The representative. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1893-1901, 1895-09-18
sAD LAWS.
THE lFFECT ON HOMES, MAR
RIAGES, ETC.
An Ieresting Letter From Sena-
tor Stewart of Nevada.
[From the Silver Knight

w CSGdUllSu IuucpchueuU nOmcS Is Gno
foundation of freedom. The want OF
such opportunity is a guarantee of
slavery. Homes are created by the
surplus earned above bare necessaries
Of life. When prices are falling the
depreciation in the value of property
produced must be taken from the sur
plus until that is exhausted. When
gold and silver. was discovered in
Mexico and South America, the great
mass of the people of England were
serfs. During the first century after
such discovery the metallic money of
Europe was increased more than four
fold, and general prices rose accord
ingly. During that period the land
holders of England increased from
thirty thousand to more than one
hundred thousand, tenants became
land holders, serfs became tenants, and
the middle classes or yeomanry Of
England came into existence, revolu-
tionized the government, adopted the
English constitution, and established
colonies in America which have grown
to be the United States. The history
of the world furnishes no parallel to
the opportunities which existed in
this country to acquire homes from
the landing at Jamestown until the
crime Of 1873. In England the stabil-
ity of general prices was fairly main
tained, and the people at large practi-
cally controlled the government from
the time the precious metals COM
menced to flow into Europe from the
New World until the close of the Ma
poleonic war. At that time the num-
ber of landholders in the United
Kingdom is estimated to have been
250,00o. A debt of $4,0OO,0O0, worth
from thirty to forty cents on the dol
lar in coin, was converted into an
obligation payable in gold. The prop
erty of the middle classes was confis-
Gated and the opportunity to make
new homes was destroyed. The situa-
tion was greatly aggravated by the
money famine which followed. From
1910 to 1850 the Spanish American
wars cut off more than half the supply
VI 6OiO dAO SIANCIs duO uuIluS UIdU
period the condition of the masses of
mere and more Distressing AID de
grading. The United States, by rea-
son of the great Mississippi Valley,
which was opened to the people who
would settle it, escaped much Of the
misery of the money famine in the
first half Of the present century,
There was an opportunity in the
United States to acquire homes, and
that opportunity continued until a
very recent period. Two unfortunate
circumstances occurred about the
same time. The public lands we're
exhausted and silver was demone-
tized. Lands could not be obtained
from the government by occupancy,
and the decentralization of silver
brought falling prices and made it i'm
possible for young men to acquire
homes by their surplus earnings. In
the meantime the young ladies Of the
land have been educated in the old
homes to condition of life which
their parents enjoyed, but there are
no young men for them to marry to
create for them new homes, such as
their parents established in the bet
ter days of the Republic. Formerly
when a young man offered himself in
marriage the ques tionS asked were. Is
he industrious? Is he honest? Will
he make good husband? The ques
tion now is: Has he a fixed income?
Formerly young man and young
woman went forth with such little
presents OF household furniture, cloth
ing, team, a cow, and such farming
utensils as the parents could spare,
and made home for themselves, be-
cause with their labor and industry
they could pay for the farm and in a
few years be independent.
Formerly there was no objection to
a young man of good character, good
habits, who was honest and indus
triouS, suing for the hand of the
young woman he loved, and the young
woman was at liberty to take into
consideration her affections in choos-
ing a husband. Now young man, no
ments may be, if he is without money
he must avoid the society Of the
young lady he admires, to avoid the
danger of an unhappy marriage, by
reason of the impossibility Of support
ing his wife in the condition of life in
which he has been reared. The young
ladies who graduate in the schools or
colleges are compelled to avoid the So
ciety of the young men of the neigh
borhood with whom they have been
raised for fear their affections may be
involved, knowing that matrimony
with man without fortune means
misery and want. The result is that
the young ladies in seeking man Of
fortune for husband are charged
with want of heart, and disposition
to flirt, and in fact they are seeking
to marry man for support, knowing
that affection must be left out of con-
sideration. There is one in hun
dred of the young ladies of the pres
ent day who can be accommodated
with rich husband, and the number
Of rich husbands of marriageable age
will grow less and less as the oppor-
tunity to acquire wealth grad ually
disappears with falling prices. Mar
riage now, while neither party has a
fixed income, means living in the
home of the parents of one of the par
ties, or degrading seryitude for both
husband and wife, and what aggra-
Yates these unfortunate conditions is
that the old homes are being mort
gagged, and the increase Of the num-
Der to be supported by new marriages
hastens the day when the homes al
ready created shall pass into the pos
session of the mortgage or be sold
under the hammer to pay debts con-
tracted in the support OF the family.
While the opportunity to create
homes existed in the United States,
the independence OF incorruptible
voters maintained the institutions 0f