St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1895-03-30
DISSOLVE THE PARTNERSHIP,

The vocabulary Of those who dis
cuss the currency question discloses
the underlying, barely concealed mo-
tive out of which comes most Of the
advocacy Of free coinage. There is
deep-seated envy of the rich.
merely as rich, regardless of
the means by which the
wealth was obtained. That it was
gained by hard toll, by the exercise
of prudence, thrift, economy, the
superior money-making and getting
ability, the possession of what Nal
lock capitalizes, Ability, and is there
fore as worthy an exhibition of hui
man effort as is any other, is ignored.
Merit, capacity, everything is swept
away before the tide Of envy. So
you hear these men talk of CON
spiracies," Of 'gold-bugs," of the
money power" of 'plutocrats,"
"clutching the people by the throat"
dominating the government and
bending legislation to their will.
Here and there you will find a man
actuated by such motives who will
frankly admit that he knows the
free coinage of silver is wrong, but
that it will hit this money power"
smash these "gold-bugs," and he is
willing to take his chances of escap-
ing injury for the sake Of the VEN
geance he imagines it will wreak
on those he really envies, but af-
fects to believe the mercilessIy ex-
acting enemies Of society.
If it be true, as it doubtless is,
that the possessors of wealth i'm
prove every advantage to increase it;
that they make use of the vast pow
erS of government sometimes to add
to their gains; if sometimes they are
over-reaching and eXacting, it but
shows that human nature is the
same whether it wears broadcloth or
jeans. If those having wealth, know
ing this prevalent hostility, COM
bine for the interests of their kind,
they but do what all others are do
ing. The wage earnerS form their
labor organizations to get wages
that free competition would not give;
the farmers form political parties
to secure legislation specially bene-
fetal to them. The impulse of gain,
the instinct of self-preservation is
just as commendable or censurable
in one man or class as in another,
and just as natural
The manufacturers who persuad-
ed the Republican party to allow
them to use the taxing power of the
Union to enable them to make profits
not possible under free competition,
were obeying very human impulse
just as the manufacturers of silver
bullion are now in trying to persuade
a majority of the people that they
the mints for s1.29 an ounce when
they can get but Ga cents for it in any
in the world Just as the
manufacturer said he wanted his
connection with the government so
he could pay his labor higher wages,
so now these silver producers are
saying that they want the govern
ment to help them so that every
body will get more money for what
they have to sell. The manner in
which wealth is acquired is the
essential thing, and the lessons we
have had should set every man
against every scheme, however
plausibly cloaked, which involves
the use of the power of any of our
various governments to aid any one
in acquiring wealth.
So what men should be thinking
of is not the qualification Of their
envy, the smashing of money power
and gold-bugs Or silver-bugs, but the
repeating of all those noxious laws
which form virtual partnership
between the government and men or
by which the latter gain
wealth. If men who
would smash the money power would
read Che history of finance and
would take counsel of their own
common sense, they would learn
that their blows would only react
on themselves and leave their in
tended victims not only Scathless,
but benefited by it. Men before now
have engaged in this smashing bust
ness. Communities, envious Of the
money power, have tried to shear it,
and come out shorn. They have
deprecated the currency because
the money power" had absorbed
the money, and more was recklessly
issued to break the grasp of the
kings. And the result has
always been, and will always be,
that wealth, alert, skilled. fore
warned of the storm, has sheltered
itself, leaving the force of the blow
to break on the unprotected poor
who had provoked it.