Delaware gazette and state journal. (Wilmington, Del.) 1883-1902, 1896-09-03
GEMS FROM
COCKRANS SPEECH.

out the speech of Bourke Cochran. Let
iis collect few of them and reprint them
free from the setting given them by the
address, which was an able and magnifi-
cent reply to Mr.. Bryan's argument:
The American nation will never con-
sent to substitute for the republic of
Washington, of Jefferson and of jackson
the republic of the Altgeld, a Tiliman or a
Bryan.
4 know of no test of prosperity alb
solutely infallible except the rate of wages
paid to labor. Where the rate of wages
is high. there must be prosperity. Where
| the rate of wages is low, there must neces-
| sarily he distress.
If Mr.. Bryan can show me that by thel
enforcement of any portion Of his pro-
| gramme wages will be increased in this
| country will not only support him, but l
| / will recognize him as the wisest orator i
! that ever opened his mouth on platform
since the beginning Of the world. J
In reading through the whole reams
| of Populistic literature with which this,
4 country has been flooded for four years l
| have never yet found one syllable which
4 showed me how Populist expected to in
crease the rate of wages.
Il do not believe that any man who
ever lived could quite understand Popu- !
lists notion of what money is further than
that he believes it is n desirable thing to-
get and that he is not very particular
about the means by which he can get hisi
hands on IL.
Nothing is more common in Populist,
oratory than the statement that the vol,
upe of money must be increased for the
benefit of the people, which means thap
mart of the people that run and manage,
| ,nI ,lIrase DanpIist fnaatinps
Nothing is more common than the
mistake that money and property are
Identical They are not. A redundancy
of money does not prove any prosperity.
There may he very large volume of cir
culating medium and very great poverty.
The issue of paper money simply is no
more an increase of wealth than the issue
by an individual of his promissory note.
would show an increase of his property;
As IL matter of fact, an increase in the
| coinage is no proof of an increase in prop
erty, hut may be a strong proof of de-
crease in wealth.
Let us take. for instance, this watch
case. That is worth its bullion vaule plus
the labor that has been expended ON 1t.
. II. now, melt that down into $40 gold
niece it is worth nothing hut the bullion
value. Here there has been an increase
| III lnP uuHnllIy vi l1bIts. pHt htttthst
+. in the volume of national wealth. l could
not buy watclicase with the coin which
9 would he coined out of this unless added
5 something to it, and the pretense that men
can be enriched by swelling the volume
! of the currency is the widest delusion
i that has affected mankind since the very
! beginning of civilization.
The volume of money plays but a
Z small part even in the ordinary trans
: actions of life. 1t is not the volume of
. money, but the activity of money that
c counts.
ii Money never can circulate freely and
/ actively unless there he absolute conf
: dence in its value If man doubts
v whether the money offered him will be as
II valuable tomorrow ms il is to-day he will
II decline to exchange his commodity against
g it.
n This Populist agitation threatening
:, the integrity of money has been the cause
|, of the hard times through which this
e country is passing and from which it will
II not escape until the heel of popular con-
y domination is placed upon the Populist
IS agitation which undcrmines the founda-
4 tons of credit.
The basis of all sound trade is sound
n money; money which is intrinscally valu-
g, able, money, which. like the gold coinage
u of this country, the government cannot
~ affect if il tried to. can take ten-dollar
e gold piece and can defy all the power Of
4 all the governments of this earth to take
~ five cents of value from il.
= No power ever vet exercised by tyrant
e or by constitutional monarch can cause a
y barren field to become fruitful can cause
y two blades of grass to grow whore one
:, grew before, can bring together the
Y stones that compose this building and
= raise them into a stately temple dedicated
u to political discussion. No, il requires the
~ labor of man, and the labor of man alone,
!. ! to create wealth.
y If instead of dollar, which consists
20 of a given quantity of gold equal to n hun
u dred cents anywhere in the world, with
~ y the purchasing power of 100 cents, the
y laborer is to be paid in dollars worth sc
y cents each, why, he can only buy half MS
much with his days wages as lie buys
now.
70 The more abundant the product the
70 higher the wages. There cannot be an
" abundant product unless labor is extern
:, siyely employed. You cannot have high
. wages If there bp not an extensive pro-
:, ducti0n in every department of industry
and that is why claim that wages is the
one sole test of Il country's condition; that
=, high wages means abundant production
-, and abundance necessarily means pros
y perity.
Il This proposal of the Popuists is an
4, attempt to enlist the farmer in con
h. spiracy to reduce the wages paid to his
al lahorer that he may have Il larger pro
i. portion of his own product and they are
M willing to cut down the wages of every
al man who works in cities. who tolls at thu
bench, who digs in the mines, who mana
n ges train, in the hope that they can rid,
n, into power on wave of cupidity ant
IN greed awakened in the breast of the voter
= How To Make Artificial Ice.
us "That must be curious process,
~ the manufacture of ice,'' said Chi,
ny cage man to resident of Dallas.
" Eyes" replied the scientist, ''dc
W you understand the philosophy of itf''
re mo; l nevsr saw one Of the ma
N chimes and never had the thing ex
"a planned to me.
= swell, you see," said the phioso
~ pher, they have kind of tank"
Y Eyes.
d "And they fill that tank about two
L.. -.WI. f. f