The daily morning Astorian. [volume] (Astoria, Oregon) 1883-1899, 1895-06-08
THE POOR MANS MONEY.
We Should Have Free Copper as Well
as Free Gold and Silver.

Gary (S D. Inter State.
Copper Is and for very many centuries
mas been the distinctive money OF the
common people. In the remote-prehls-
torlc-period, the age of bronze, when
soiu and silver were unknown, copper
Was coined and used as the money of
the realm. The bronze money of Rome
was W per cent pure copper and could be
found IN the possession OF every dago In
the empire, although the majority of
them did not even know tne coior of
god. Today in these United states cop
per may be found in the. pocket of the
most humble citizen, though you should
search there in vain for the precious
metals Tank of silver as the money of
the fathers! Copper is the money of
the grAndfathers, and is today, as it
anyways mas been, the tavorlte money of
the very poor ana the debtor class, as IS
proven by the fact that they seldom
use any olner. et the rapaciIy OF the
rlch, the greed OF the god and silver
pugs VINO arrogate to themselves the
I4eAG " uU dI tne thinking on financial
questions and to control the money Of
tne IdiIu Tor tnelr own benent, mas led
TO the deDasement OF copper as a money
metal ana tne nmltatloA oL lts Coinage
unth business stagnat4on has come upon
the peUpie, tne wneeIs OF Industry reIuse
TO reVoive, and hunger-even starYa1on--
is abroad IN TINS great lana, teem4ng,
as ~ does, with every necessity for the
comfort and the happiness OIL men. VINO
snail say these unnatural ana lament
able conditions have not been brought
aUout by the crime against copper, by
wncn 1t mas been deprived OF ats full
money functions, gross discrimination
against 1T IN IaVor OF SILVER ana god?
how'-ean tn.s country nope to prosper
when the real money OF the peopiS Is
i4inlted 10 tne coinage of a 1ew paltry
peAines!' How can we nope To become
d great commercial nation and capture
the trade OF CnIna-a country that Is
copper-ouuomed, so to speak, with
BRASS eoIhs-untll we do justice TO copper?
rlow auro4tiy nave the god bugs and
tAe slIVer KIngs led tne minus or the pso-
lJ4e away from tne true ISSUE, and be-
IuddIed them with aDstruse arguments
dDouL the relations OF god ana silver
metals the peopie rarely see-While they
are RESTRICTING ana deDdsinE the nlsLorl-
cal and hereditary coinage OF the masses
copper. On, we blind How long! oh,
now long Will you be so deceivedY The
one great issue before the American peo-
pie today-tne one question OF economy
worthy the serious attention of thought
full men who are fast falling into the
slavery devised by the cunning of the
god bugs and the silver klngs-is the
question of the free, unlimited and In
dependent coinage Of copper. A question
before which all other political issues
pale into inslgnifcence. or course 1t
will be urged by the gold bugs and silver
kings that copper is cheap metal, not
worth nearly its coinage value, and we
retort, rs not that true of silver" Is
silver worth nearly its coin value, all
though all Of the production Of silver
wnich can be spared from the arts is
absorbed for money by the worlds mintsf
Would gold be worth its coin value If
there was no demand for 1t for money
purposes? Treat copper fairly, open the
mints to 1t and If there are not mints
enough, build more mints. Let the his,
toric money of the grandfathers flow
out into the channels of trade, and again
will prosperity smile upon us and cop
per will double in market value.
"But we must first have an interna>
tional agreement" Nonsense. Isn't the
United States big enough to take care Of
itself? Isn't 1t about time we cut loose
from the apron strings of Great Britain?
Doesn't this argument satisfy the most
skeptical that we can safely engage in
free coinage Of copper?
Thirty years ago copper was worth
$3.50 pound and wheat was 50 per bush
ell. Today, owing to the great crime
against copper money, copper Is not
worth 50 cents per pound, and wheat is
down to so cents per bushel Is 1t not
therefore manifest that copper controls
the price Of wheat? Will the wheat
raisers Of America longer tolerate these
conditions, or will they shake off the
shackles Of debt and slavery which bind
them and rise up in their majesty and
demand the free, unlimited and independ-
ent coinage Of sopper?
Until the unholy alliance between John
Sherman and Grover Cleveland is broken
down, we are slaves, and copper-the
money of the grandfathers and Of the
constitution-will be. a tramp among
mints, seeking for the free coinage OF
life, an outcast and hungry in the house
of its father. Desperate ills require her
oic remedies. The hope Of copper lies
in the destruction of Grover Cleveland
and John Sherman. Let these arch trait
'ors be annihilated, and again will sweet
peace and comfort and happiness, the
children Of prosperity, come to this dis
tressed and debt-enslaved people, with
copper restored to it's own and re-en-
throned the monarch Of moneys.