The citizen. (Frederick City, Md.) 1895-1923, 1895-09-20


not the proposition now to substitute the
silver dollar on the silver standard for
that gold dollar the same that we all
condemned, except it is the creditor now
who is to be the victim instead of the
debtor then?
"No persons would receive the least
benefit from the change of standard to
silver except the man who owes 100
cents and wishes to pay it with so. He
would under the silver standard be able
to discharge his debt by paying one-half
Of what be promised. This would be a
scheme to enrich ope-half of a commu-
nifty by despoiling the other half. Wher-
ever there is a debtor there is credit
or, and he is entitled to the same pro-
lection as the debtor. Congress has the
power to discharge insolvent debtors by
a bankrupt law, but the adoption of the
silver standard now would discharge all
solvent debtors from one-half the obli-
CATION of their contracts, even though
as class they might be the Weather
part of the community.
II object to the silver standard again
because it is not the standard of the
country with which we conduct our
largest commerce. Mr.. Jefferson says,
TO trade on equal terms the common
measure Of value should be as nearly as
possible on par with that Of its CORE
spending nation, whose medium is in a
sound state. The reason for it is, as he
says, being Of universal value, it will
keep itself on a general level, flowing
out from where it is too high into parts
where it is lower. Gold is the common
measure of value of the people with
whom we carry on nine-tenths of our
foreign trade, and, according to the
principles enunciated by him, gold
should be our standard, as it has been
since the days of Jackson, Van Buren,,
Polk, Pierce and Buchanan, except dur
ing the war period from 1861 to 1879,
when paper was the standard. If we
supplant gold with silver, then we have
two standards Of value for all the arti-
cles that we export. Cotton and wheat
will be bought in this country by the
silver standard and sold in Europe by
the gold standard. There must be be-
tween these standards constant fiuctua-
tions. Two-thirds of all our cotton must
be exported and sold by gold value. The
price of the whole crop at home and
abroad will be fixed by the gold stand
ard, but every pound Of it will be sold
by American farmers by the silver
standard. When the American farmer
sees cotton quoted at SO many cents or
pence per pound in Liverpool, he knows
that it is SO much in gold, but he does
not know how much the silver will
be worth with which he will be paid
for his cotton. Instead of legitimate
business exchange, where every one
knows with what value he parts and
what he receives, our products will be
sold by system Of commercial gam
bling with fiuctuating standard by
which the producer must in every in
stance be defrauded.
Believing that the silver standard
would prove injurious to the people of
the United States, and especially to
that part Of them engaged in growing
cotton, I am unwilling to take any
steps in legislation calculated to imperil
that great industry upon which the well
fare Of my constituency SO greatly de-
ponds.
Building and Loan Associations In Danger.
A remarkable feature of the past 20
years has been the great increase in the
number Of associations formed by work.
men for the purpose of securing houses,
or for investing their savings in i'm
proved real estate. This method of util-
izing series of weekly or monthly pay
ments for the purchase Of property has
proved SO successful that there are now
thousands Of loan associations, with
hundreds Of thousands of members.
To every man who has invested his
savings in building and loan society
the threat of free silver coinage is of the
greatest Importance. Openly advocated
as method Of enabling debtors to cheat
their creditors out of half their debts,
the evil Of 30 cent dollars would prove
especially severe on those whose little
capital is loaned out through these asso-
Citations. Under free silver the borrow
ers would pay off their debts in dollars
Worth but half of those loaned. This
would mean the practical confiscation
of one-half of all the money which the
workingmen have with years Of self
denial managed to save. Do the Amer
lean people wish to enact law which
would perpetrate so great an injusticef
Mine Owners Versus Cotton Growers.
Two-thirds Of our southern cotton
crop, valued at $500, 900, 900, is sold in
Europe to gold standard countries, and
the price is mainly fixed in Liverpool on
a gold basis. II the United States adopts
free coinage without international agree
ment, the gold standard price for cotton
would remain exactly the same. The
southern farmer above all others is vi
tally interested in sound money, or the
dollar that has the largest purchasing
power. for his cotton Is 'good as gold''
In Europe or America There is 100 per
cent profit IN free silver to the western
mine owner and 100 per cent loss In 1t
to the southern cotton farmer. West
| Tennessee Whip.