The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1896-10-26


enough 10 remember and Others henc
are not, but I have searched Ina
musty pays rolls OF the Baltimore 4
Ok.o Railroad Company. and ms I s,ld
IN Baltlmora say in Wheeling. thoSs
old pay rolls nleHi Ike angels trum.
et-tntEueds Snlnst the deep dnnlnn.
ton OF the gdeSased dollar (ApplauSeo
"The dollar cell during the war. Yoi,
remember they passed legal tender
act You know what the legal tender
act Is. an net declaring the promlse OF
the government to pay q dollar on GER.
tain paper money and requiring you IA
take Il for q dollar. II was huSe mis-.
take. We committed an error that We
are suffering from to-day. II Increased
enormously tho cost OF the war. II has
been tho fruitful parent, OF all the
financial hercsles Of tho day. But We
did It ard that deprecated the value
In 1869 II ran down to eighty some
cents In spld, In 1854 a paper dollar
would exchange for only 3thIrty.nlnc9
cents In Bnld. Wlsen You were getting
wages In ls6s, and 1850 they were gold
wages. In 1852, 1863. 1864 and 1865 you
were getting o dollar that was ma.
pcr dollar Now let US zee how Il on.
eratesEon your own living see how ii
is4with you, Did your wages rise as the
value OF the paper In which they were
paid went down. Not a particle Of Il. /
have beGore me n lons list. I Will only
refer TO two or, three instances because
Unjust not take TOO much time, butfl
have here some Instances OF this from
our own pay rolls, Take a passenger
conductor.Sin. 1859 and 1850 passenger
conductors were paid sI5 per month
and continued ut that rate until 1866.
when they Increased to $50 IS, m In.
crease ofSab3ut II per cent, In the
meantime that passenger conductors
cent. And yet Bryan and my friend OF
railroad anu sound money clubs. tAp.
plausc.) Why the, passenger conduc-
tor, whose. wages were cut In two BY
the debased currency, should help form
n sound money club? He had TO pay
more for liis sugar. more for his ham,
for his bacon, for his clothes. for his
rent He had. TO pay on an average III
per cent more for oil these things and
yet during, thtec years OF. the. war. there
wasn'tSa particle of change In his
wages and they didn't change until
1866, and then only advanced II per
cent. Do You think that fellow who
remembers that time, who remembers
that he wns conductor on the Balti-
more & Ohio allroad-sometimes had
TO take chances OF life with the public
enemy, as well as the ordinary
chances thai belong to the hazardous
calling in (which you all are engaged
say do You think that man who re-
members that his wages of SIS contin-
ucd the same during the war until Its
last days and they were increased only
II per cent. while everything he had to
buy was doubled. do you think that
man would be insane enough 10 vote
for Bryan now who wishes to debase
his wages so per cent?
Take another class, the tonnage
conductors. freight conductors, who
received $50 per month In 1860. That
continued until 1864, when they were
made 81 20, and them later they came
to higher rate of s2S7 day, but
never reached III per cent increase Of
their expenses. Take the passenger :
engineers. You have their wages re-
naming exactly the same during three
years of the war and they never chang.
ed until 1865 and in 1865 they advanced
to buy hpd more than doubled. ~,
TuFChnStus t'ONCr Oh u bOIlNr. ..1.H-
II have here for example a few
things. Take for example the dollar
that they got in 1860 1t would buy ten
pounds OF bacon. In 1865 1t would buy
five pounds. It would buy in coffee
eight pounds and more in 1850. 1t would
buy three pounds In 1855. 1t would buy
of tea, twenty-five ounces In 1860. 1t
would buy ten ounces in 1865. OF cali
co they got eighteen yards in 1860, and
they got four yards in 1865. or drillngs
they got twelve yards with dollar in
1860, and got three yards In 1865. Sheet
inSS the same way, carpets the same
way. Everything they had to. buy
went up as the dollar went down and
their wages remained stationary sub
until the last year OF the
wnr,Gand in, the last year Of the war
they received an increase varying from
II TO so per cent.
81 went through the street car pay
rolls in Baltimord with exactly the
same results. No change until 1865.
and tt:an only slight advance. That
is the effect of debased money That
is the affect OF lowering the buying
power of the dollar. That IS what you
mean by debasing money, getting a
dollar that won't buy as many things.
Your wages don't increase. The dol
lars that are paid You do not increase
in numbers, but their purchasing pow
er under Organism is TO be reduced
80 per cent. During the war
You had the experience. S..
Do YOU need To go to history? All
history tells the same story, from the
French revolution, aye from Queen
time way back in the old
days of Demosthenes, from Greek and
Roman and French and English, from
Continental, from every history Is the
same old story that the men who SUI
fer most by debased coinage are Il.
men who work for salaries and WORK
for wages. You have it though, ID
your ownTpay rolls. When a BryanEa
talks to you. just tell him of your ID
pay rolls; just tell him what YOU had
to pay; Just tell him how your wage,
remained the same for three years 0,
the war, and then ask him whether
with that experience You Baltimore &
Ohlo-all You railroad men anywhere
are going 10 deliberately Vote 10 cut
your wages in two and ruin your fam
lilies. your homes, your wives and chill
dren. (Applause.)
Not from sound money railroad
clubs! Why You would belle your IN
telltSence, your courage, your fidelity
10 wife. and home and family, II YOU
didn't form sound money railroad
mems clubs.
~ :'hc Party Appeal.
oh, but You tell me my party Vel,
I am Il good Democrat. am a Mckin-
ley Democrat this time. daughter and 8
applapse) Why, it has passed beyond
Party isn't In It. to use a