The representative. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1893-1901, 1895-08-07


and then it was cushioned in this coun-
try by the disputed position of silver
Ine commercial parity of silve with
golQ In 1879 was so near together, not
having fallen but about Is per cent that
| IT ceased materially and for number Of
years silver hung, as it were, like Mo-
MANNERS coffin, between the ceiling and
| the floor. 1t was hard to tell where it's
true position was. SO many misrepresen
tatlons were made in regard to it. About
| the same position was occupied by silver
| IN the balance of the commercial nations.
| They had demonetzed it until the de-
mand that had prior to that time been
on both gold and silver in Europe, and
| partly In America, was gradually shifted
| from both of the metals to gold alone 1t
| IS only IN the last three or four years
| that 1t has been pronounced, and the
treasurer at Washington, among the
| statutes made for that purpose. has con-
strued them to be that gold alone is our
| redemption money.
He says my illustration about half
| the gold being destroyed Is not like the
| wheat II one-half of that were suddenly
destroyed. In this whole argument you
| can apply one safe principle, and that
| is that supply and demand regulate val
ues, ana II the supply is cut in two and
| the demand there remains at what 1t was
| before, that it does affect the rise in the
| price OF an article the same as it would
| in the illustration of wheat, whether it
| De gOlQ or any other article.
II now return to the question of ratio
| and bimetallism. In the table distribu-
| ted among you you will see that the COM
| mercial parity widened a little about the
! period 1884, when the ratio was changed
! from Is toll to 16 to in this country. Mr..
| Horn said that said that thereafter the
French ratio was bid for our silver, and
| that our silver began to leave u.s. and UNI
| dertook to poke fun at that argument by
| saying that France fixed her ratio in 1903,
and the argument was) the bid had been
| made 81 years before my proposition
| would hold true.
Now, Mr.. Horn, my proposition is cor
| rect. In 1903 France was engaged in a
| war with England that blocked all her
! ports, and no ratio that France could
have fixed would have affected our silver
| ratio in this country. And that war con-
| tinued until about 1920, until the great
| Napoleon, as the sacrifice of Enlish sell
| fishness, was incarcerated on the island
| of st. Helena, and it was several years
| after that France got on her feet as
commercial nation and her ratio began
| to pull on us for silver. (Applause.)
"One word now as to how the cost Of
exchange only accounted for the fluctua-
| ton of ratio in this table, Suppose we
had bimetallism in this country now,
and our action had caused this nation~to
absorb all the surplus silver in the world,
which it would do, merchant in London
rushes to his bank to get silver to ship
| to the United States to pay a debt he
| owes here. The banker tells him there
is no silver in London to be had; that the
action of the United States in throwing
| its minis open and making. silver money
has kept all the silver at home. Last
year, continues the banker, they sent us
| $35, 900, 900 worth of silver, and we had to
| throw it to the birds. (See United States
Statistical Abstract for 1894, page 5S)
| But they have made it money now with
fI1H cySv
| among them the same as gold cid. What
| am I to dO?' asks the merchant. Use
| gold replies the banker, or pay pre-
MUM equal to the cost of our shipping
| the silver there and we will give you ex-
| change payable in silver
cit is a. condition like this in the Lon
| don bullion markets that made the COM
| mercial ratio in the table shown you f1uc-
| tuate but slightly prior to 1873, when the
| mints of this government were open to
| the unlimited coinage of silver. During
| all that period of nearly 200 years, as
| shown in the table, there was practical
| parity between the two metals" (Ap>
| plause)
THE QUESTION OF LABOR.
Mr. Horr-My first criticism of this
whole business of Brother Harvey and OF
| all the silver advocates is this: They
| leave out of the question the great human
| production Of labor and the manner in
which 1t will be affected by the legisla-
| ton that they propose. Their whole plan
seems to be to enable people who have
| run into debt to pay their debt without
| returning full value for what they have
received, and nowhere do they take into
account the much larger army of the
| human family who live week in and week
| out on their daily earnings. I have re-
celved letters, two or three of them, ask
ing: What do you mean, Mr. Horn, when
you say that the creditors of the country
outnumber the debtors five to one?' What
| do l mean? Why, I mean to tell the
| truth. 1 might have expressed it a great
| deal stronger than that. All the men
! who commence their daily toll the fist
| hour they have labored have become
| creditors, for the work they have done.''
| Mr.. Harvey-If the reader of this de-
| bate will bear with me until we examine
scientifically what a monetary system
| should be I will make plain this labor
| question. I want first to examine the
| science of money. Mr.. Horn can take all
| the credit out Of this discussion that he
can get when I am through with the labor
| question, but for the present l ask your
| Indulgence Let us first see what bimet-
| allism it. Another word. 1 will force Mr..
| Horr, when I get to it, to retreat from
his position that the creditors of this
country outnumber the Debtors" Gap
| plause)
Mr. Horr-You will have good time.
| Mr. Harvey-And think you will do it
voluntarily Wnen get Cnore. Will also
| force him from his position that increas-
ing the primary money of the country
| as we would do it is only in the interest
| Of the debtor I will then call his
attention to the merchants and manufac-
| turers of this country who have been do
| ing business for % years on falling mar
| ket, who purchased their goods last year,
| for instance, and find this year that the
| price has fallen so that they cannot sell
| them for more than what they cost them
| (applause) or so nearly those figures that
| there was no profit left in the business
| to them, but loss. The examination of
| that question upon the manufacturing,
] mercantile, mechanical and trading bust
| ness of the country is startling, and it
| will certainly be very interesting to Mr..
| Horn when l give him the census figures
| on it.
| Germany followed the United States
| In decentralization in July, 1873, and
| France and the Latin union in January,
| 1874. 1t has been said that Germany de-
| monetiZed silver in 1871. In that year she
| called in all the silver coins of the con-
federation and issued a common coin of
| the empire, and her minis were left open
to unlimited coinage Of silver until July,
| 1873. Applause) To say that Germany
| demonetized silver in 1871 is like the
statement that we demonetized silver in
1853. (Applause)
| 80 when France closed her minis in
January. 1874, the minis of no large coun-
| try were open to silver It's price then
began to ease off. Go back to the table
| giving the commercial ratio of the two
metals for 200 years and see how they
| parted company; beginning with 1878
| gradually the commercial ratio widened
One ounce of gold soon bought Is ounces
| of silver, then 20 ounces, and now at the
end Of short period of % years one
ounce of gold will buy 321a ounces of sill
yer. For 200 years under bimetallism