The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1895-07-04
DOK OF THE DAY
OM6THiNG ASOUT TIE AUTHOR OF
"COlN'S FINANCIAL SCHOOL,"

oMETHiNG ABOUT TIE AUTHOR OF
y. "COiN'S FINANCIAL SCHOOL,"
Newell Method Of Booming Free Silvel
Coinase-How Man With an Idea Start
ed to Teach Finance to the Masses and
Ended by Amassing Big Fortune.
BY all odds the most phenomenal popu
lar craze of the century, always excepting
'Trilby' and "Cncle Toms Cabin" i.
That which has followed the publication Of
'.Coin's Financial School,
Its author is Mr.. William Hope Harvey
Of Chicago. One day Mr. Harvey said tt
himself, 81 will write book that will rev.
olutionize the world ON the money cues
tion.''
And this Mr.. Harvey has done. 1t was
loaded with free silver from cover to cover,
and Its arguments were SO plausible that
converts came easy, and the first and sec
ond editions were speedily sold out.
The west and south absorbed the book
IN great quantities and read it with the de-
light of young lady with a new novel.
1t circulated among the farmers and gavo
new incentive to the hopes Of the free sill
VerItes. Every newspaper editor noticed it
edltorialfy, and the gratuitoUs booming it
gained helped to roll up its circulation into
the hundreds of thousands. Already up
ward of 450, 900 copies have been sold. BY
October the author expects to have reached
the 1, 600, 600 mark.
1t was a book Of mystery. Its obscure
origin helped tits success, and the question
with everybody has been, What is the cause
OF 1t all, and when will the craze ceaset
Mr. Harvey has written two other books
A Tale Of Two Nations" and "Coin Up
TO Date '-which have brought the circu-
lation of all three up TO 600, 900.
Hundreds of editorials are daily appear
Ing In the leading papers of the country in
controversion or defense Of the arguments
In Coins Financial School, and one
Chicago paper has employed J. Laurence
Laughlin, professor of political economy
In the Chicago university, to write edi-
torial replies to it.
The author of this remarkable book Is
by birth West Virginian. Buffalo, near
Charleston, W. Va, is his native place,
and he is a lincal descendant of the emf
nent anatomist William Harvey, the dis
coverer OF the circulation of the blood He
Is 43 years OF age, married and has four
cAAdUTou iNo boys ana TWO girls
BY profession he is lawyer, having
been admitted to the bar when he was but
- years of age. His education was OBJ
tained in "a country log schoolhouse and
In West Nirginian academy In broad
er sense he Is educated by experience and
travel. His fiyorite studies were arith-
metic and history; he has passion for
statistics. The Congressional Record IN
terests him moro than IA novel
In the early spring of 1898 Harvey was
living in Ogden, Utah. He had invested
IN real estate in Denver, Pueblo and Salt
Lake and estimated the value of his prop
erty at $780, 600. The panic came and he
found that lie could not realize one-half
that sum On his possessions For some
years he had been a student of financial
legislation, especially with reference to the
silver question, and being firmly convinced
that single standard was inimical to the
interests of the people. he decided to go to
Chicago and start a weekly paper for the
purpose of creating a sentiment favorable
to free silver coinage. He started such
paper and gave it the name of Coin.
while knew il would be difficult for
such paper To get a circulation in the
east, said Mr. Harvey to a correspondent,
Il believed that the people in the west who
Thought as L did on the question would
assist me TO the extent of making the pa
Per self sustaining. In this | was mistaken
and the paper died, but out Of it rose the
spirit of Coins Financial School,"
Harvey was good advertiser, and be-
fore his paper ceased publication be made
one bid for pubic favor which came near
capturing the town. He hired coach
drawn by four white horses and driven by
D coachman in Respondent livery to parade
the principal streets of Chicago, while a
small boy in the vehicle, dressed TO repre-
sent Coin" distributed copies of his pa
per.
About this time, - said Mr.. Harvey, 81
made a proposition 10 Joseph Medill, the
venerable editor of The Tribune and if he
had accepted it my book probably would
never have been written. i proposed that
be should argue the gold side of the cues
ton, and that / should argue the bimetal-
lie side the discussion TO be carried on /
through the colum.s of Mr.. Medill's pa |
per over our respective signatures. He nei- /
ther accepted nor refused my proposition. /
He never answered my letter but since /
Coins Financial School has become a ,
success The Tribune has devoted more than |
loo columns Of its space in answer.
"A representative of The Inter Ocean /
then made me the same sort of proposition /
I had made Mr.. MediIl, except that the pa
per was to employ man to argue the sin /
gle standard side. This proposition also /
fell through, and 1 was informed at the
time that LYMAN ]. Gage, president of the
First National bank and a financier of in
reputation. had gone to the
proprietor of the paper and protested
against such an arrangement. i have late
ly been assured TINT Mir. Gage did not do
this, but i thought So 1T the time, and il
was orc of tho reasons why l made him
such n prominent scholar in Coin f'inan-
eial School
AT this time the book had not been
written j clear. saw that my paper was
not going 10 be n success, and | attributed /
its coming. failure partly 10 the fact that
the treatment Of financial questions there
In was too ciffuse, too scattering 1t was
not sufficiently compact, and many of the
articles were written from "A scientific !
entirely over the peoples heads.
thought Ii over and concluded that the
way 10 get the middle classes aud common
people to study tire money question was
10 give it to them ali II once-in a lump
and written in such plain and simple Ian
cuage thnt the least educated among them
could understand it.
with this idea upperInost / began TO
write the book called Coins Financial
School Most of the work on it was done
At night, while during the day gave my
attention To the PAPER. l rarely left my
desk before midnight
"When was between Is and l. years of