The News-Herald. [volume] (Hillsboro, Highland Co., Ohio) 1886-1973, 1896-10-29
LAID BARE
The Conspiracy Of Silver Mine
Owners and Their Tools.
VERY COMPLETE EXPOSURE OF IT.

VERY COMPLETE EXPOSURE OF IT.
Made BY Judge West, In which the.
Plo to Deceive the People Is Handled
In . Masterly Manner-Had No Desire
For Free silver So Long as They Could
Sell silver For British Gold at Greater
Profit.
At great meeting recently held at
London, in Madison county, Judge Will
liam H. West, the famous blind orator
of Ohio, than whom there is no better
authority on economic questions in the
state, made clear to his auditors the
existence of a conspiracy to foist silver
upon the people of the United States
for the benefit, wholly and solely, of
the silver producers, and told the in
teresting story of the founding Of the
conspiracy. The following extracts
from Judge Vests speech will be
found very interesting reading:
From 1852 to 1873 we had free coin
age. The mint was open. Between
these periods there was produced
5000, 100000 of silver. We had just
come out of the war. If there ever was
q time that invoked patriotism to exert
itself for this country that was the
time. Yet, with our mints standing
open, as they had stood for 40 years,
these men of the northwest that are
today dominating the Popocratic party
Of the United States, instead of bring
ing their silver to the mints of the
United States and coming it. or leav-
ing it to be coined for the benefit of
the people of the United States, sold
every dollar of it in the British market
for British gold, and never sought free
coinage until the price of silver bull
ion in the London market made 1t less
profitable for them to sell American
silver for British gold. And when it
became less profitable to sell in Europe
than to have it coined in the mints of
the United States, they, for the first
time, in 1875, after France had closed
her mints, turned upon the United
States and demanded the free coinage
of their depreciating and shrinking
commodity because they could ne
longer get a profitable market for 1t
for British gold. And now the same
internal scoundrels turn around and
tell us that we are governed by British
gold. They are great patriots! And
they are talking about the silver dollar
as "the peoples money" Why, great
Lucifer, there was not silver dollar
in circultion among the people Of the
United States for 40 years. "The peo-
pies money! The peoples money!"
There is not man living in the United
States that ever saw an American sill
yer dollar in circulation previous to
1878; and yet they howl about it being
''the peoples money"
They made raid upon congress in
1878 and they succeeded in getting en-
acted the land-Allison law, under
and by which the government agreed
to purchase from $2,O0O,000 to $4,000
900 of coin per month. That was the
first raid upon congress. 1t was sup
posed that that would absorb the Amer
lean product, but it only stimulated
production and the price went down,
down, down. 1t began in 1865 to de-
cline. Then the silver dollar was
worth, as l said, 103 cents. In 1876 it
was worth only SO cents. In 1878 it
was worth 92 cents; and so it went
down, down, down. The act of 1878
only stimulated the production and sill
yer still further declined. The law of
supply and demand compelled it to de-
cline, and that went on until 1889.
Then silver had declined SO far that
hof fhnx,
would make another raid upon con-
gress and demand free coinage. They
called a convention, which they called
"The National Silver convention" and
the governors of the states were asked
to appoint delegates to attend. Gov
ernor Foraker was in the gubernato-
rial chair of Ohio at the time. They
requested him to appoint 20 delegates.
Well, he had no authority to appoin,
them. There was no law for it. The
whole thing was fraud, but he did
not know it and acted upon their sug-
gestion. He addressed me a letter and
asked me to attend, and did not know
what it meant. l supposed the con-
vention was called for some discussion
of economics, or the monetary system,
or something that had some foundation
to it. and I, goose-like, picked up. and
went to st. Louis. When l got there,
there was Richard p. Bland, and there
was Senator Stewart, and there were
two or three hundred gentlemen from
Nevada did not pronounce it right
from Ne-vah-da. Uaughter.) ''The
gentlemen from Ne-vah- Ida, and the
gentlemen from Mon-tah-na, and the
gentlemen from Col-o-rah-do" were all
there. (Continued laughter) OF course
/ went in and took seat. l supposed
] was a member of the convention.
But Holden. the owner of the Cleve-
land Plain Dealer, was there, and Hol-
den Is the owner of an eighth interest