The Jersey City news. (Jersey City [N.J.]) 1889-1906, 1896-08-19
THE Madison square 6arden Demon
etraffou.

md is Independent an ats rsetcs o" q" toc0'
questions. -
THE Madison square Garden M
Taking all things into consideration it
may be said tina last nights Madison
Square Garden meeting was the greatest
political demonstration that has ever
been seen in this country. 1t was not
only by far the most numerous audience
that has ever gathered under one roof
to hear a political address, but it also sur
passed any that has ever before gathered
in New York in the quality Of citizenship
which it embraced. Men who are old
CROUCH to have taken part in the meet
campaign say that the gatherings of 1850
did not surpass thai OF last evening IN
patriotic fervor.
The speech which Mr.. Bourke Cochran
delivered was worthy of the occasion It
was exalted in its patriotic one. It was
solid in its foundation upon first prin-
cipIes of morals and science. It was
luminous in illustration, it was pietu-
$ and forcible in diction, and its de-
livery was a magnificent triumph of will
power over most difficult physical eondi-
tions.
There was one episode of the meeting
which will never be forgotten by those
who were present. It was the singing Of
the star spangled Banner" by the au-
dience.
Amid the cheers which greeted the in
PRODUCTION of Mr. Cochran, the strains of
the great air. played BY the band, were
only. family heard. But as the cheering
died away, a few voices took up the
notes. Then Others caught the measure
and before the middle of the verse was
reached. ten thousand people were on
their feet, filling the great dome with
the swell of the National Anthem, giving
proof indeed through the night Of folly
and error and selfshness that Tho Flag
was still there"
And when the song was done, the
cheering arose again in wave swelling
upon wave. Men climbed upon chairs and
fiourished aags and hats and handker-
chiefs. and for many minutes the man
who was the central figure of this won
derful outburst Of pure patriotic passion
in vain tried to still the tumult so that
his words might be heard.
MR.. COCHRAN confined his speech al
most entirely to the effect of the free
coipage of silver upon the fortunes Of the
laboring classes. In view of the endless
possibilities Of the subject, he was COM
PEELED to select one aspect of It for radi-
cal analysis. or else cast mere chances at
its various phases. without arguing any
to the point of conviction. Speaking in
a city like New York, there was no
branch of the subject SO absolutely appro-
pirate as that which related to the inter-
ests of the. wage workers, This topic
he treated exhaustively and with master
" logic.
His argument, in a nutshell, was that
She wages of the worker was a certain
fraction of the product of his toll. sur
rendered to him in compensation for his
efforts and as a means of livelihood If
he was a chairmaker, 1t might be one
chair out Of FIVE that he could make in
a day. for example. The money which
he received was not really the wages, but
a convenient token of it. a device by.
which he could divide up fhe product of
his days work into fractions, so as to
accommodate his many needs. IT did not
matter what that money was called, so
long as it really represented the full
value of his share of his oHn labor. 1t
did not matter how many separate coins
ne received-provided they were all good
$50 long as he received the true value
Of his work. It might be called any
hin in dollars. The essential point was
that he received that. which in rent and
food and clothing would procure him the
equivalent of the labor he had performed.
government might alter the denomina-
ton Of the coins. but it was powerless
to control what share of his labor he
should enjoy himself. If one-fifth of his
days work was TO be his, the Govern
ment might cause it to be measured in
gold or in silver in base or in good coin
but 1t could not alter the true value of
what he received; because that was meas
ured only BY his own produce, and its
value IN relation to the necessities of
life which he toiled to procure.
Thus, Mr.. Cochran showed very clearly
that the pretext that plentiful money
or cheap money brought any increase Of
pay 70 the laborer was a faIIaey, based
on a misapprehension as to the true ma
ture of wages. He went on to show,
however, that by unsettling business re-
iations. by undermining credit, by cause
ing capital to be locked up. the silver
assault on the currency was bound to
curtaii production. With fhe curraiiment