The gold leaf. [volume] (Henderson, N.C.) 1881-1911, 1896-07-02
News and Observer. |

will bring prosperity. Is this true?
Twenty years it has been tested. Under
its operation the government has be-
come insolvent. If it were an ordinary
corporation it would 60 inte the hands
Of receiver inside of twelve months.
Under the operation of the gold
standard the number of mortgages in
this land doubled between 1880 and
1890. Under the operation Of the gold
standard the mortgage Indebtedness,
more than doubled during that period,
was increased more than billion dol
lars.
Under its operation all farm lands
have decreased in value.
Under it's operation we have seen
the most gigantic strikes for higher
wages in the history Of mankind. In
times of peace we have seen the troops
of the United States protecting the
mails and Interstate commerce against
the attack of the hungry, bowling mob.
Out of its operation have evolved
half million strong. hearted beggars.
The tramp is the natural offspring of
the single gold standard.
Coin obligations are all paid in gold.
Paper money is redeemed in gold. Sill
yer is measured by gold. When all
the gold is exhausted more bonds are
issued as if those bonds never had to be
paid. 1t seems never to occur to some
people that the bonds of the govern
ment must be paid like the bond of the
private citizen.
AS surely as time moves on day Of
reckoning will come, a day black with
disaster, unless there is enough patri-
otism left in the people to see to it
that their rights are not trampled under
foot.
The money of our country is divided
into three parts, almost equal parts of
gold, silver, and paper money. The
policy of the government requires that
all money shall be redeemed in gold.
But no fnancier has ever yet told US
how one gold dollar can redeem paper
and a silver dollar at par.
That great infidel Col. Ingersoll very
irreverently remarked that he was sat-
isfied with any kind of an American
dollar in his pocket because he could
hear it sing 81 know that my redeemer
liveth.'' The Democratic party will
make the silver dollar its own re-
deemer. 1t will sing the song Of the
redeemed. It will be launched out on
the great sea of finance on its own mer-
its and the government, instead of be-
ing forced to redeem two dollars with
one, will redeem her paper dollar with
Oft of IoIl
money.
Nothing on earth can prevent the
ultimate bankruptcy of the government
under the present system except such
an immense find of gold as will so place
it on commercial par with silver at
its former ratio.
They tell US the silver dollar is worth
only fifty cents. In one sense this is
true; in another it is not. Gold has
appreciated while silver has deprecia-
ted. A dollar worth less than a hun
dred cents is no more dishonest than
dollar worth more than hundred cents.
[ If one robs capital, the other robs
labor.
But the fifty cent argument is not
fair. Strike from the laboring man one
Of his strong arms, would you expect
him to do full days work?
Pass a law forbidding cotton fabrics
to be worn in the United States, would
you wonder if the price of the staple
went down? Take life out of the body,
death follows. The reason the gold
dollar is worth an hundred cents and
more is because of the fact it is used as
money. The money quality is the val
liable quality.
Restore to silver the quality of (which
it was robbed, that quality which for
thousands of years it possessed, until
the Ohio statesman appeared on the
drama Of life, that quality recognized
by the Prince Of Men, ''of gold and sill
| yer have l none,'' and you will soon
see the silver dollar return to its natu-
raj parity with the gold dollar. This
natural parity has varied in favor of
silver until to-day there are just about
sixteen pounds of silver produced to one
pound of gold.
Fellow citizens, let US get together
on this question. Upon it we can carry
this nation. The Republican party,
true to its tastes and traditions, is bat
tling for monopoly. Their candidate
| for President is the giant of monopoly;
but mark these words, this giant Of mo-
nopoly on the 3rd day of November
will be laid low by the simple sling and
smooth stone Of some shepherd boy of
the people.
The Democratic Congress during its
short lease Of life passed the only legis-
lation which for thirty yeers has bene-
fitted the plain people. They reduced
import duties twenty-five per cent. and
yet the Wilson tariff produces sixteen
millions more of revenue per annum
than the Mckinley bill. They provi-
ded moderate and just income tax
which would have yielded forty millions
per annum. Under the operation of
Democratic legislation there would
have been no necessity for further
| issue of bonds. Just about the time
that the Supreme Court Of the United
States had declared the income tax un-
constitutional the Republican party
came in power in both branches OF
Congress.
What did that Congress do? 1t en-
joys the distinction Of having spent
more and done less than any of its pre-
decessors in all the history of the gov
ernment. The President and the peo-
pie appealed to them to pass some
measure to relieve the Treasury but in
vain. They contented themselves by
spending money and trying to increase
taxes.
| Let US call them to account for theil
conduct.
1t shall be my duty to call to accoun
the present Congressman from this dis
trict. l have not forgotten his pledge!