The Mankato free press. [volume] (Mankato, Blue Earth County, Minn.) 1879-1924, 1894-10-05
POPULlST FALLACIES
EASILY PICKED TO PIECES BY
CONGRESSMAN M'CLEARY.

voted to the Silver Question.
The Attitude of Populists Re-
garding Silver Shown to Be
Erroneous by Citations From
History-RevieW of Monetary
Legislation i'm the United
StateS--Many a False Theory
Exploded.
Following is the speech wherewith
Congressman J. T. McCleary opened
his campaign in the Second district at
Pipestone:
1t is sober thing to be an American
citizen, especially during the weeks pre-
ceding a general election. In this coun
try, where every voter is a sovereign, every
rightminded man should ponder with care
how he shall cast his ballot on election
day. 1t is entirely proper that for weeks
preceding it should receive large share
of his attention The presence here to
night of this large audience shows that
you are alive to your duty in the matter
You have come, trust and believe, not t.
accept nor to reject what is said. but to
weigh it calmly and decide righteously.
have an abiding faith in the intelligence
and integrity of our people. Though some
times swayed by passions and moved by
prejudices, our sober second thought is tC
do the exactly right thing as near as finite
man can ascertain it. This is the founda
ton thought upon which the structures OF
our government is reared. This fact i'm.
poses upon public speakers a solemn duty
These meetings may be likened to those
of the stockholders of agreat corp Grafton
who have met for the purpose of hearing
the reports of the preceding year and OF
determining the policy and choosing the
directors for the coming year. The man
who at such a time wilfully conceals a
portion of the truth is a coward, and he
who Intentionally prevaricates is Grim
inal.
The questions at issue are chiefly two
Behind all of the Populist party theories lies
the question of the means whereby to carry
them into execution. Our differences with
the Populists, therefore, are chiefly oven
the nature and supply of money. With
the Democratic party our contention is
over the question of how most wisely to
raise the large sums of money needed an
nually for the support of the government.
In the division of work this evening the
discussion of the tariff falls to my distin
guished friend, Hon. S. G. Comstock OF
Moorhead, while the discussion of the
money question falls to me-
The Silver Question.
There is one quality which charaterizes
our Populist friends in pre-eminent de-
gree. They are explicit in statement and
courageous in utterance. In relation to
silver their demand is for the free and
unlimited coinage at the ratio of 16 to 1. "
And in support of their demand they de-
clare that this ratio was maintained for
centuries unnumbered; that crime was
committed against silver in 1878; that to
adopt the ratio of 16 to l, with free and
unlimited coinage, would restore the value
of silver, would enlarge the currency and
would enhance the price of farm products
and the wages paid to labor. They claim
that the United States, acting alone can
settle this question in the way that they
propose, and they appeal to our strong ma
tional pride to undertake it.
If the claims upon which our Populist
friends rest their case were true, if even
large portion of them were true, there
would probably be no difference of opinion
among us as to the propriety and wisdom
of doing as they suggest. But, ladies and
gentlemen, among all these claims there
is not one that is true.
In recent issue of Populist organ
published in this state find statement
like this: Speaking of the purchase by
Abraham of the field of Ephron for 400
shekels of silver, the paper, after COM
menting upon this as an illustration of the
ancient use of silver as money, added this
statement: 'Yes, and even in those days
the ratio between silver and gold was 16 to
l." This is a fair sample of the utterly
reckless statements made by the editor of
that paper. How does he know that gold
was used at all at that time? There is no
account of its use then anywhere in litera-
ture. The first time we hear of silver and
gold being used jointly the ratio was
to 1.
Not only is it not true that the ancient
ratio between gold and silver was to 16,
but the fact is the very reverse That
never has been the ratio in the United
States or in any other country so far as /
have been able to learn after years of
study. Our mint was established in 1892.
The legal ratio was fixed at Is to l, which
was the closest approximation to the ac-
tual ratio that the information at hand
would furnish, and it was almost exactly
correct. In the following year-1793- the
commercial ratio was exactly Is to 1. But
from that time to this silver has never had
so high value. In 1894 the commercial
ratio had fallen to 1881. in 1895 to 10 So
and for the next % years the ratio was
a good deal nearer 16 to than Is to l.
What Was the Result?
If farmer should bring case of eggs
to town, and should learn at one store he
could get IL cents a dozen for them, while
at another he could get only II, is there
any doubt, other things being equal, which
store he would take his eggs to-?
If farmer who has 1000 bushels of bar
ley to sell is about equally convenient to
two markets, half cent bushel, other
things being equal, will determine his
choice OF markets. If he had thousands of
pounds of wool to sell under the same cir
cumstances, quarter of cent per pound
or less would be sufficient to determine the
place where he would SELL
And so it is with everything marketable
including gold and silver Each naturally
goes where it is most highly appreciated.
If the producer of gold and silver can get
more for his product in the market than
he can at the mint, that is, if it will sell
for more as bullion than it will bring as
coin at the legal ratio, it will be sold as