The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1894-09-08
And Informs His Hearers that He Is
Still i'm Line with Bland for I'm
limited Free Coinage.
HOKE SMITH ON SILVER
He Warns His FellOw-DemOcratS
to Beware Of PopuliStS,
And Attempts to Show that the Business
Depression Was Due to Fear that
Silver Would Be Coined Free.

ing of Democrats was held in this city
this evening. The principal feature was
the speeches of Speaker Crisp, reviewing
the work of Congress, and OF secretary
Hoke Smith against the free coinage OF
silver. Speaker Crisp declared his. personal
preference for the free coinage of silver.
Much enthusiasm was displayed. Speaker
Crisp spoke follows:
when the F'ifty-third Congress met m
August. of last year. ii was CONFRONTED
with difficulties which seemed almost IN
surmountable. Trade was paralyzed, man
ufacturing had almost ceased labor was
idle, our banking institutions were failing
and confidence, the life and soul OF COM
merce was utterly destroyed. In so FAR as
this deplorable condition was attributabei
to legislation the Republican party was re-
sponsible. For more than thirty. years that
party had made our financial and eco
nomic laws. Until the meeting of the Fif-
ty-third Congress the Democracy was
without power: The condition which con-
largely due to evil legislation. In 1915, the
free coinage of silver had been discontin-
ued and gold became the standard of value:
In 1873 partial coinage was resumed. In lSyO
this law was repealed and soon thereafter
coinage of silver practically ceased. These
acts of the Republican party resulted in
go leSSening the volume OF money OF final
redemption as TO decrease the price of all
commodities increase the burden of all
debtors and impair the confidence of the
people in the power of the government
and of banking institutions to redeem their
outstanding obligations A law and prac-
tice which allows citizen to pay MS obli-
cations TO the government in silver and at
the same time permits him to demand gold
in redemption of its obligation is mani
festly unreasonable and unjust and, in the
nature of the case, must impair confidence
and tend TO produce panic -.
For thirty years the Republicans had
been building up tariff walls around the
country and, in 1890, passed what they
termed a perfect protective tariff law. A
protective tariff restricts trade and COM
IL 1, I'LL.
must buy and depresses the market in
which We must sell. 1t is a tax upon a
foreign product which the consumer must
pay. By taxing his foreign competitor, you
enable the domestic manufacturer to in
crease the price of his wares to the extent
of the tax and this, too, the consumer here
and pay the duty, it goes into the treasury
and is called tax when you buy the do
mestio product and pay the increased
price, 1T goes into the pocket of the Ameri-
can manufacturer and Is called protection
The location of the mandatory deter
mines the name, but the rate of the duty
determines the price. Under such a tariff
you must buy in a market where eompe-
tition is DESTROYED and where scarcity is
created by law. You must sen at prices
fixed in market where free trade and the
law of supply and demand prevails. Trade
and commerce is the exchange OF commodi-
ties.
FALLACIOUS REASONING.
"a protective tariff prevents us from ex-
IL,
wheat, meat and other farm products for
| the surplus of manufactured goods abroad.
| We freely export our product, but that for
| which we exchange ii is so heavily taxed
| as to make exchange Improbable. Com
merce ceases when gain is gone; one can
| not buy unless he can sell, nor can he sell
unless he can buy. Commerce and agricul-
| ture go hand in hand; when one ceases the
| other languishes. The laws destroy the one
| make the other Improbable Taxed crude
materials injure and depress manufacture
| ing 1t wants the markets of the world
but under the protective tariff has not been
| able to enter them. A protective. tariff fos-
| terS and builds up trusts and monopolies
| 1t creates no wealth; it Only prevents its
| natural and just distribution. Thirty years
OF such system did much to produce the
| conditions existing when the Fifty-third
| Congress met.
What has that Democratic Congress so
| far done for the people? The first matter
| should or could be done on the silver ques-
/ ton. We had pledged ourselves against the
| makeshift sherman law and in favor of
| both gold and silver as the standard money
| of the country. By an agreement arrived
| at between Democrats, determined to
take the sense of the House on the free
! and unlimited coinage of silver at several
| ratios. After full debate a separate vote
| was had on each and on the repeal of the
| purchasing clause of the Sherman act. The
| understand the question fully in all its
bearings, / have always been in favor of
| the free coinage of silver-I am in favor of
| it now. L believe the fears of our friends
| who oppose ii are largely imaginary and |
| believe the enactment of such law would
afford great relief TO the people of the
| country. So feeling, need not say that to
me the result OF the vote on free coinage
| of silver was a great disappointment. This
| question Is not settled.
THE TARIFF STRUGGLE.
with our great struggle for tariff reform
you are familiar. Thirty years Of class
| legislation has built up in this country
large trusts, large monopolies and large
combinations of capital. All these inter
ests were arrayed against US, and, i'm the
bitter contest through which we passed
were earnestly and actively aided by a
i compact Republican minority. All that
| wealth, all that energy and all that great
intelligence and capacity could do was
daily and hourly done to defeat the cause
of the people. Under these conditions our
progress was slow. The House framed and
passed tariff bill. This went to the Sen.
ate After a long and tedious struggle ths
Senate passed this bill with amendments
Finally the question was presented in suct
| fashion that we must either accept the
same amendments or have no BILL thu:
permitting the odous Mckinley law to re-
main upon the statute books. When We
were convinced such was the true situa
tion we did not hesitate moment: we ac
cepted the Senate amen .ments. and so the
bill became a law.
This bill is not all we hoped for 1t con
tains provisions deplore-provsion:
which the House, by separate bill immedi
ately repealed-and yet. taken as whole
| it goes further in the direction of relief Il
a tax-ridden people than any bill that ha!
| been considered in any Congress since tn,
| war Its reduction of rates is greater thar
those proposed in either the Morrison bill
| or in the Mills bill. 1t places wool cop
| per. tin lumber, salt. birding twine. bag
| and bagging. agricultural implements ant
| many other articles on the free list In
| nearly every schedule there large re
! ductions. In the iron, steel and wooleI
| schedules there are many reductions ex
| ceedin,y 70 per cent. On the basis of tn
| importation of 1929. on woolen manu-
| faetures alone there is reduction til
| consumer of more than Sl63, 100000. On cot
ton on felts on common velvets. and o,
| b1,ndreds of other articles the reduction Il
Greater than 30 per cent. The bill places
Tax on sugar. large majority OF tn
| Democrats in the House opposed this, ans
as the bill PASSED the House sugar I'm al
! its forms is the free list. The can
! grower got no aid from the government: tn
Sugar Trust got no aid from the govern
! ment
II have thus outlined merely the pro
| visions of this great reform measure.
! strikes at the trusts and monop3lies. Ii re
duces the cost OF necessaries OF life. /
| to some extent opens our markets a
| home and enlarges our markets abroad. j