The representative. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1893-1901, 1895-08-14

At our last session my friend Harvey
stated that man in Mexico could get
$130 bushel for his wheat, while 1t
was only 81 cents in Chicago and IS cents
in New York, and he stated that If we
had free coinage In this country that
then the farmer would get $1.30 in this
country, just as they do in Mexico.
have not misrepresented you, Brother
Harvey?"
Mr.. Harvey-"No, sir; you have not"
Mr.. Horr-"Well, that is a marvellous
proposition to anybody that can't think,
you know. But it is ridiculous to man:
who can use his head. The man in New
York and Chicago who sold his wheat
got more for it than the man did in Mex
leo. The man in Mexico got $1.30 in
Mexican money. The man who sold his
wheat in New York or Chicago got
American money, American money ~9-
der system run by business men who
know something of business laws. The
man who got $85 for 100 bushels Of wheat
here in this country, can take his $85
and get to Monterey and meet his Mexi-
can farmer who has just sold the sane
amount of wheat for 100 Mexican dollars,
and he can step right into bank and
leave his $85 that he pocketed for his
wheat here in Chicago or New York and
| ask the banker to let him have 1t in Mex
lean money and he will give him $170 of,
Mexican money" (Applause)
Mr.. Harvey-You have twisted what
said I said IS cents, not IS cents.
| Mr.. Horr-It has not been down to IS
cents lately.
Mr.. Harvey-The man hoships wheat
from here to London won't get IS cents
back by about Is.
Mr.. Horr-Then it is lower in Mexico
| just the same. No doubt about it.
daughter and applause.) The point
am trying to point out is, even if he got
| IS cents in American money and the man
in Mexico got $1.30 or $13O for 100 BUSH
els he could go right into the bank and
swap his SOS and get 100 Mexican dollars
| for the same wheat that you talked
about.
Mr.. Harvey-But you couldn't pay
$3.50 Of debts with it.
| Mr.. Horr-That is it. You couldn't
pay somebody debt with the same
amount. I will come to that.
HE fixes his whole theory Of money
as told you on the start, on the ground
that all it is used for is to help somebody
pay an old debt whereas what it should
be used for is to pay men for what they
do from day to day as they live and work.
| (Applause)
"Now, have shown you that the three
products, oats, cor and wheat, brought
as much gold in the five years past as
they would have brought before 1879,
when silver was almost at par with gold.
| "Now, what did the farmer do with his
money? First, understand every one
of those articles is modified by the in
vention of machinery, so that the farm
ers Of the United States produced this
last crop with large amunt less Of hui
man toll, and hence with largely in
| creased profit over what they received
in 1874, 1875 and 1876. That is esti-
mated at 30 per cent. That Is, they pro-
| duced by improv ements those cereals
that much cheaper than they did before.
Now, what could he buy with the money
he got? have first shown you that he
got just as much gold as he did befre.
There are things that farmers have to
buy, and before you can tell whether they
have been ruined by these changes you
must see how far that money would go
in purchases.
"In 1873 when this act passed, calico
averaged liz cents a yard. The farm
er can buy it now for 51a cents, cheap
ened not by cutting in two the measure
of value, for we have the same measure
of value we had then, but cheapened by
the great law of cheaper production.
Carpets which were then $1.35 yard
can be bought today for As cents. The
suit of clothes that you had to pay $25
for can today be bought for SIS. Tin
ware for which you would have had to
pay IS then can be bought today for
| 81. 20. A reaper which then cost $170
can be bought today for $40. A mower
which cost $50 then can be bought now
| for S45 A wagon which you had to pay
! $50 for then can be bought today for $45.
| Tea which cost 40 cents then can be
| bought today for 20 cents, the same
grade of tea. Sugar which cost 1211
cents then can be bought today for S
cents. Coffee today is about the same
price it was in 1873. School and other
| books are about half what they cost in
1873"
| Mr.. Harvey-Mr. Horn insists on his
human toll unit, but by that system he
leaves that human toll with no unit to
purchase what they must have. He
| throws that into the argument occasion
ally and I don't want it to deceive any
one, and I may later read to you what
Mr.. Horn says on that subject himself
You may cheaper thing with refer
ence to the time required to produce it..
but if the man that handles the machin-
cry that does it does not get enough for
work to hold him up as respectable cit
| izen in the community wherein does your
cheapening process help him any? ZAP
plause)
| "Mr Horn has been giving you an illus
tration of the gold standard by the fall
| of prices. 1 am very much obliged to
Mr.. Horn for that long list he went
through, but there was one kind of prop
erty that Mr.. Horr did not mention. 1t
| is property regarded by all people as
the most desirable property in the world.
| Mr.. Horn, you may mention oats, corn,
beef, wheat and hundreds of other arti-
cles, but unless you mention this one
that l am going to mention you have
not yet mentioned the article for which
there is the most numerous and general
demand in the world. 1t is the class
of property for which men will travel to
the ends of the world, for which men
will at times risk their lives; property
that lures men to commit crime; prop
erty which if you have in your pocket
you are perfectly safe as to dependency
at any point in the world. That prop
erty is money. (Applause) 1t has not
declined Do not let us be deceived
with. all this sophistry.
| price is relative term. We have a
class of men that ow this kind Of proper
ty that have named-money. How are
prices in that long list that Mr. Horn
read? They go forth into the market
with their money and buy property with
it. You go into the market with your
property, with your tin buckets, your
reapers, your dozens of other things you
have mentioned, to buy money, and you
| ONLY buy One-half as much money as you