St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1895-04-11


WAS of gold.
Mr.. Harvey tried to make these
points clear, using official statistics
from government reports for refer
ence. He said he was most anxious
to remove prejudices which had been
engendered by misleading statements
made by the gold bugs as to the in
significant coinage of silver during
those years.
The speakers remarks were for the
most part basic, he desiring to lay a
proper foundation for his lecture to-
night, when he will get down more
into details. He said the American
people were now in school on this
great question, and they they were go
ing to investigate it and decide it
right. This government, he said, was
founded upon the theory that all of the
people should do the thinking for them
selves, misleading of permitting any
particular class to do the thinking for
them. He said it was the selfish in
stinct in human nature that induced a
class of people in a particular business
to try to promote their own interests
at the expense of others, and for this
reason a republican government can
only be preserved by all the people in
diligently Investigating and passing
upon the political questions. Investi-
cation was the life and spirit of the
nation. He closed with an eloquent
appeal to the people to throw aside all
prejudices and earnestly investigate the
finances of this nation. They should
stop here upon this North American
continent the greed that has destroyed
al of the republics of the world. He
compared it to a serpent whose tail
was in India, the original seat of civil
lZation; its body in Europe, where
monarchy and class legislation had en-
shaved the people, with it's head now
resting in once free America. Turning
to his audience. the speaker cried:
''Will you fight it?" and a storm of APP
plause greeted the question.
At the close of the lecture C. J. Buell.,
the well-known single tax advocate,
asked number of questions, which Mr..
Harvey answered quickly, and rather
to the discontinue of that gentleman
Mr.. Buell. asked if gold did not leave
America prior to 1884, when the ratio
was changed. Mr.. Harvey said Eng
land demonetized silver in 1916, and
gold in that country, and gold was
leaving us about the time the change
in the ratio was made. He said the
influence of England was checked by
the change in the ratio. There were
counter influences from the class gov
ernments of Europe which were an
ticipated by Mr.. Jefferson, who also
anticipated that a change in ratio
y6trI1 he l,al 1aI
for its always being made in gold
coins. And in pursuance of that in
tention, the change was made in gold.
Mr.. Buell. then asked if the cost of
production did not control or influence
the price of gold or silver. Mr.. Har-
vey answered that under free and IN
limited coinage and equal treatment
of the two metals the cost of produc-
ton had nothing to do with it; that
gold had been produced in California
frequently for ten cents on the dollar
and that this slight cost of production
did not change the demand or the
value of the gold. He said that prec-
ious metal mining was not like coal or
iron, the latter being mined with some
geological certainty. They were in a
measure certain, and expensive works
couiu sDe erected IOr lnelr operation
But gold and silver mines changed
daily, and frequently expensive plants
were erected which PANIED out moth
ing-that not only the quantity would
change, but the quality of the ore was
always uncertain. He also stated that
all of the silver in the world had cost
81 to each one dollar produced, and
that men would mine for silver and
gold on account of it's speculative at
tractfveness, a few becoming immense
ly rich, and the many poor.
At the conclusion of his speech, Mr..
Harvey, who is a scholarly gentleman,
was besieged by a great many of his
admirers who wanted to grasp his
hand and whisper word of encourage
ment. He will speak again tonight,
going more into detail on the great
subject of silver characterization in 1878.