Barton County democrat. [volume] (Great Bend, Kan.) 1885-1915, 1896-10-01
Result Ia Terrible.

New York "a per cent of the population
rent their homes, and this condition is
sweeping westward With foreign credit
ors owning our lands. with increasing de-
mand for penitentiaries and lunatic asy-
lulns, and with constantly multiplying sui
eides, everything portends the breaking
down of our civilization.
The gold men say the Bland law Of 1872
restored the legal tender quality TO the sill
,%er dollar, but that act did not open the
mints or restore the debtors option. II
nominally restored the legal tender char
acter of the silver dollar, but in fact did
not do SO. It provided for its legal tender
except where otherwise provided in the
contract Such a provision delegated to The
individual to say what was legal tender
money, whereas, before the govern
ment had dictated what was legal tender,
and provided for 1t from both metals. The
act of 1878 was taken advantage of by
the money lender to flood the country with
notes. bonds and mortgages, payable in
gold, and since then billions of dollars of
our debts have become payable in gold
money by written contracts. The act OF
1873 carried the act of 1873 from statutory
law into the written contracts of the coun-
try. They were afraid the act of 1873 might
be repealed and they wished to cloak them
selves under the constitutional provision
against the impairment of the obligation of
contracts. The act of 1878 is worse than the
act of 1873.
Silver Coinage Since 1873.
I've often hear the gold men boastine
that there has been larger coinage of sill
yer since 1873 than before it. But under
redemption of the monetary system, the
quantity of representative money issued
should not exceed in volume the quantity
of redemption money in the country. So
that, when silver was reduced to the po-
sjtion of representative money, the issue
of any quantity of it in the form of repre-
sentative money had no effect In build
ing up our stock of primary money. Since
1873 the government has purchased silver
and coined it into representative money
There is no judgment displayed IN buy
ing costly metal to coin it into token OF
representative money. 1t should answer
the same purpose to coin our token money
from lead, tin, nickel or other substance
So long as it is redeemable in gold or made
subsidiary to gold, the issuance Of any
quantity of it will not restore the founda-
ton of our financial system. lApplauSe.l
I'VE are often told that the silver dol
lar is a good dollar on its face, but a 30
cent dollar in reality. We say gold dol
lar is only dollar on it's face, but in reality
a 2GO-cent dollar. The silver in silver dol
lar will buy as much wheat and cotton az
ever, but not as much gold. Gold has riser
in value, until, instead of buying one bush.
ell of wheat it used to- it will buy two
1T is constantly claimed that under free
coinage silver would run gold out OF the
country Gold is not now in circulation tc
be run out. There is no gold in circulation
among the people. It is in the bank vaults
of the large cities. 1t is cornered. And the
government is now at the mercy of those
who own it. Silver was the money of the
people, and circulated to the very pores OF
civiliza ton, and it does now as token
money, and no money is appropriate TO 3
republican people that does not thus cir.
culate. [Applause.l
Effect on the Farmer.
Now, in regard to the effect of free coin
age on the farmer, it is true, as claimed.
that farmer can now buy as much calico
and cotton cloth with so cents as he could
before when wheat was 81 a buShel. But
he cannot pay his taxes that way. 1t now
takes two bushels and nearly three bushels
Of wheat to pay as much taxes as one
buShel of wheat would have paid In 1873.
Whereas 1900 bushels Of wheat would
have paid the presidents salary Of S2o,0Gt
in 1873, it now requires 100, 600 bushels OF
| wheat to pay his salary of $4,000. And 10
was the same congress that increased the
presidents salary from $4,000 to soO,OVO
year that demonetized silver. Official ia
voritism and neglect of the rights of the
producers have already come with des-
potism. 1t now requires two and three
times as much Of your wheat to ride on
a Pullman car or street car as 1t did in
1873 Those things under the control OF
| trusts will be held up in price and pro-
ducers will suffer in the exchange of their
| property for them. Applause
Selfishness Is q Serpent.
"Selfshness is a consuming fire that
burns and destroys. 1t will destroy indi-
vidual character and 1t will destroy IA
| tional character. Call 1T what you will,
| a dragon, an evil spirit, or a devil: 1t can
| be aptly termed a serpent, with its tail
| in India, and it's body in Europe, and its
head raised in once proud America. Jap
! plause.l Will you fight it, citizens of Hill
nois. [CrieS of yes, yes.1 Then throw
aside politicians. Throw aside those who
| have self interest in asking YOU for your
votes. Study this question for yourselves.
and when you have studied civilization and
| the effects of the law on the prosperity Of
mankind we will then rear here an endur
| ing republic.
"It will no longer be question Of ex-
pertinent We will erect one that will be-
cease to scramble over the things Of this
| earth and pile up around us, as these mil
| lionaires are doing, who now would dictate
| to you and how to vote-when we cease
| that then we will come to a newer and a
| brighter civilization, in which we Will
| stndy the principles of humanity, and not
| the principles of selfish interests. Zap
| plause.1 And with such people. we will
! go forward, step by step, testing questions
| by the principle of humanity, and we will
| make a race of great men and great wom-
! en-, and it will lead to a brighter and bet
| ter day. [Great applause
| The real lesson of the Vermont cleo
ton was that if the Cleveland admins
| tration had controlled the Chicago con-
vention and placed an administration
man on a gold-standard platform, the
| democratic party would have been an
| initiated at the November elections.
This is what Vermont proved. On the
| ho election in All nc