The Austin weekly statesman. (Austin, Tex.) 1883-1898, 1895-05-30

Memphis Tenn. May 23.-At the sound
money conference called TO order here 10
day Secretary of the Treasury John q
Carlisle was introduced to deliver M
promised speech His appearance was the
signal for round after round Of cheers
After quiet had been restored the scc"c
tary spoke as follows:
Mr.. President and Gentlemen of the Con.
yentiOn
/ congratulate myself upon my good
fortune i'm having the opportunity to APP
pear before this large assembEage OF
Southern business men, and congratulate
the people of the South upon their good
fortune in being able to send here 50
many real representatives of their indus
trial and commercial interests. 1t has
frequently been my privilege to address
commercial and financial organizations i'll
other parts of the country, but nowhere
have / met a greater number of earnest
and intelligent gentlemen than | see be-
fore me today. | am sure that nothing
less than full appreciation Of the vast i'm
portance of the questions to be considered
could have secured the attendance of 50
large a number of active business men
upon this occasion, and the fact that they
have voluntarily abandoned their usual
avocations to participate in the proceed
ings of this convention encourages me to
believe that their efforts in behalf of a
sound financial policy will not cease when
it has adjourned.
Mr. President, | do think the import
ance of the questions you are called TO
consider can be overcstimated, or that the
gravity of the situation can be over stated.
The proposition to revolutiOniZe our none
tary system and thus destroy the credit of
the government and the people at home
and abroad violate the obligations of all
contracts, unsettle all eXchangoable values,
reduce the wages of the labOrcr, cXpel
capital from our country, and seriously
otstruct the trade of our people among
themselves and with the peoples of other
countries, is one which challenges the in
fclligencc, patriotism, and commercial
honor of every man to whom 1T is address
ed. No matter what may be the real pur-
poses and motives of those who make the
proposition to legalizc the free and I'M
limited coinage of silver at the ratio of IL
to /, these are the consequences involved
in their scheme, and in my opinion, they
can not be avoided if it should be adopted.
In no part of the country Will the conSc
quences of suuh policy prove more lnJur-
iOus to the material interests of the people
than in the undevelopcd and progressive
South. When the great civil war closed,
your industrial system was destroyed,
your commercial relations were all broken
up, your currency was worthless, your
farms were devastated, your mines were
closed, your forests were untouched, your
water power was useless, and your rail-
ways unsafe and inadequate, even Tor the
limited service they had ITO performs; but
your great natural resources were Stlll
unimparrcd and upon that foundation
YOU have constructed, and are still con-
structing, system of diversified indus
tries and interstate and international
commerce which, if not disturbed by
unwise experiments in financial lcgiS'
lation, must attract 10 your sec
tion of the country all the active
capital and skilled labor necessary TO
make it the most prosperous part OF the
continent. Your magnificent deposits OF
coal and iron, your fertile soil, adapted to
the growth Of cotton, sugar, and many 9th
er products which no other part of the
country will yield, your unrivallcd tacil-
ties for the manufacture of iron and steel,
cotton goods, lumber, oil, furniture, ana
almost innumerable other articles which
can be cheaply produced from the raw ma
terials within your limits, constitute the
elements of marvellous growth and pros
perity which nothing can prevent if the
people of the South will continue TO eX-
hibit in the future the same spirit of CON
servatiSm and the same devotion TO prln-
ciple that have always characterized them
in the past. The world has never witness
ed a grander exhibition of courage and for
titude than was presented when a defeat
ed and impoverished people. without mon
ey or credit, and almost destitute of the
tools and implements necessary to the
performance of manual labor, went uncom-
plainingly to work to re-establiSh their So
cial order, renew their commercial rela-
lions, and reconstruct their industrial Sys-
tenn; and | am unwilling TO believe that
the same people can now be discouraged
by a temporary business depression, or
so moved by appeals 10 their preiudiccs,
that they will hastily resort to new and
hazardous experiments with the currency
in which all their transactions must be
conducted.
| do not charge that our fellow citizens
VIM l'lNlbSN ~ I'NOlullbUlLt our monetary
system by 4 sudden change in the standard
of value really desire to see the business
of the country ruined, or even injured. or
that they believe any injurious conse-
quences would follow the adoption of
their policy, but, in my Judgment. the
results would be most disastrous to the
material interests of all the people in every
part of the country, and, therefore | shall
appeal to them carefully to review the
grounds upon which their opinions have
been formed before it is too late To cor
rect possible mistake upon subject of
such supreme importance to themselves
and to their posterity. 1t is not necessary
10 impeach their motives in order 10 an
swer their arguments. nor would il he
wise or proper to underestimate the intel
lectual and material forces behind this
great popular movement in the South and
West, movement which now seriously
threatens to disrupt existing political or