in
creased by the reduction of the surplus in
the treasury. You remember when they
made campaign on the theory that the
country was being ruined because there
was so much surplus. They said: You
have taken this money out of the pockets
Of the people and locked il up, and il is
not doing anybody any good That sur
plus had been, by the purchase of govern
ment bonds, reduced enormously and the
money was out among the people doing
its work, and then by the increased pen
sions-which l am glad to say a Repub-
AaA
with pleasure and have never apologized
for-an enormous additional amount of
money was put in circulation among the
people, until our Democratic friends
changed the form of the indictment
against US. They scored US tor having too
much In the treasury, and now they say
We left too little. Ny point IS that the
money In circulation was so largely in
creased that it could not have been a lack
OF money that brought that panic on. Ii
was not any lack of confidence on the part
OF the people in the money that was in
circulation. 1t was not because they
doubted the value of the bills or the coin
they had in their pockets. 1t was one of
the curious features Of that panic that men
had money, and went to the bank 10 get
II; they did not care what kind OF money
was paid them-w hsther il was silver GER
titcates or not. They did not stop 10 look
AZ II, but just wrapped 1t I'D In n news
paper ana took IL home and hid IL un-
der the bed, or took IL TO savings
deposit company, hired q box and
stuck il in there The result was q great
scarcity Of money, but presently the peo-
PIE got over their fear Of the banks, and
they brought the money back. But the
banks could make no use OF II; nobody
wanted It. There were no solvent borrow
ers no could use the money, and. from
that time TO this, this has been the situa-
ton OF our country. All our banks have
been flied with money BY people sho did
not want 70 use it.
What is the cause of al thisF 1t was
the uncertainty that the Democratic sue
cess OF is92 introduced. The Democrats
said they we're going 10 destroy this pro-
teciife system. They were going 10 tear
down this house thai sheltered Us. From
that time 10 this the people have stood
wondering. fearing, drcading what might
be done on that question.
There was great applause when the
speaker concluded.
Mckinley I'm Route TO New Orleans.