Martinsburg herald. [volume] (Martinsburg, W. Va.) 1881-1920, 1896-09-12
gouRkg cockRAN on eRYAN.


The Eloquent Ex-conEressraan Exposes the
Free silver Fraud workingmcn.
In his great speech iii Madison Square
Garden, New York city. ex- Congress
man Bourke Cochran said in reply 10
4 Presidential Candidate Bryan:
If everything in this world or in this
I country, including labor, be increased
4 in value tomorrow in like properties
not one cf us would be affected at ~,
If that was Mr.. Bryan's scheme, nc
/ would never have a Popuhst nomination
to give him importance in the eyes Of
i this community. If that were al that
4 he meant, he would not be supporting
I it, and l woald not be taking the trou
4 bic to oppose ii. If everything in the
world be increased 10 per cent in value,
why, we would pay 10 per cent in addi-
4 ton for what we would buy and get 10
K per cent more for what we would sell
! What, then, is it? 1t is an increase in
4 the price of commodities and allowing
labor TO shift for itself. If the price OF
f commodities be increased and the price
( of labor be left stationary that means a
cutting down Of the rate of wages.
\ If. instead of dollar which consists of
a given quantity of gold equal to hun
4 bred cents anywhere in the world. with
/ the purchasing power Of a hundred
cents, the laborer is TO be paid in dol
4 lars worth 90 cents each, he can only
4 buy half as much with days wages as
! he buys now II the value Of this Popu-
4 list scheme, then, is to be tested, let the
4 laboring men of this country ask Mr..
Bryan and his Populist friends simple,
common, everyday question, Where
do | come INF
Mr.. Bryan himself has a glimmering
idea Of where tho laborer will come in,
or, rather, Of whore he Will go out.
There is one paragraph in his speech
which--whether it was the result of an
! unconscious stumbling into candor or
whether it was IA contribution made IN
the stress of logical discussion ] am ut
terly unable to say-that throws a,fiood
OF light upon the whole purpose underly-
ing this Populist agitation. Wage earn
ers, Mr. Bryan says, know that while a
gold standard raises the purchasing
i power Of the dollar it also makes it
more difficult to obtain possession of the
dollar. They know that employment is
less permanent, loss of work more prob
able and unemployment less certain.
If that means anything, it means
that q cheap dollar would give him
more employment, more frequent en-
ployment, more work and a chance to
get re employment after he was dis
/ charged. If that means anything III the
world to a sane man, it means that II
the laborer is willing to have his wages
cut down he will get more work
If it were true that reduction in the
rate of wages would increase the chance
of employment, would not blame Mr..
Bryan for telling the truth, because,
however unpalatable the truth may be,
/ conceive it the duty Of any man who
attempts to address his fellow citizens
never to shrink from a statement of the
whole truth, whatever may be the con-
sequences to himself. But, as "a matter
of fact, diminution in the rate of wages
does not increase the scope of employ
ment.
There cannot be an abundant product
| uultSS tdDOi 10 NAtSiiclAS1J NAhl'Ac3 W.
You cannot have high wages unless
there is an extensive production in ev-
cry department of industry, and that is
why / claim that wages are the one
sole test of country's condition--that
high wages mean abundant protection,
and abundance necessarily means pros
perity. Mr. Bryan, on the other hand,
would have you believe that prosperity
is advanced by cheapcning the rate of
wages, but the fall in the rate of wages
always comes from narrow produc-
ton, and narrow production means
there is little demand for labor i'll the
market. When, after the panic of 1878,
the price of labor fell to 80 cents day,
it was harder to obtain work than when
the rate of labor was SO, and the differ
ence between tho Populist who seeks
to cut down the rate of wages, and the
Democrat, who seeks to protect it, is
that the Democrat believes that high
wages and prosperity are synonymous,
and the Populist wants to cut the rate
of wages in order that he may tempt
the farmer to make war upon his own
workingmen.