The representative. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1893-1901, 1894-06-20
A FLOP
EXTRAORDINARY.
A Republican Leader Comes Out
For Free-Silver.

ticket in 1896. Tom is sharp; and he
perceives that the American people
want silver remonetiZed, and the Nc
Kinley tariff bill charges cut down.
And Tom formulates scheme,-a
cunning Yankee trick-to appear to
lead up to both these results and yet
to give the people neither. Here it is:
LONDON, May 31.-The Fortnightly
Review published to-day an interview
with ex-Speaker Reed on silver, which
will make a sensation on both sides of
the ocean. The great Republican
leader sounds a keynote for future
and the tariff must be regarded mot
as two issues, but as one," and that
the depreciation of silver is vastly in
creasing the exporting business of sill
yer nations representing 100
millions of people. In the interview
Mr.. Reed says:
"You in England want the United
States to lower the duties. What will
yJu give US in exchange? Will you
open your mints to silver by agree
ment? One thing at least you may
rely upon-you will not find the Re-
publican party offering the other
cheek as these Democratic gentlemen
do For years past they have been
pOsturing as the friends Of silver, and
because you in England close the In
dian mintS, and put duty on silver
bullion, these friends of free silver
are now preparing to reward your gen.
erOsity by lowering duties all around.
One thing at least / have learned
since the cessation of silver purchases
last year-that cheap silver is an effec-
tive stimulus to Asiatic exports, and
this being the case, we have got to
consider silver and the tariff, not as
two issues, but as one.
1T is evidently no time to lower our
tariffs when the currency Of zoe, 100000
Of Orientals IS depreciating and the
exporting powers of gold-using nations
is thereby increasing. Notwithstand-
wages and buy products in India and
China is as great as ever. This it is
that makes the silver question an is
sue that we are forced to face. You
recognize, of course, that the position
has entirely changed in the past six
months. The previous enormous
compulsory monthly purchase of sill
yer, most vicious proceeding, went
far to confuse mems minds and to dis
guise the fact that there really is in
that background serious currency
problem to be solved. 1t is evidently
important for debtor nations. on
which list we stand first, to raise the
price Of silver and thereby reduce that
bounty on exports which Asia now en-
Joys. This can be done best by agree
ment with other nations favorable to
silver, and by such a scale Of hfgh
tariffs against those nations which re-
ject monetary agreement as will in
sure us a favorable balance of trade.
In short, high price for silver by re-
ducing Asiatic exports to Europe will
increase ours; add to this high tariff
and we can keep our gold at home, or
at least if sold, it will quick come back
again"
This comedies a great deal. 1t
comedies that the demonetiza-
tion of silver. has broken down
values in America, while large
ly increasing the agricultural ex-
ports from China and India; which, in
turn, have still farther reduced the
price Of our productions. And Tom
says, II am in favor of giving you free
silver and lower tariff rates. I am
willing to sacrifice New England's s
manufacturers to help the western
farmers" And then, when our farmers
begin to cheer him, he sticks his
tongue in his cheek and winks at the
alarmed mill owners, and says, under
his breath:
Don't be scared. John Bull has
got the dead-wood on debtor world
and he will never consent to water
the currency in which his interest is
to be paid. And, if he did consent, it
would take three or four years to legis
late upon such fundamental change
as would be necessary to make Oul
tariff satisfactory to the manufactur
ers of England, and to establish a rate
of parity between gold and silver, sat
istactory to the Money-Power of Lon
don and Europe. And in the mean
time we will carry the elections OF
1894 and 1896 by humbugging the fools
once more; and l will be elected Presi
dent on the strength of this cunning
device: and then if the scheme all falls
through, why England, of course, will
be to blame: and by that time the
Peoples Party will be dead; and the
western farmers reduced to such pov-
crty that they will have lost all cour
age to resist: and the United States
will have become helpless tributary
provinces to New England. See?"
Think Of it! The corpulent Falstaf
of Maine, standing on the shores OF
the Atlantic, proposes to swap Jack
knives with Johnny Bull. "Give u.s.
he says, "free-silver and we will give
you free-trade." And he points ovel
his shoulder, with his fat thumb, al
his ragged regiment of republican
farmers in the Northwest-"bu 2
shirt and half in the whole company
and the shirt, forsooth. stolen from
mine host of St. Albans." And John
and he wink at each other and grin.
When-oh when before,-in the his
tory of America, since the surrende,
of the British at Yorktown, has ar
American statesman asked leave n
John Bull to legislate for Americao
And this man Reed knows perfect1,
,nau that all the United States bons
w do to make the silver dollar wortt
w w much as the gold dollar, intrins;coi
iy. w. is to open our mints to free-coinap,
nf standard silver dollars, sixteen :,
one The moment the silver bull;o,
necessary to make dollar, can be er
Of tho Mint for O CT,