The Pickens sentinel. [volume] (Pickens, S.C.) 1871-1903, 1894-08-30
THE SILVER QUESTION.
AVERY ABLE ARGUMENT FROM THE
FREE COINAGE SIDE.

pret8eu Htnsth upon 'He '""hc"'N
Prosentat,on OF tho Ourstion thst IL
Well Worth Resd,pg.
GREENvILLE, S. c., Aug. 23--"Joe"
Johnson, as everybody in Laurens
calls him, made q quiet canvass
for Congress in this district In 1892.
He strictly tOted his own skillet, but
received very little more than the Con-
servative vote because he frankly
avowed everywhere that no was not q
Tillman man and did not intend to
vote for Iillman.
This year he Is making another quiet
canvass, speaking often to small gath
erlDgs at country places. The people,
however, have suddenly walked to the
conclusion that in this comparatively
little talked Of candidate they have 4
very able man and tho one who knows
more about the all important financial
question and talks better about 1t than
anybody else.
The following is q synopsis Of Mr..
JOhnsOn's speech on free coinage which
was declared by Governor Tillman to
be the ablest, clearest and strongest
talk on the currency question he had
ever heard or read:
Upon the proper solution Of the ii.
nancial problem depends the future
prosperity and happiness Of our people.
That solution demands thorough
knowledge Of all the principles under.
lying money.
Money is not only medium of ex.
change but a measure of value. Sugar.
coffee or nails give so many pounds for
dollar, so that the dollar measures all
human labor and sacrifice. Money has
Its price and Is bought and sold In the
markets. The rule that prices are fixed
by supply and demand applies to mon-
ey as well as to other commodities. If
money Is abundant dollars must be
cheaper; If it is scarce dollars must be
high. John Stuart Mill says that the
price OF money moves in reverse ratio
to other cOmmOdittes-that 1t rises as
they fall and falls as they rise. If that
be true the proposition follows that
when money Is high moro labor and
sacrllice are required to get dollar
than when 1T Is low. In 1870 the salary
OF the Governor of South Carolina was
$S.5OO. When the tax PAYERS went to
market to buy that S., 500 to pay their
governor with they carried thirty-live
bales of cotton for 1t. In 1893 the gov
ernor's salary was still SS3 ,5OO,but when
the tax payers went to buy those dol
lars they had to carry over q hundred
bales OF cotton to get them, represent
Ing three times lis much labor and sac
riiice as in 1870.
All political economists have 'recog-
niZed this principle as tho true one on
which to base financial legislation.
The trouble of having limited money
or contracted currency arises from the
TACT that where one man has money to
sell ninety-ntne are trying to buy 1t.
Legislation which increases the value
of the dollar belonging to the ono man
who had 1T to sell must decrease the
value OF the other commodities, the
labor and the sacrifice with which the
remaining ninety-nine men must buy
the dollar. TO show that the volume
OF money controls the prices of com
moditles the familiar course Of wheat
may bo considered. In 1882 the wheat
crop Of the world was 50000OCJO bush.
els more than the crop OF 1893 and the
aurplus brought into 1882 was greater
than the surplus brought into 1893
The supply Of wheat in 1882 was hun
dreds Of millions Of bushels more than
IN 1888; the population OF the world
had increased enormously from 1882 to
1893. Yet with Il leasened supply and
an increased demand the average price
OK wheat In New York in 1893 was 60
cents n bushel against $S1.13 in 1882.
production theory because there was
less wheat in 1853 than there was in
1882 and more people to buy IT. The
one fair and reasonable explanation is
that between 1882 and 1893 dollars in
creased IN value so that The mnn who
carried wheat TO market to buy dollars
had to carry more of 1t to get them
with. SO 1t was with cotton and all
other commodities, for thero is a pen
eral range OF prices which in tho first
instance arc liked by the supply of
money. or In other words, 10y tho aver
age amount Of sacrifice in All lines of
Duslness that is required to got dol.
lar.
The effect upon The country Of a con.
stantly contracting currency is q con.
stant fall IN the price Of lahOr and its
products. People have fixed liabilities
10 meet which require 80 much more Of
the results OF their labor to satisfy that
notnlng IS lett for comforts or luxuries
OF TO meet current Indebtedness. In
this country since 1873 there has been
persistent fall In the price of com.
modittes so that the people who depend
on the sale OF those commodities for
thelr llVlngs have been uneble to mont
the debts they had contracted and have
been sold out. The census statiat,oa
show that many thousands Of nconI"
who were land owners ten years po uno
are now tenants. These facts rouse IN ~
the people the spirit Of discontent and
unrest, such rs we have had in South
Carolina. ''''
They seek to apply local remedies for
q general trouble and by State legisla-
tion and changes to remove evils which
are as potent and as patent in Nebras-
ka, Louisiana, Texas and Kansas as in
South Carolina makes it low I'm Missis.
sippi and the same causes make cheap
corn and wheat in Kansas and Ne
braska.
Another effect Of the increase of the
value OF commodities and property is
that 1t prevents mon from Investing in
and developing enterprises and indus.
tries. The fact that money is steadily
gaming In value induces those who
have 1t to hoard 1t and lock it up. It
Is Withdrawn from tho channels of
trade and the laboring man is denied
the opportunity to earn support. That
makes hard times. All commercial
history shows that whenever for Sc:
res or years there has been q constant
tNrfnn