The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1895-04-23
TALKING WITH "COIN"
LITTLE DIALOGUE BETWEEN THE
PROFESSOR AND A PLAIN CITIZEN,
In Which the Latter Asks some aues-
lions Which the Former Does Not
Answer satisfactorily.

few weeks ago, he spent most of his time
at the hotels, cigar stores and other places
where sensational literature is sold. 1t
was observed hat he scrupulously avoided
the business houses, the lawyers offices,
the insurance and building and loan quar-
ters, the banks and the newspaper sane
tums. In fact, the little philosopher more
than once manifested a decided antipathy
for business men of all descriptions. AT
one time, in a cigar store on the Circle,
he said to a crowd of bystanders:
LAS a. rule the business men of such
cities as Chicago and Indianapolis think
automatically. They let the bankers and
capitalists manipulate their thinking ma
chimes. They have little regard for the
interests of the producers. Their selfish
ness and greed blind them. Their minds
are running in a groove and they cannot
see the rights of Others
The doughty Professor then produced
from his pocket a picture representing the
average business man. chat Is. the mer-
chant, the manufacturer, the lawyer, the
insurance man, the building and loan man.
ager. and, in fact, all that class OF work
ers who conduct the vast and varied busi-
ness of a big city except the banker), with
a system Of wheels in his head and a string
attached thereto at one end, the other end
DSLlS Helu III the HdHu Ol III
do you mean by that" asked one Of the
bystanders, that the average merchant.
manufactures. insurance man, etc., are the
mere tools of bankers, having no financial
acumen of their own, no individual and in
dependent business capacity that is not
dictated by the bankers?"
MY language and this picture certainly
bear no other construction" replied Prof.
Coin, a little falteringly.
do you think you will ever win any
sensible people over to such a brutal esti-
mate OF the men who represent the life,
energy and intelligence of our common
wealth. queried the other.
MY book, containing. on page 26, exactly
this judgment and the illustration I hold
in my hand. is selling like hot cakes all
over the country, and 1 have good evil
dence that 1T is making converts by the
thousand"
Converts to what?'
ITO the notion that the average business
man of this country is a dupe and a ma
chine, a heartless money maker and an
oppressor of the poor; and to free silver"
toner land I know Il is meeting with eS-
tensive sales-on railway trains and at the
news stands. But i venture to predict that
and false theories are freely discussed in
the newspapers q reaction will set in and
the book will fall fiat"
II challenge you to show a single forgery
pose a single failacy," said the little Pro-
fessor, flushing with anger.
well the Indianapolis Journal has shown
Notwithstanding your subsequent deniaD
paragraph from the Report of the United
States Monetary Commission of 1878, which
you We're afterwards forced to admit by
explaining that you meant the commission
of, 1876. The Journal then proved, by quot
ing the real extract from the latter report,
Aha ~. - - .ast x@..,
emitting several sentences and inserting one
of seven lines not found in the original. You
S Soaze Would mbbs aya bard fne at paTagradPhSi had Th He,,
been compelled to quote it correctly. These
facts are presumptions against your hon.
esty, to say nothing of the numerous other
the book
Name a few said the minim philoso-
pher, as a white ring encircled his trem-
bling lips.
FALSE ASSUMPTIONS.
"Waiving comment On the sensational and
demagogical picture of the Columbus mon
ument on another page of your preface"
began the critic. you start out with the
false assumption that the present hard
times-beginning in 1S93-were brought on
by the coinage act of 1873, wholly ignoring
the historical fact that the country was
enjoying unprecedented prosperity up to the
very edge of the panic, and the other his
torical fact that the Democratic party went
into power in 1892 pledged to cripple our in
tariff You ignore the logical fact that
such a threat against the manufacturers
panicky fear in the minds of that class of
business men, who, as you know, employ
the bulk of the working population in most
of our towns and cities. Is it any wonder
our Industries were paralyzed when the
people voted that party into power? Is it
Their Investments, closed their factories or
cut the wages of their employees pending
to them? But. going back to your book. let
me ask you a few questions touching some
of its wild assertions:
First, you hold out the impression in
more than one paragraph that the coinage
act of 1873 was secretly and stealthily
II quote the words Of senator Daniel. of
Virginia" replied Coin, who said it went
cat. And even President Grant said after
ward that he would not have signed the
bill if he had known it demonetized silver"
Then you reassert that the bill was
sneaked through Congress"
1T certainly looks that way"
lions in your book. Now, do you not know
that as far back as April Is. 1870. she Hon.
George s. Boutwell,, then Secretary Of the
Senate the original draft of that bill? That
Hon. John Jay Knox sent copies
coinage matters in the United States for an
expression of their opinion; that several of
them in their replies noted that it practi-
OIL. ka1 taSH JUG
called for these expert replies and gDt them
and discussed them; that on Jan. 10, 1871,
the bill passed the Senate by SO to IA; that
it then went to and fro between the two
houses for several years; that Mr.. Kelley,
of Pennsylvania; Mr.. Stoughton, of Michi-
gan, and other Representatives spoke of its
character in open debate in the House; that
the bill was printed thirteen times by order
of Congress-; and that the debates on the
measure occupy 18 pages of the Congress
sional Globe? Does this look like. conceal
ment? Don't you know that John j. ingalls,,
a loud advocate of free coinage. declared in
the Senate, Jan. IA, 1891. that the bill was
pending in its various stages for four years
in both houses of Congress. passed them by
decided majorities. was read and reread
thirteen times, was commented on by news
papers, and was a subject of discussion in
financial bodies all over the country% Have
you forgotten that ingalls,. in the same
speech, sarcastically asserted his belief thats
both houses and the President were at that
time hypnotized? Do you still think the bill
was rushed through secretly?
Possibly ] was misled on that point. But
that Is not the issue. The question is, did
the bill demonetize silver?'
How much silver was in circulation at
the time of the passage of the billg' sud-
denly asked the citizen.
None, l believe"
How many silver dollars were In the
United States at that period?"
Some say not a thousand"
What had become of the dollars of the
daddies?'"
melted into bullioa.'
why exported. and why melted into bull