The Louisiana Democrat. [volume] (Alexandria, La.) 1845-1918, 1895-05-22
Popular Discussion of the Public
Finances.

ing for their campaign against
gold, and their most effective step
was to secure the production Of a
book in their interest by w. II.
Harvey, Secretary OF the Ameri-
,au BimetalIic League, at Chica.
20. The book is entitled "COin's
School," and has been
properly characterized as a quack
treatise on finance. 1t is stocked
with comic pictures attacking the
'gold bugs" and this is the great
secret Of its popularity, for people
who cannot read print, or who
have no time to do so, will have
Lheir attention attracted by such
pictures.
This book which contains about
$50 pages Of letter press, in large
type, has been pushed into circu-
la,ion over the whole country, un-
Ill it is said d million copies of it
have been sold, and it has become
the test book Of many good peo-
pie, who have had no other source
of information on the subject OF
national finance. Mr.. Harvey's
book is just what should have
been expected from a quack doc.
tor-a monument of impudencc.
1t preiends to describe a school
iOr instruction on finance, kept by
d l0-year old boy, who teaches q
class Of bank presidents and pro-
fcssioual political economists the
science OF money and financial
craftsmanship. The leading men
in business and political philoso-
ply iu Chicago are declared by
name to he pupils in this school,
and they are represented as dis
playing extreme ignorance of the
business in which they have been
engaged for a lifetime, until they
are enlightened by the boy tinan.
cier. So unblushingly impudent
was the libel upon a number of
prominent tinanciers and political
economists, that they felt called
upon to denounce in the public
press the statements in Harvey's
book concerning them as false and
untounded.
The Picayune has for more than
a year been engaged iii giving in.
formation on the subject Of Nation.
al finances, Il subject which it long
ago realized would become the
leading and burning issue in I'D.
tional politics, and 10 paper in
the country has given so much at
tention to he subject. But be-
You'd newspaper writing there has
been until recently little system
attic effort to teach the people, many
Of whom do not see tho leading
newspapers, the proper elements
of political economy. Lately, how
ever, several writer's have come
forward with pamphlets to en-.
tighten he people Oh financial
subjects and to controve t the
falsities aud quackeries in MIR.
Haryey's book.
One Of these writer's is Mr.. w
3. Mitchell, President of the Third
National Bank of Chattanooga.
In little work, entitled "Dollars,
or What?0 Of less than fifty pages,
this gentleman has made an able
and popular presentation of the
public finances in O. manner which.
if it had been done a year ago,
would have accomplished vast
deal in giving instruction to the
people Oh this most important
subject.
Another essay at public instruc.
ton on national finance is by Hor-
ace White, the able political econ.
omiSt of the New York Evening
Post. In a pamphlet of twenty
pages, entitled, "Coin's Financial
Fool published by the Sound
Currency Committee Of the New
York reform Club, he successful
~ conlr0yerts many Of the falla
cies Of Mr.. Harvey's quack treatise
Edward Wisner, the sprightly
editor of the Monroe (La.) Even
ing Nt'rs, has contributed IA reply
to Iiarve,'S book. 1t is conceived
in popular vein, and contains
some valuable matter. The most
i,,,no,t,nt fhiuv in II 10 thp fIir1,ct