The Mankato free press. [volume] (Mankato, Blue Earth County, Minn.) 1879-1924, 1896-10-23
STUDENTS TALK r1ONEY.
Vote Results Sixteen For Gold and
Two For Silver.

Two For Silver.
The High School Literary society,
having resolved itself into mock
house of representatives Thursday, a
bill was introduced by the member
from Colorado providing for the free
and unlimited coinage of silver at the
rate of 16 to l by the United States
alone without the cooperation of any
other country.
Tue silver barons were represented
by Guy Currier and Ralph Lunn, while
the cause of the gold bugs was intrust-
ed to Roy Hudson and Mr.. Mansfield.
After a great deal of filibustering, Mr..
Currier, for the advocates of the bill,
presented a carefully prepared collec-
tion of Populist newspaper clippings
in connection with equally as large an
amount of assertion, and after saying
that since 1873 wages have fallen,
prices Of farm products have fallen,
and that on account of that act we
had lost half the quantity of our
standard money, he invited US to look
at Mexico, where be said the farmer
got dollar for his wheat, and the
| laboring man was in one continuous
round of paradise from morning to
night. He also invited the audience
to look at the ruin and disaster"
which had prevailed in the United
States during the last twenty years,
all on account of the gold standard.
And then having appealed to class
prejudice he took his seat amid the
| boistrous applause of the youngsters
on the back seats.
Mr.. Hudson then answered him in
manner which showed much study of
the question. Quoting from the
| Statistical Abstract and the famous
senate report on wages and transpCr-
tation, he showed conclusively that
the wages of 1890 had increased over
| the wages of 1860,5o per cent in gold
and Y per cent in purchasing power.
That the farm price of wheat, corn
oats, barley, rye, beef, eggs, butter
and in fact almost everything that
| the farmer has to sell, was higher
after 1873 latter the ''crime') than it
was before 1873 before the ''crime'').
From the mint report he showed
that in all the years before 1873, there
had only been coined about 100000
standard silver dollars, while since
1873 latter the ''crime") there had
been coined 430, 900, 900 standard silver
dollars of full legal tender. He then
took up the Mexican proposition OF
the silver man and showed that the
Mexican dollar will buy only half as
much as an American dollar, or in
other words is only worth SO cents, so
in reality the Mexican farmer only
gets so cents a bushel for his wheat,
and has to take the risk of parting
with his wheat for dollar which is
| liable to shrink before he gets home.
He also related an incident showing
where the government was asked to
appropriate money to bring back some
American laborers, who had gone to
Mexico on the recommendation of free
silver orators, who told them OF this
greaser paradise. In answer to his
opponents assertion in relation to the
unprecedented ruin which had at
tended this country for the last twenty
years, he showed him that since 1872
the national debt had been decreased
to less than third; that the annual
interest charged on this debt had been
decreased to one-ffth what it was
twenty years ago. He also showed
that the assessed valuation of the land
had almost doubled during the last
twenty years. Having produced many
other evidences of the great prosperity
during the last twenty years, the story
of ruin and disaster of his opponent
fell to the ground.
Mr.. Lunn next took the floor in sup
port of the bill. In very dramatic
manner he pictured the awful state
of affairs under which we have been
labOring under this terrible gold
standard, how the laborers were
ground down, and withall gave very