The Newberry herald and news. (Newberry, S.C.) 1884-1903, 1894-08-15
JOE JOHNSON On SILVER.
A Quiet Man who has Suddenly Impressed
hIsnself upon the Pubic-Presentat'on
of the SILVER Question by Master.
4 Very Able Argument from the
Free Coinage Side-E~ry
Well Worth Reading
{Greenville News

-
reus calls him, made quiet canvass
for Congress in this district III lS9z.
He strictly toted his own skillet, but re-
,.eiveti very little more than the Con-
seryatiye vote because he frankly
ayowed everywhere that he was not
Tiilman man and did not intend to
vote for Tillmau.
This year he is making another quleI
canvass, speaking often to small gain
erings ut country places. Ihe people,
however, have suddenly waked 70 tne
conclusion that in this comparatively
little talked of candidate they have
very able man and the one who knows
suore about the all important financial
question and talks better about IT fnan
anybody else. ~,
The following is a synopsis of MT.
Johnson's speech on free coinage when
was declared by Governor Tillman to
be the ablest, clearest anc strongest
talk on the currency question be had
ever heard or read:
Upon the proper solution OF the man.
cisl problem depends the future pros
perity and happiness of our people.
Ihatsolution demands thorough knowl-
edge Of all the principles underlying
money.
Money is not only a medium of ex-
change but measure of value. Sugar,
coffee or nails give 50 many pounds Tor
y dollar, 50 that the dollar measures all
human labor and sacrifice. Money has
it's price and is bought and sold IN the
markets. The rule that prices are liked
by supply and demand applies to mon.
ey rs well as to other commodities. II
money is abundant dollars must be
cheap; if 1t is scarce dollars will be high.
; John Stuart Mill says that the price OF
money moves in reverse ratio To otner
co,nmodities-that it rises as they fall
and fails as they rise. II that oe true
the proposition follows that when
money is high more labor and sacrifice
are required 10 get q dollar than when
It is low. In 1870 the salary of the
Governor of South CarolinS was So. 5OO.
When the tax payers went to market
to buy that 81, 500 to pay their governor
with they carried thi,ty-five bales Of
cotton for it. In 1898 the governors
salary was still s3, 500, but when the
+ tax PAYERS went To buy those dollars
they had'to carry over hundred oaies
of cotton to get them, representing
three times as much labor and sacrlnce
rs in 1870. -.
Ali political economists have recog-
nized this. principle as the true one on
which to base financial legislation.
The trouble of having limited money
or contracted currency arises from the
fact that where one man has money to
cell ninety-nine are trying to buy 1t.
Legislation which increases the value
of the dollar belonging to the one man
who had it to sell must decrease the
value of the other commodities, the
labor and the sacrifice with which the
remaining ninety-uine men must ouy
the dollar. TO show that the volume
8 of money controls the prices OF COM
modisies the familiar course OF wheat
r,,ay be considered. In 1882 the wheat
crop of the world was 500, 900, 600 bush
els more than the crop of 1893 and the
surplus brought into 1882 was greater
than the surplus brought into 1898.
rhe supply of wheat in 1882 was hum
Gre6s Of millions of bushels more than
in 1893; the population Of ihe world
had increased enormously from lSS2 to
1893. Yet with lessened supply and
an increased demand the average price
Of wheat in New York in 1892 was SO
cents bushei against Sl.l3 in 1852.
This eau not be explained on the over
Droductiofs theory because there was
less wheat in 1898 than there was. ID
1882 and more people TO buy it.. The
one fair and reasonable explanation Is
that between 1882 and 1898 dollars in
creased in value so that the man who
: carried wheat to market to buy dollars
had to carry more of it to get them
with. So is was with cotton and all
other commodities, for there is a gen.
eral range Of prices which in the hrs>
instance are>fixed by the supply of
money, or, in other words, by the
average amount of sacrifice in all lines
Of business that is required to get 4
: dollar.
The effect upon the country of con-
stantIy contracting currency IS q con-
staut.fall in the price of labor and Its
products. People have fixed liabilities
10 meet which require so much more OF
the results of their labor to sa isfy that
nothing is left for comforts or luxuries
or TO meet current Indebtedness: IN
this country since 1878 there has been
persistent fall in the price Of COM
tnodities so that the people who depend
on the sale Of those commodities for
their livings have been unable to meet
the debts they had contracted and have
. been sold out. The census statistics
show that many thousands OF people
who were land owners ten years ago
are now tenants. These facts rouse IN
the people the spirit Of discomfort and
uprest, such as we have had in South
Carolina.
They seek to apply local remedies for
q gene raj trouble aud by State legisla-
,ion aud changes to remove evils which
are as potent aud as patent!n Nebraska,
Louisiana, Texas and Kansas as in
South. Carolina makes it low in Missis-
sippi and the same causes make cheap
corn and wheat in Kansas and Ne
braska.
.. Another effect of the incl ease of the
value of commodities and property is
that it prevents men from investing in
and developing enterprises and indus
tries. The fact that money is steadily
gaining in value induces those who
have it to hoard it and lock it up. 1t
- withdrawn from the channels OF
trade aud the laboring man is denied
the opportunity to earn support. That
. history shows that whenever for a series
of years there has been constant fall
IN the price Of commodities hard times
have come. England had an illustra-
tiou of this, W hen, in 1919, she demon
etiZed silver. She had then 10000
Zeal estate owners. Ten years later she
had but o0.00D. The people were sold
out, ruined in the steady rise in the
price Of money.
A greal deal is said about "honest
mou,y." The only honest mopey is
money which always measures the
same average requirement Of labor
or sacrifice 10 obtain it. A money
to be honest must keep pace with the
increase in business and population.
With any other kind of money there
must be contraction. In this country
whenever a railroad is built or a fac