Sierra County advocate. [volume] (Kingston, N.M.) 1884-1960, 1895-04-26
FREE SILVER FIGHT.

metallic League, whose headquar
ters are in Chicago, prepared tn,
following reply to President Cleve
lands letter to the Chicago com
nittee of business men:
ITO His Excellency, Grover
! Cleveland, President, Washington,
ID. c.. Dear Sir-in reply t, your
letter addressed to a 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 presented did not
represent majority of the business
men and citizens OF this city who
take deep interest in the welfare
of this republic They represented
that claes that owns money and
securities payable in money fixed
incomes.
I'VE respectfully submit that
your letter does not present the
true merits of this controversy.
You call the attention of farmar
and wage earuers to the fact that
raising prices, while enabling them
to sell their products and labor at
a higher price, will also cause them
to pay equally more for what they
may purchase, but ycu neglect to
say that your statement is not ep
plicable to debts. With prices
coming down regularly and steadily
since the demonetization Of silver,
our merchants manufacturers and
the people generally have been do
ing business on falling market,
30 that the time intervening be-
tween the purchase of their mer-
chaudise or raw material and plac-
ing 1t months after on the market
has remuved the margin of profit
they would have otherwise made.
This shrinkage in values, added to
the ordinary risk and expense of
business, has lead to an ever-in-
creasing volume of debt = to mon
ey-!ediDg peroid-uotil it has in
creased, all told, public and private,
to about forty billions of dollars,
or about tYo-thirds of the total
value Of all the property in the
United States.
Money, and those debts pay ,ble
in money. have been steadily IN
creasing in exchsngeable value
With the property of the people.
A debt for $1,000 that 1000 bushels
of wheat would have paid ten years
ago, now requires the farmer to
give up 1000 bushels of wheat in
exch 4nge for these dollars with
which to pay the same debt. The
debts now in existence are priuoi.
pallv old debts, or renewed or re-
funded debts, or new debts con
tracted to pay old debts, or debts
the people h0ye been forced to con
tract by reason of the continued
decline in prices. The owners of
property must now give up twice
ss much property to pay their taxes
as in 1873, Seventeen thousand /
bushels of wheat would have paid
the Presidents salary Of $4,000
in 1873, and now it requires 100,
600 bushels of wheat to pay your
annual salary of $4,000. We |
have constantly pointed out to the
people the ever-in creasing inter-
ohangeahle value of the creditors
dollar and to the reason why it was
increasing, but the influence Of
these creditors has dominated your
and you insist on
such currency as they have es
tablished as sound currency. 1t
means the confiscatiOn ei the prop I
erty of the people by the sale of
property under mortgages, iudg-
ments and executions. 1t means
that fixed incomes will wipe out
the interest of stockholders 10 opr
railways and corporations.
III 1t Is an injustice to restore
prices go people can change their
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