St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1894-06-11

III It's lnccpltuus ia ttS DHttt III ONOay
hour OF It's existence it was wholly Re-
publican. :,
The law was only an aggravation of
the Bland-Allison act, IL substantially
doubled the output of silver dollars and
accelerated our speed towards Il silver
basis. There was no Justification. no
excuse for the passage OF Sherman's
law They who voted for it snned
against the light. They deliberately put
to the hazard the prosperity. business
and happiness ef 63.000,000 people IN
order to purchase the votes of silver
senators for the Mckinley bill. The
bargain WAS the most shameful ana IN
| its effects the most disastrous ever con-
summated in our history. Applause
EUROPE TAKES OUR GOLD.
Foreign capital at once became
alarmed. Our bonds and other secari-
| ties were thrown back upon us. and
gold taken away from us. The hrst
year after the passage OF the law we
| sold abroad S440Q0.000 Of merchandise
more than we bought, and also shipped
| abroad Sos. 100000 gold more than we
| received; that is, we paid to Europe III
| goods and gold Sl12. 100000. -.
In the second year after the law our
| enormous crops furnished a substitute
| for our gold. Our exports of merchan-
| disc were the largest LII our history,
| exceeding $1O.30 100000, our imports
were less than in the previous year.
| We sold more, and we bought less, and
| the difference, over $ll6.000.000. we left
abroad in payment of our called-in in
debtedness. We used our surplus
| crops instead of gold to liquidate our
foreign Indebtedness.
| When the force of those mighty sur
plus crops of 1880 and 1891 was spent,
gold again took its flight from us. fhe
treasury report shows this. The amount
of net gold In the treasury was:
On July l. 1890 (passage OF
| Sherman law. S190. 2S2.OOU
| On March 4, 1898 Cleveland
| inaugurated). . 103. 2S4, 200
| During the same period The g0verH-
| ment was receiving at Its customs
| houses in payment Of duties gold, silver
aud greenbacks, in the following pro-
portions, viz:
july, 1S9O-95.4 per cent gold. 81 psi
cent silver, 2.5 per cent greenbacks.
March, 1S93--7.S per cent gold. Ga &
per cent silver. % per cent greepbackS
SO gold was constantly going out OF
the treasury and only silver was com-
ing in.
| IHE HANlCs
Our own capitalists and banks were
also alarmed. Quietly but rapidly they
began to gather in and hoard the yell oW
coin in anticipation of its going to 9
premium. The people. too, began to dc
likewise. Everywhere there was the
shadow of fear, the dread of vague
and impending calamity. Then COM
menced the run Oh the banks. One
after another they closed their doors
Solvent institutions called in their loans
and accumulated money to meet the
threatened runs" Credits and ex-
tensions were refused. Merchants and
manufacturers who depended upor
:. bank money to meet current expenses
found their supply cut Off and were
forced to close. Failures and suspen-
sions became epidemic. Men were
thrown out of employment: business
| stopped.
THE BURSTING OF THE ''BOOM."
Then at last came the bursting OF the
''boom." The concentrated force OF
years of senseless speculation cul-
| minated in disaster and distress. Values
| collapsed, everybody was in debt. inter.
| est matured, property was unstable,
and debter and creditor stood paralyzed
and hopeless in the storm-center of the
panic.
THE CAUSES OF THE PANIC.
| 1t was unbridled speculation which
brought to US, in common with the
whole world. hard times; but it wac she
| Sherman silver law which intensified
the distress, and created for US what the
world has not had-a panic.
The Mckinley tariff. in so far as il
discouraged business and caused, as its
distinguished author claims it did, dis.
tress and depression abroad, played Its
part in this work of Generalization.
That law. coupled with the extravagant
appropriations of the Fifty first con-
| gress, cut down and cut off the revenues
! of the government and squandered OuI
magnificent surplus. 1t drained the
treasury to vacuum, and left US in the
hour of our greatest peril without reve.
| nueS or resources to meet the distress
which has come upon US.
The pretense that this panic is in any
wise attributable to the Democratic ad-
ministration. that the Wilson bill has
had anything TO do with it, is unworthy
of an intelligent mans consideration
1t utterly overlookS and ignores the i'm
disputable fact that the business de-
preston and Stagnatiou which exists
here exists in every other civilized ma.
ton on the globe; that, instead Of being
local, it is universal, and that, il it has
assumed the form of financial panic
here, it must be because of some inner
ent defect i'll our system of f.
nance. In only one respect has
the proposed reduction in taxes
affected the condition of affairs
1t has temporarily restricted importa.
tons, and thereby cut down our revenue
receipts. The prospect Of lower dutie;
has induced importers to wait until the
low rates went into effect before they
imported. This has so reduced Oul
customs receipts as to force an issue Of
bonds. Mckinley did his unclean work
we'll. He so squandered our surplus
he SO reduced our treasury resources al
to render it practically impossible tt
reduce the tariff without temporarily
increasing the national debt There
was method in the madness of the Fifty
first congress.
So far as the panic was the result Of
excessive speculation Of the past few
years; so far as it exists here to the
same extent as it exists elsewhere NJ
politlcal party Is III the leaSG responsible
Tor it. But so far as it has resulted from
political influence or interference. i
was the direct and inevitable conse
quence of the vicious legislation of tht
Fifty-frst congress. 1t commenced be
fore the last presidential election wa
decided. The outflow of gold began
with the passage of the Sherman law
the revenues were diminished and tn,
surplus squandered before Mr.. Cleve
land was elected. 1t was long before
the election that Secretary Foster an
nounced his intention to use the gol(
reserve In payment of current expenses
upon PINCH" and the issuance O
bonds to maintain that reserve was seri
ously considered by the Harrison cabi
net. The skies were red and angry
the storm was IN the horizon long be-
fore the peoples verdict was rendered
| in 1892