The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1896-02-27

IN the house during the SILVER DEBATE
He was given an ovation. So enthusiast
tic were the members who crowded
around to congratulate him, that the
chairman raped for several minutes IN
vain attempt to restore order and Mr.
Towne had to retire to the cloak room to
enable the business of the house to pro-
ceed. Ex-Speaker Crisp pronounced the
speech the ab.est he had ever heard de-
l:vered on finance and unanswerable.
But none OF these things deferred Mr..
Calderhead He built addition to the
speech costing ten days labor, and in
serted it with the first part in the Con-
gressional Record. These virgin re-
marks, unuttered, and appearing here
for the first time out of the Record are
Interesting and valuable because they
give Mr. Calderheads views on finance.
Commencing upon Mr.. Towne he says:
"But my friend, the gentleman from
Minnesota, Mr., Towne1 has also some
admonitions to give US. He must in
terpret a section of the great Minneapo-
lis platform for us because we have not
hitherto understood it. 1t is not enough
for him that that great declaration pro-
claims the necessity of maintaining the
equal power of all the dollars. Il is not
enough for him that the people of his
state have since then repeated that dec
laration and added to it in 1894 their re-
monstrance against any attempt to de-
preciate our money. He has still more
knowledge and light | admire the &C
curacy with which he has recited to us
Coins Financial School. I admire the
adroitness with which he will under his
leave to print insert it, with all its maps
and charts and tai bles, into the Record
and SO secure some permanence to the
history OF its fallacies."
How cleverly does Mr.. Calderhead
turn Mr.. Towne's own weapons upon
him! Under his own leave to print he
attacks the Minnesota man for doing the
same thing. He throws dust in his eyes.
Proceeding with the money question
Mr.. Calderhead says:
"But waving political fears and guess
es, waving all controversy about the his
tory of this subject, waving all conten-
tions about the practice of our treasury,
what is it you propose to do with the ex-
istiug condition? What will the result
be if you do what you propose in this
senate substitute?
"Remember it proposes to take the ex-
isting standard of values away, and it
proposes to substitute another standard
of value. This is to deal with the inter
ests of every industry which employs la
Dor, as we'll as with the interests of every
poor laborer. You say it will increase
the price of every product. Can Ameri
can agricultural products be sold in any
foreign market for more than other
countries will sell theirs for? If Egypt
will sell her cotton fer cents a Found
and Argentina sells her wheat for 81
cents a bushel, can America sell her
wheat or. cotton for more? If not, how
/ then would you raise the prices of agri-
| cultural products?
But if you should raise prices is not
that to increase the price of everything
! the poor shall buy? How will you COM
! pensate them? With dollar made of 80
cents worth of metal? Oh, you will
| raise the value of the metal to par, will
you? Then how have you helped the
| poor?
But remember in doing this you are
! to take metal that is now admitted to
be worth only the daily universal mar
ket price, and by your new law make
money of it, and, as money, rate it at
double that mar ket price What will
the result be? You will take a metal
which the judgment of the civilized
| world has now rated at 81 cents an ounce
| and give it a value of 129 cents an ounce
as money. Will the world raise its mar
| ket price of that metal to the rate you
set on it by law? Which nation will do
| it? You complain now of the power of
England But you in the same breath
| propose to double the power of England's
| money For while the market value of
| the worlds silver remains as it is. if you
| adopt this senate substitute, every 81, 900
| of England's money will buy as much
property here as $4,000 of the money you
propose for u.s. How will that relieve US
| of the power of England over our
finances or our business? What is the
experience of Mexico? 1t is an admitted
| fact that s., 600 of our money or 81 900
of England's money will buy as many
| cattle or much property there as $4,000
of her own money. Who will own her
property in the end? If you make this
law who will own the great industries of
| our country in a few years more!
SIS it not enough that you have turned
over to England the work of our manu-
factories, or must you also turn over to
| her the purchasing power? In every
| country in the world now on a silver
basis her dollars will buy twice as much
| OF anything that nation sells as that ma
| tion's dollars. Must we put ourselves
| also under her power in the same way by
| going to silver basis?
"When did any nation get any advan
tage by depreciating its money? When
did any nation get any advantage by de-
preciating its coin? What nation ever
gained anything by coming either silver
or gold for more than its commercial
value as rated in the business of the
world?"
Mr. Calderhead goes on to say that he
is not even in favor of the coinage of the
American product of silver nor even oil
an international agreement.
On the latter subject he says:
81 do not hope for an international
agreement, because no people can afford
to ALLEVIATE its freedom by monetary
| treaty. No nation can consent that othel
nations shall decide how much money i
shall have No nation can do so withoui
subjecting itself to the power of the 9th
ers"
The"leave to print t''coneludes by charg
ing the financial situation to the fact thai
the balance of trade is against the coun
| try. III. F. IL.
| Unnp EES III