The herald., 1896-10-18
A WORD TO THE MASSES

II a bimetallic monetary system, such
as advocated by the Democratic party.
would operate against the best inter-
ests OF the country, IT would seem to
be incumbent upon Major Mckinley and
the other defenders of the gold standard
to show wherein 1t would work harm.
They assume that they are the patriots
and the wise men of the land. but they
confine their arguments against the re-
monetization of silver to abuse Of those
who favor the restoration Of the silver
dollar to its former and constitutional
place In the nations monetary system.
Being wise men. they should know that
the people will not accept vituperation
for argument nor invective for proof
Much Is being said by the. opponents
of free silver coinage about flooding the
country with 50-cent dollars" which
would be the consequence of opening
the mints to silver. say they, but the
absurdity Of that proposition stands
out clear and distinct in the light of the
fact that the commercial value Of sill
yer dollar was 104 cents when the silver
dollar was discarded by an act Of con-
gress. 1t is not true. therefore, that the
silver dollar was demonetized because it
was a Cheap dollar" 1t is true, how
ever. that the outlook gave promise of
a considerable increase in the output of
the white metal mines Of this and other
countries in the near future, which
meant large increase in the volume
of tho circulating money medium in
what are called the commercial nations,
including the United States. The money
lenders and the industrial barons of
these nations knew that any very large
and permanent increase in the worlds
volume of money would make 1t diff
cult. if not impossible. for them to con-
troll 1t. and hence, by combined and
surreptitious movement, they managed
to have silver demonetized in the sew
eral commercial nations. Silver was
not, therefore, deprived of it's function
as a money metal because of any lack
of value of and in itself, for, as we have
already stated. the silver in a silver dol
lar had greater commercial value than
had the gold in gold dollar at the time
the demonetization Of silver was Sc
cured.
The question is, hen. why was silver
ueIIlOHcLIZcu. tIt TcdSOIl, Us VIC
have already intimated, that the in
crease in the output of silver, which was
sure to come would increase the volume
of money beyond the ability Of the man
ipulators of the money markets, of val
ues in the commodity markets and of
wage schedules to control 1t, which
would transfer the mastership of the
situation from the money syndicates
and commodity spectators to the peo-
pie. That was the reason and the only
reason why the demonetization Of silver
act was rushed through congress under
cover.
The mission of the Democratic party
at this time is to get control of the ma
chinery Of the government and repeal
that dark-lantern act of 1873, which
placed the control Of the money Of the
country in the cold, cruel and greedy
hands Of money spectators, and give to
the people the sole right to say what
kind of a monetary system they shall
have and what the volume of circulat-
ing money medium shall be.
The issue Is between dealers In money,
who want the volume of money kept
within the narrow limits Of their ability
to control Its circulation. and the mass
es, whose opportunity to secure full
remuneration for their efforts in the field
of labor and commerce must necessarily
be in ratio to the freedom which they
have to Seek the channels and highways
Of the activities of life. The Demo-
cratic party does not ask nor does it ex-
pect that the money syndicates will
come to its aid in Its struggle to release
the people from the oppression of CAPT.
tai combinations and manipulators of
wages and the prices Of the necessaries
of life. for 1t is their business to live
upon the misfortunes of the human
family; but the Democratic party does
ask, and it has the right to expect, that
the masses will join with it in the great
work of restoring to the people their
rights as sovereigns and freemen, that
each one may reap in full the fruit of
l.