Birmingham state herald., 1896-11-08
OUR LETTER BOX.

Mir Editor: The mateh1ess Bryan was defeatedl The result shows that MT. | Cleyeland had wounded the cause of bi- 1 fnetallism deeper than was thought pos 1 sible Today silver stands eliminated 1 from our currency, and if further mys- | tiffcation of the people were unnecessary, | then it would be economy, great economy, 1 to sell all silver bullion held by the gov ernment, for it is startling simplicity to hold silver bullion that is worth B cents with which to redeem silver certificates, while the dominant party stands pledged to redeem the same in gold. And also what nonsense to buy silver bullion to coin into silver dollars to redeem with gold dollars. This election continues the American people on the gold standard. To business man not blinded by threats cajoleries and hyperbolic insertions, it seems dangerously hazardous to continue the experiment. In 1873 we had pos sible for our coinage and as a basis for our primary money all the gold and all the silver of the world, also some $500, 100000 of greenbacks, emphasizing the fact that not only the silver, but even the greenback was primary irredeemable
 money. And all attempts to retire the greenbackS were estopped by resulting business failures. 'Tis true that our only money in circulation was the irredeema- ble greenback, but even that fact made the gold and silver of commerce cheaper, and made the products of the country buy more of it, no matter in what market sold.
 Mckinley was elected by sincere en- thuslasts under the moral battle-cry of sound money, meaning gold alone as the only basis for currency. The financiers,
 the trust, the corporations and manipula- tors lead the fight, and furnished the blazonry of banners and epigrams of at tack. Those who had fattened on class laws, such as pensions, tariff and the de- monetization of silver were the veterans and in solid phalanx. The fanatical mll- itia and who were put in the yanguar0 and armed with machette and dynamite was our own democratic administratioh. The intent of Benedict Arnold was not more deadly. The ma jority rule was tossed to the winds and the smallest mi- nority of history assuming to themselves the integrity and sense of the grand old party, refusing to yield what they had exacted. party fealty unmindful even that their very position of honor and trust, which made their onslaught dan gerous, was given by the party. They struck for the heart, and struck to Kill. Carlyle and Echles in Kentucky and H. linois, Wilson in West Virginia, Herbert and Screws in Alabama, are some Of the uncanny fruits of Buzzard's Bay. And here in Alabama, with fiye-sfxths of the white vote in favor of b!metallism and with a large majority indorisng the dem ocrattc platform, we have the remarka-
 
 intelligence vieing with Vaughn and Nose ley in leading the black cohorts and stul- l tifying themselves by doing exactly what | they so bitterly charged to Capt. kolb four years ago. The democratic axiom was is and has been that the products of labor and the price of same, the em- ployment of labor and the price of same l was the basis of a country'S wealth or | i'll.
 This being so the telegrams to the great La., nf RrnG money in unlimited quantity was to be | had on good collateral, will fall as flat as l a founder The rapidness of such tele- | grams is apparent when we remember l that in the spring of 1895, money m Eng l land was begging at one-half of l per l cent per annum and that in New York | 1t was 1 per cent. And that the bond | measure was In large measure forced. l So as to get rid of the pressure of sur | plus money. Also as late as last spring | money was perfectly easy cen 1t had | no difficulty in selling paper in New York | at per cent. and per cent. And yet | at both these times Dun and Bradstreets 1 reported conditions as horrible. The l Messrs. Steiner and other goldbugs be- | leve that money to lend is the test of l prosperity. I have even heard them | assert that a city with high tax rate | is more prosperous than city with low
 tax rate. and that Birmingham should l double her arbitrary rate. The silver | ties have contended that the high price l and increasing value of money unavoid- | able with gold alone made agriculture | unprofitable, investments precarious and | labor unemployed. The Mckinleyites
 claimed that the gold standard would | restore confidence, relieve agriculture, l employ the idle labor and foster invest | ments, and send a prosperous wave, tidal | high, over the land. They won. The l democrats unlike Lauterbach will stand the issue and help further the cause But | the job undertaken is bigger than bully l ing the stock market, coddling each other | or using hobo explosives against that im- l mense class circused under the generic | populsm. That word populite may be- l come aphoristic in its meaning. The re- l publicans have a harder job than tinker
 ing with the tariff, advertising money to | lend and spreading abroad high moral | emblagonries. The fitting of an agricul- l tural country and a free people to one l half the money measure is titanic and has l carried want to many home, the bitter l ness of the advice of those who reaped l the benefit of the class law demonetizing l silver to those who are paying it to go l home and make a living will keep alive the worng, and if the goldite pledges are | unredeemed will make the restoration
 sure. If the republicans will enable all classes to be prosperous. Then the dem l ocrats of Alabama will rejoice. If they | fail as they did with Mir. Harrison or as | we did with Mir. Cleveland, then MT. l Hanna will require more money and more l coercion in 1900 than he had in 1896 to | again triumph over bimetaliism with | Bryan at it's head. Respectfully,
 | B. B. COMER.