The Stark County Democrat. [volume] (Canton, Ohio) 1833-1912, 1896-09-10
MASTERLY EFFORT.
WILLIAM J. BRYAN'S GREAT
SPEECH AT TOLEDO
Read at the Bryan Free silver Club
Meeting- Gen. Sherwood Fxpiodes
the Iutriusic Value Faiiacy-
other Speakers Present.


Bryan Free Silver Club ives held Friday
night at the clubs headquarters In Bast's
hall. The attendance was large, and the
meeting of special interest. Among the
speakers were Mr.. Reuben Erwin and
General I. II. Sherwood. Mr.. Erwin
talked briefly of the Issues and clearly
showed why every laboring man and
producer should support the free silver
cause General sherwood made a
scholarly address, clearly showing that
he Is master of the financial question. He
spent some little time in quoting Rspub-
lican figures to give the lie to Republican
claims that gold money has intrinsic
value He ricked out some quotations
from the New York gold exchange, show
ing by the figures quoted by the exchange
that gold had varied in purchasing power
as much as 80 per cent, which completely
exploded the intrinsic value fallacy.
There were other brief speeches. A
feature of the evening was the reading,
by DIR. H. f. Barnes, of one of Mr..
Bryan's speeches. The speech was de-
iivered in Toledo after the regular speech
of the evening, to an overflow meeting,
at which 10000 people we're present. Mr..
Bryans speech on that occasion Is here
appended in full:
Ladies and Gentlsmen-There is one
subject upon which all the minds of
the people are centered. Thore is one
question about which all the people are
thinking-yes; thinking as people have
seldom thought before in this county. Go
into any department of life, visit those
engaged in an operation, and you will
find them considering one question, the
money question. Men studying 1t, women
studying It, old people studying it,
mjddleaged people studying it, young
people studying it. 1t is the one great
.bsorbing issue, and to my mind there
IS no grander sight than seventy mil
lioLs of people thinking out for them
selves the questions of government.
Government is not diflicult ques-
tion. Jefferson has said that the art Of
government is the art of being honest,
and that the principles of right and wrong
are so easily discerned that they require
not the aid of many counsellors. He is
right The questions of government
are simple questions. Every great politi-
cal question is great economic question,
and every great economic question is a
great m oral question: question Of right
or wrong, question Of Justice or injus-
tice. And at last the money question
has been resolved into its constituents
parts, and the American people are decid.
ing for themselves what kind of dollar
makes the nearest approach to honesty
and justice in its dealings between man
and man. (Applause.)
"That is what the contest is about.
You ask nae how the people will decide
it. My faith in their intelligence and in
their desire for the general good is so
great that l have implicit confidence
that they will finally select that monetary
standard which gives the nearest ap-
proach to justice. (Applause.)
"What is an honest dollar? Your chair
man has said on another occasion that an
honest dollar would be dollar which
would not change in its general purohas-
ing power or value. That is what an
honest dollar would be. The poet has
said that "An honest man is the noblest
work of God, and l can supplement II
by saying that an honest dollar, II 1t is
ever invented, will be one the noblest
works of man. (Great applause.) Dollars
are no divine, although some people have
so much reverence for the dollar that they
call it the almighty dollar. daughter.
Dollars are of human origin, dollars are
creatures of law. There Is no dollar ex-
cept that which the law creates. Do you
doubt it9 / think / can prove it to you
in q moment There is not dollar In ex.
istence today except 1t derives its entire
authority from "Be 1t enacted. i" You
want more dollars. How can you get
themp Simply by legislation. If you
want more wheat, you go out and raise
wheat If you want more corn, you
go out and raise corn. II you want more
of any other kind of property, you go out
and bring 1t into existence; but If you
want more dollars, you can GO out and
create dollarsP You can do it, 1t is pos,
sible, but 1t is not sate Qaughter.)
will even take that pack. l said 1t was
possible; it is not possible, You can
create dollar You may take piece
of old gold having the same weight and
flnenesa of gold dollar. You may make
your stamp so that it cannot be told from
the government stamp; you can put the
impress OF that stamp upon the gold, and
make 1t so like the gold dollar that the
microscope cannot detect the difference
but it is not dollar WhyS Because the
law invests 1t with no power or authority
1t is not legal tender. 1t is no more
than riece of gold. And If the govern
ment finds out that you made that thinG
to look like dollar, you can be punished
for your presumption. Dollars arr
creatures of law. II you want more dol
lars, you have got to secure laws that will
provide the dollars. And yet there arr
people in this country who deny that thu
government has anything to do will
money. The very people who today den,
the power OF the government, or its right