The Kootenai herald. [volume] (Kootenai, Idaho) 1891-1904, 1895-04-20
GIVE ALL CLASSES AN oppoRruSrr,
Answer OF the Bimetallic League to the
Presidents Letter.

presidents Letter.
Chicago, April lev. II. Harvey
chairman of the executive committee
of the Bimetallic League. has prepared
the following reply to President Cleve-
lands letter to the Chicago committee:
Chicago, April 16.-To His Excellency
Grover Cleveland, President-Dear Sir:
In reply TO your letter addressed TO a
committee of business men of this city
we wish to say that the committee that
waited on you and the persons who at
tached their names to the invitation of
such committee did not represent a
majority Of the business men ana citi-
zens of this city who take a deep inter-
est in the welfare of this republic They
represented that class that owns money
and securities payable in money, with
fixed incomes. We respectfully sub
Nit that your letter does not present
the true merits of this controversy. You
call the attention of farmers and wage
earners to the fact that raising prices,
while enabling them to sell their prod
ucts and labor at higher prices, will
also cause them to pay equally more
for what they purchase, but you neglect
to say that your statement is not APP
plcabe to debts. With the prices COM
ing down regularly and steadily since
the decentralization of silver, our mer-
chants manufacturers and the people
generally have been doing business on a
falling market. so that the time inter
vening between the purchase of their
merchandise or raw material and plac-
ing it months after on the market has
removed the margin they would have
otherwise made. This shrinkage in val
ues, added to the ordinary risk and eX-
i
increasing volume of debt, to a money
lending period, until it has increased it,
all told public and private, to about
$40, 900 100000, or twO-thirds of the total
value of all the property in the United
States. Money and these debts payable
in money have been steadily increasing
in exchangeable value with the prop
erty of the people. A debt for $1,000
that 1000 bushels of wheat would have
paid 10 years ago. now requires the
farmer to give up 1900 bushels of wheat
in exchange for these dollars with
which to pay the same debt. The own
ers of products must now give up twice
as much property to pay taxes as in
1873. The taxes have increased as eX-
pressed i'm dollars and have doubled and
Quadrupled as measured in the prop
erty the people surrender with which to
pay it since 1873.
THE influences of creditors have dom
/ mated your administration and you in
sist upon such a currency as they have
! established as a sound currency. 1t
means the cOnlisca ton of property of
/ the people by the sale Of property I'M
der mortgages, judgments and execu-
tons. 1t means that fixed incomes win
wipe out the interest of the stOckhOld-
ers in our cities and corporations. When
you call the attention of the farmer and
wage earners to the fact that rising
prices will make him pay more for
what he buys, you should at the same
time call his attention to the fact that
it would enable him to pay his debts
free from a bondage in which he has
been unjustly placed and again make
him the owner of a home and a free
and Independent citizen.
I've submit that our minis again be
thrown open to silver and our stock of
primary money increased thereby. The
gentlemen who visited and petitioned
you represent only one class Of our
people. We respectfully submit that
it was the intention of the founders Of
this government that it was safer that
all the people should do the thinking for
it than that any one class should do it
for them. We agree with you that it is
time for the people to reason together
and to that end we respectfully ask that
you make it possible for them to get
printed copies of the act of 1892. on
which our forefathers based our finan-
cial system, and all subsequent acts,
together with the act of 1872, that re-
Versed the former policy and acts sub
seQuent thereto, as well as ali statutes
and other information of an official
nature at Washington bearing thereon.
Respectfully. w. II. HARVEY,
Chairman Of the Bimetallic Executive
Committee"
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