The Wilmington daily Republican. (Wilmington, Del.) 1890-1902, 1895-04-16
ANSWERING CLEVELAND.
A Bimetallist's Letter to the Chief
Magistrate.
INCREASED COST OF THE DOLLAR.

Seventeen Thousand Bushels of Wheat
wowid Have Paid the PEssldenrs Salary
In 1ss3-Today 1t Rsquirss Six Times ms
Much to Pay Only Double the Amount.
CHICAGO April Mr. w II. Harvey.
chairman of the executive committee OF
the Bimetallic league whose headquarters
are in Chicago, publishes the following
reply to President Clevoland's letter to the
Chicago committee of business men:
'In reply to your letter addressed to
committee of business men of this city we
wish to say that the committee that waited
on you and the persons who attached their
names to the petition such committee pre-
sented did not represent II majority of the
business men and citizens OF this city who
take a doep interest In the welfare of this
republic. They represented the class that
owns the money and securities payable in
money fixed incomes.
unexpectedly submit that your letter
does not present the true merits of this
controversy You call the attention OF
farmers and wage earner5 to the fact that
rising prices while enabling them to sell
their products and labor at higher price,
will also cause them to pay equally more
for what they may purchase, but you
neglect to say that your statement is not
applicable to debts. With prices coming
down regularly and steadily since the de-
monetization Of silver, our merchants,
manufacturers and the people generally
have been doing business on falling
market, SO that the time intervening be-
tween the purchase of their merchandise
or raw material and placing 1t months
after on the market has removed the mar
gin they would have otherwise made.
This shrinkage in values added to the or
binary risk and expense Of business, has
led to an ever increasing volume OF debt
TO n money lending perlod-until 1t has
Increased all the old debts, public and prl-
vate, to about $40, 900, 600, 900, or about two
thirds Of the total value Of all the property
In the United States.
Money, and those debts payable in
money, have been steadily increasing in
exchangeable value with the property of
the people. A debt for 81 900 that 900
bushels OF wheat would have paid ten
years ago now requires the farmer to give
up 1000 bushels of wheat in exchange for
these dollars with which to pay the same
debt. The debts now in existence are
principally old debts, or renewed debts,
or new debts contracted to pay old debts
or debts the people have been forced to
contract by reason Of the continued de-
cline in prices. The owners of the pro-
ducts must now give up twice as much
property to pay their taxes as in 1873. Sew
enteen thousand bushels of wheat would
have paid the presidents salary of SIS, 900
in 1873, and 1t now requires 100, 900 bush
els Of wheat to pay your annual salary Of
5000
I'VE have constantly pointed the people
to the ever increasing interchangeable
value Of the creditors dollar, and to the
reason why it was increasing, but the in
fuence of these creditors have dominated
your administration, and you insist on
such currency as they have established
as a sound currency. 1t means the CON
fiscatlon of the property of the people by
the sale of property under mortgage judg-
ments and executions. 1t means that
fixed incomes will wipe out the.interest of
stockholders in our railroads and col ,pora-
tions.
"If 1t is an injustice to restore prices so
that people can exchange their property
| for sufficient number of dollars to pay
their debts and bring happiness and pros
| perity to our land again, it was a greater
injustice to destroy the value Of property
| and enhance the value of money by de-
| monetizing silver and the establishment
OF a single gold standard.
when you call the attention of the
| farmer and wage Garner to the TACT that
rising prices will mako him pay more for
what he buys you should at the same time
| call his attention to tho fact that it will
enable him to pay his debts, free him
/ from bondage in which he has been I'M
Justly placed and again make him the
| owner of home and free and indie
pendent citizen. 1t is not more money
that we want to borrow, but to pay off
what we already owe
''Our forefathers fled from Europe and
established IA government here that they
might be free from the class legislation Of
those countries where the masses are the
hewers of wood and drawers of water for
the rich and few who control the law max
making power; countries that we justly
term plutocracios; and yet 1t is now being
seriously insisted npon that We must
adopt and continue the most pernicious
class legislation that the monarchies Of
Europe have ever fastened upon their help
less people.
by adopting their policy we have in
creased the demand for gold and its ex-
changeable value and all money based
thereon with all other property. We have
aided them in the adoption of a single
metal for primary money, that they can
control and corner-that they have cor
nered-and forced you to go to them and
get 1t at their own price, to sustain the
credit Of this great and resourceful nation.
We submit that this policy should be
abandoned and our minis again thrown
open to silver las they are now to gold,
and our stock of primary money increased
thereby"