The Sauk Centre herald. (Sauk Centre, Stearns County, Minn.) 1886-current, 1895-07-18

| ! give my assent. I propose TO contro-
| vert many things which are stated as
facts, and shall attempt to prove that
the entire theory set forth by its author
il adopted by the people Of this country
would lead only to business disaster
and financial ruin. do not remember
ever to have examined book carefully,
in which found so few statements
that ! consider worthy Of belief, and
certainly never saw so many absolute
errors crammed into SO few pages.
Not Opposed to Bimetalism.
am not here as an opponent Of BIZ
metalism. I believe in the use Of gold
and silver as money to the fullest ex-
tent that can be done on sound bust
ness principles. My position upon this
question has been too frequently stated
within the last five years to be misun-
derstood by anyone. l believe that both
gold and silver are the natural money
of the world; that in all the larger
transactions gold is better adapted to
the necessities of the people than silver;
that all the smaller business transac-
tions of the human family for many
years have been and always should be
conducted with silver. I also believe
that in all transactions of the nations
of the world, between themselves, the
two metals should be used in the set
Ting of business balances, but only at
their commercial value. / also believe
that in the business of our nation the
people should never attempt to use
either metal, except that it be at equal
value, only in cases where one metal
may be used as token money, and may
be made redeemable in metal at its coin
value.
Hopes for International Agreement.
have always entertained the hope
that the business men Of the world
would yet come together in an inter
national convention and agree upon
some basis whereby gold and silver can
both be used as the money Of final set
Element among the people of the entire
world. am very clear in my idea
that until some such arrangement shall
be made, it would be simply suicide for
this nation to adopt system of the free
coinage Of silver upon the old ratio, a
ratio which all the civilized nations OF
the world have long since discarded. I
do not believe that any one government
can fix the value of any two metals,
and name ratio which will be &C
copied by the people Of the world, or Of
the country itself, SO that the two met
ais would be used side by side. Con-
sequently if our nation alone should at
tempt any such action, it would SIM
ply place our country upon a silver
basis, and the attempt
Would End in Recommendation.
IF we are compelled to decide between
gold recommendation and silver mono
metallism, then am decidedly In favor
Of adopting the standard used by the
civilized nations Of the world. I do
not believe that silver has ever been de-
monetized anywhere in the world. I
believe that the law Of 1873, which Mr..
Harvey's book denounces as a s'crime"
was honestly conceived, openly advo-
Gated and passed by the American con-
gress after full elaboration and because
the people at that time who held seats in
the American congress believed
that such law ought to be
enacted do not believe in the teach
ings of this book, that this nation is on
the verge of financial ruin, or that
starvation is staring our people in the
face. I believe if our nation should
adopt the course advocated in this
book, we would seriously injure the en-
tire wage earners Of the United States.
believe we would destroy the conf
dence of the bushes men of the world
in our integrity as nation, and that
we would
Precipitate suoh Financial Panic
as our country has never before seen.
shall deny most emphaticully that tho
great majority Of the people Of this
country are in debt, and shall insist
that three-fourths Of the American
people are today creditors and not debt
ors, and that consequently the system
which Mr.. Harvey advocates would
work great injury to the vast majority
of American citizens.
will state still further that if this
book, about which we are going to de-
bate, is true, then I am all wrong. It
seems to me devoid of business sense
from beginning to end, and shall
enter upon the work of attempting to
prove that and hope to be able to do IL
in language that shall 30 20 plain and
explicit that my fellow citizens will be
satisfied that have accomplished my
task. Understand mo In few words:
believe that tho American nation
should have just ~ good money &c any
nation uses on the face Of the earth; I
believe that every dollar paid to poor
man for his daily toll should be worth
Is much as the dollars paid to mon who
are rich. I would have the money
which measures values the
Most Stable That Can He Devised,
and would insist that buyers and sell
ers, lenders and debtors shall, as near
as possible, be required to use the same
measure Of values, and shall insist that
Reputation in all forms is disgraceful
and dishonorable in the case Of nations.
corporations or individuals.
What our people need is good credit;
GOOD money; good principles and
sound business sense. Visionary schemes
and debased money never yet made .
nation prosperous. The quality Of the
money used In any country ID far more
important than the quantity -laws
should be drawn 10 protect the mon
who earn money, a. we'll as those who
owe money. A man who works faith
fully and lives on his daily earnings,
should never be sacrificed for the bene-
fit of men who live on what they bor-
Z