The representative. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1893-1901, 1896-08-26

proof that what we have said was
true"
Would not Prof. McCleary be justi-
fed In shooting those villains dead in
their tracks? Would any jury punish
him?
And is not this the very thing he is
doing with silver?
A conspiracy of rogues demcnetized
1t in 1873, broke down its price and
discredited it, and now Prof. McCleary
pleads that very discrediting and con-
sequent reduction in price, as a rea-
son why justice should not be done to
it.!
We turn to the professors next
point.
We are at present coming more sill
yer than we ever coined before 1873.
The only difference is that Uncle Sam
has been buying silver and paying a
mirket price for it. II free silver is
introduced Uncle Sam will stamp 50
cents worth Of silver as 81. and the
other Al cents will be the profit OF the
mine owners. But we say to Uncle
Sam, coin your silver so that the whole
c untry may get the Lenetit, and that
means every one OF us. At present
we are coming gold and silver money.
Every dollar we co! n Is legal tender.
IL owe you 81, 0OO can repay you in
silver dollars, unless a contract has
been made between US that l should
pay you otherwise.
Prof. McCleary knows very we'll, or
ought to know, that Uncle Sam" has
bought no silver since Nov. l, 1893, the
date Of the repeal of the purchasing
clause OF the act Of July Ii, 1890: and
yet he would give the impression that
now, nearly three years afterward, the
government of the United States is
still buying silver in the market and
coming it. And how shallow is his
argument that the mine owner would
make A. cents on each ounce Of silver
coined! Are not the gold mines Of
Cripple Creek producing gold at the
cost OF few cents for a dollars
worth? Why does he not attack them?
And il the farmer can get dollar
for what he now sells for SO cents will
he refuse to take the difference be-
cause mine owner is also making
some money? Had we not better all
make money together than all go to
bankruptcy together? Would an hon
est man offer such appeals to shallow
aud shortsighted prejudices?
And il we owe you 81 900 and pay you
1000 silver dollars what right have
you to complain. when you can turn
around and pay like debt to some
one you owe? Money is a mere token,
and its principle function is the adj
justment Of liabilities between debt
ors and creditors. Why make a fetish
Of it and worship it as the South Sea
islander does the god lie has carved
out Of log?
Let US pass to the professors next
point.
"The free silver man must have the
cooperation Of two classes. First,
the labOring man; second, the farmer.
With them he would sweep the cOun-
try. for they are three fourths Of our
population. They argue that IL they
have free silver as VIC have at present
free gold, it would be more fair, there
would be more money and better
times. l propose to show that if both
are coined une Of them will fall out.
We say to the man who has gold, you
may take it to the mint. you may have
% 2-1O grains of gold converted into
the form OF dollar. You may have
that without charge. 1t will be
handed back to you in the form of a
dollar; you may use it in the dis
charge Of your debts, or in the trans
action of your business. The silver
man says, all want is the same priv
ilege, to take my silver to the mint,
convert 81 grains OF it into dollar
free of charge, the same as the gold
man can, take it out and discharge my
debts with it. To the gold man we
say yes; to the silver man We say no.
Why the difference? The first thought
that comes up in the mind of any man
is that you are not treating the silver
man fairly. What is good treatment
for the one should be good treatment
for the other. Why the difference?
Because, when the man with % 2-1O
grains of gold comes up and says i
want to have that converted into the
form Of dollar he brings one dol.
lars worth CT gold with him, but
when the man comes along with 3714
grains Of silver he brings only So cents
worth Of silver with him. The one
comes up and says, Il bring 100 cents
worth Of gold, worth 100 cents coined
or uncoined, and l ask you ito certify
that there is 100 cents worth Of gold
there, and Uncle Sam says, that /
shall do, because in doing so l shall
tell the absolute truth The man who
comes up with 50 cents worth of sill
yer says: Uncle Sam, l want you to
certify there are 100 cents worth of
silver there and Uncle Sam says, /
won't do it; not if this court knows
ITSELF That is tue essence of the
whole proposition. But some one in
the audience says, Uncle Sam does
coin 37li grains Of silver into the
form of dollar; he does put his
stomp on it and says it is a dollar
There was time when those 3714
grains of silver were worth 81, and
that is the time when we began to
coin the silver dollar, and when Uncle
Sam said there was 81 worth of silver
in it there was 81 worth of silver, and
he told the truth. But silver has
fallen id value, and now it would be
untrue for him to say it.
And why has silver fallen in value?
Because it was denied access to the
mints. Give it free access once more,
as gold has, and it would be worth at
once what it was before it was de-
monetized in 1873. The right to be
coined gave market for the metal at
fixed price. Deprived of that mar
ket and the bullion became a COM