Mexico weekly ledger., 1895-03-28
The Business World VS.. the Politicians.


past months, if unfruitful in legisla-
ton, has not been without beneficial
results to the people. 1t is not extrav-
agance to say that never within the
same period of time have so many
men in public and in private life been
so willing to take positive stand and
| to announce without reserve their ad-
herence to principles which are not
| only essential to a safe monetary sys-
TEN, but absolutely necessary to the
promotion of the peoples welfare and
the maintenance of public credit. The
citizen is awakeningto the Importance
of these things as factors in his ma
terial prosperity; and he has not cold
| ly calculated the effect of his declara-
tions on the fortunes of his political
party. Such action is now left only to
the politician who is too dull TO per-
ceive that the very things which will
henceforth be dominant in determin-
ing monetary system are the busi-
ness considerations which, without
regard to political parties, are certain
to act in unison for the preservation of
national credit and of rightful individ-
ual interests.
The man who does not know and
feel that every day this sentiment is
growing stronger and steadily crystal
lizing into public opinion which must
prove irresistible, is a poor reader of
the columns of the press, an inappre-
ciative hearer of conversations by
plain citizens the country over, and he
is not frequenter of places of busi-
ness. 1t is mistake to suppose that
| an unfavorable vote in Congress upon
a sound measure carries with it public
approval, or of itself reconciles the
public to the endurance of condition
of things in the business world which
every thoughtful citizen is certain not
only ought not to exist, but would not
exist if the law making powers were
| more given to the furtherance of fl
nancial legislation inherently correct,
| and less given to that which seems
polite in its character and promotive
of special interests.
The great service which President
| Cleveland has just done the country
has not been pointing out the evils
which affiict our financial body and
suggesting the remedies necessary, to
rid us of them, but in his directing and
fixing the attention of the business in
terests of the country upon the fact
that commercial and ndindustriairevIval
cannot be expected, or continuing loss
to every citizen prevented, or national
and individual financial credit and in
tegrity maintained, or ultimate disas-
ter averted, until the Legislative
branch of the Government repeals laws
which are now working harm and en-
acts others which will prove of public
benefit. However any citizen may
differ with the President upon political
question, the great majority of Amer
can people mus, when the doubt which
now envelopes the country's financial
integrity and its ability to maintain
the worlds monetary standard is dis
PEELED, credit him with a courage
strong enough to have led him to do
the right thing because it was right,
despite strenuous opposition or but
half-hearted support within his own
party and antagonism from the other
party. 1t is safe to say that when par
tisan zeal and rancor have yielded to
judgment based upon truth and JUS
tice, those that are now his bitterest
enemies will concede that he displayed
craftsmanship in great crises, and
proved equal to the emergency.
1t would be foolish to undertake to
conceal that the source of our diff
Guilty lies in the fear, which happily
has not reached the point of belief,
that the United States cannot in the
face of existing laws maintain the
gold standard as its unit of value. The
faintest suspicion that it viii not now
or in the future meet its obligations
in conformity with that fine sense of
financial integrity which has hereto
fore been observed, gives the business
world such shock that we witness
on every hand cessation of new un-
dertakings aud a constant query as to
the future. There is no relief for this
situation In the great individual wealth
of our individual citizens, nor in their
f1fl lrxYrsf fn rlf hnt
credit. The unlimited resources of the
country and the unbounded energies
of the people are in and of themselves
equally unavailing in giving aid and
comfort. The fault lies in our Gov
ernment and not in the rule of con-
duct which guides each individual as
an individual Until the national fault
is eradicated, the individual must
contfnue to suffer for his country's
folly both in purse and in reputation.
Those abroad who deal with us take
their estimate of our individual fl
nancial integrity from the integrity of
our Government. They do not rank
the individual Americans honesty
higher than his Governments honesty,
and they will not believe hira willing
to pay his contracts in gold IL his Gov
ernment substitutes therefor a dis
credited metal, giving in real value
but portion of its purport value and
the balance in governmental fiat.
A consideration, and one too fire.
| quently lost sight of, is, that ours is a
debtor and not a creditor nation, and
that we least of all peoples can afford
to cheaper our monetary standard
and to lessen our credit. Here no
sentimentalism can possibly enter.
The question Is not whether we ought
to go back to the dollar of the fathers,
to protect the silver mine owners, or
! to undertake to maintain two metals
of unequal value always at the same
value. The question is rather wheth-
er or not we can afford to kill our
credit with those who buy our rail-
road securities, and TO whom at every
turn we look when money is to be
borrowed. Only creditor nations can
afford a questionable monetary stand
.nn