Birmingham state herald. (Birmingham, Ala.) 1895-1897, 1896-08-23
Mr.. BRYAN IN GREAT FORM.
Continued from First Page.)

oU cents Will be worth IUU cents, Ineu
there are no 50-cent dollars. and If the
other man is correct and the law adds
nothing to the value Of the metal, and it
simply converts 90 cents worth of silver
into N 50-cent dollar, then the mine
owner has not made cent. Well then
you will hear other men; If two men
speak against our position, one of them
will probably say that there has been
no fall in prices and he VIII denounce
the people who are complaining that
gold has risen in price, and after he has
proven that to the satisfaction of every
man who does not think, then his col
league will tell you that not only have
| prices fallen, but that it is the greatest
blessing in the world to have prices fall.
| Now these two. are not consistent, but
! 1t follows all the way through. Why Is
| it? 1t is because our opponents have no
| other theory, principle or policy upon
which they are prepared to stand and
| fight, and they do not dare to say That
| the gold standard is the good thing be-
cause no party in the history of this
| country has ever declared in favor or q
! gold standard, and they do not dare to
| say that the gold standard is bad th.ng
! and then tell the 70,0O0,OOO nberty-loVlng
| people that they have got TO suffer until
| some foreign nation brings them relief
| (Cries THAT is right.)
| My friends, l want you to remember
! that in the discussion of this money ques-
| ton there are certain fundamental prln-
| ciples, and when you understand these
| principles you understand the money
| question. l was out in portion OF the
| country where they irrigate on large
| scale and l found enormous plants, anu
| in investigating this the thought oc-
| Cured to me- what principle underlles
| the subject of irrigation? 1t is that wa
| ter runs down hill. When you unoer-
| stand that water runs down hill all you
| have to do is to dig ditch with slant
| and you can carry water wherever you
| want. So it is with the money question.
| You have got to find out the fundament-
al principles which underlie the SUBJECT
and when you understand them you I'M
derstand the money question, That is
the principle that underlies 1t all. 1t IS
the
Law of Supply and Demand.
which applies to money as to everything
| else You know that if the worlds crop
| next year of certain article is very
| much greater than the crop this year
! that that article will fall in price; If the
| crop is much smaller than this year that
| it will rise in price You know that tne
| law of supply and demand reaches and
| controls all sorts of property. 1t reaches
| and controls money as well as other
! forms of property. Increase the amount
| of money more rapidly than'the demand
| for money increases and you lower the
| value of dollar. Decrease the quantity
of money while the demand for it in
creases and you increase the value of a
dollar. Now, when you understand that
then you understand the essence of the
money question.
When you understand its effect on you,
then you can tell where your interests lie.
When you understand that principle,
! then you understand why the great cru
| sade in favor of the gold standard finds
| it's home among the holders of fixed In
| vestments, who, by such legislation, raise
| the value of the property which they hold.
Applause) For this [ can quote you
authority which your opponents dare not
! question. l have called attention, and L
| shall continue TO call attention, to a re-
mark made by Mr.. Blaine in congress on
| this subject. He said that the destruc-
| ton of silver as money and the establish
| ing of gold as the sole unit of value must
| have ruinous effect upon all forms OF
property except those Investments which
| bring fixed return of money (applause);
that these would be enormously enhanced
in value, and would gain a dispropor-
Tomato and unfair advantage over every
| species of property. (Applause)
My friends, there is a statement that no
| man who has respect for his reputation
would dare to dispute The establishing
| of gold as a sole unit of value throughout
| the world and the destruction OF silver as
| a standard money means that you shall
| destroy the value of all property except
| money and instruments that call
For Fixed Amount of Money.
| 1t means that you will give to these in
vestments and to this form of property
| mOnGy--an advantage ONGl CfCiJ OthSi
| form of property When you understand
| the effect OF the policy and then under
| stand that the desire for 1t is manifested
| more among those who hold the fixed IN
| vestments or trade in money, think
| Won will come to the conclusion that
| have come to, that the fact that the gold
| standard is good thing for them is the
| principal reason why they are in favor
| of a gold standard. (Applause)
Now my friends, when you make up
,i,,1c hot ia standard n
| bad thing, then the only question tnat
| you have to consider is how can you get
| rid of it? They can raise objections to
| the plan which we propose, but L want
| to suggest that you are interested not so
much in knowing the objections to our
| plan as in knowing what plans they have
| to relieve the condition. Why don't they
| propose something? 1t is because they
do not know what ought to be done. IL
So they are poor people to lead you out
| of bondage. Uaughter) Is it because
they know and will not tell? II so, they
have not the candor that ought to be
| possessed by those who would redeem the
| people from their suffering and distress
| (Applause)
They say that our dollar will be a SO
cent dollar Well, row, my friends, they
refuse to apply to the silver that is pro-
duced in the world the law of supply and
demand. We say increase the demand
for silver by legislation and that demand,
| acting with the demand now in existence,
will operate upon the price of silver. We
say that the new demand will be suf-
ficient to consume all the silver presented
at the mint, and, being sufficient, will
raise the value of silver bullion to $1.29
throughout the world. Applause)
They simply say 1t won't do it, and
then sit back ana propose absolutely
nothing. Now, my friends, have known
some of our opponents to use this sort of
argument: Why, they say, If the free
coinage of silver makes silver dollar
equal to a gold dollar, why, then, it will
be just as hard to get a silver dollar as it
is to get gold dollar. Do you know
what they overlook? They overlook the
fact that when we bring silver into COM
petition with gold we increase the supply
of standard money; that while the silver
dollar will be worth as much as the gold
dollar 1t will be easier to obtain with the
products of toll a silver dollar or a gold
dollar than it is today. (Applause) Our
complaint is that the same hostile legis-
lation which has destroyed the demand
for silver and driven down the price of
| ..;l, NV ole in,