The Somerset herald. [volume] (Somerset, Pa.) 1870-1936, 1896-10-14
Truth for Wage-Earners.
From the 80 York sun. octol,erI !.

of the Ninth Congressional district,
held rousing meeting in its branch
headquarters, No. AIS Grand street,
last night. The principal speakers
were Colonel j. +. Bloom, j. j. Room
ey, secretary of the organization, Ed
ward Mandell and Max Franklin.
Hugh Reilly presided. An outdoor
meeting was also held in front of the
headquarters. Colonel Bloom said in
part:
"At present wages are estimated and
paid on a gold standard. Whether
payment he made with silver dollar
or greenbacks, any such to-day are the
equivalent Of the gold dollar in any
par. of the world. This will not be the
case if the Chicago platform is carried
into effect. If l6 to is adopted wages
will then be paid on a silver standard;
the purchasing power Of the dollar, in
which the wages will then be paid be-
ing only about one-half that of the
present dollar, in any part of the
world, including the United States.
''Let Us say you are now earning =
per day. You can buy barrel of flour
for s.; you can now pay for the flour
s. either with our present gold, green
back or silver, because any merchant
or bank will now exchange the one for
the other, knowing that the faith,
credit and resources of the Government
are pledged in effect TO keep all on a
parity with gold at l60 cents on the
dollar. The price OF that barrel of
flour is now about the same in Liver
pool, Berlin or Paris (adding only the
freightagel. In other words, with
about s., gold or greenhacks, of the
present standard, earned in two and
one-half days at S2 per day, the work
ingman buys that barrel OF flour in ST.
Louis, Chicago, New York, PhiladeI-
piIi', Boston, or Liverpool, Havre,
Hamburg, Paris or st. Petersburg.
"Now let u presume that Mr.. Bry-
an has been elected, and Congress has
enacted free silver at 10 to /. That
barrel of -four still sells for s. in gold
in Liverpool, Hayre or Hamburg; that
is 10 say, the American farmer and
miller can sell his flour in that market
for an amount Of gold which can be
coined here into halfeagles, or five
dollars, or can be coined into gold
coins in any European country Of like
value, aud which can purchase in any
market in the world an amount of sill
Yer at 81 to /, which when brought To
the United States, will he coined at l6
to into 10 silver dollars. Therefore,
the instant you have free coinage at Is
90 the farmer and the miller viii de-
mand $40 for the barrel Of flour, be-
cause he can get for il in Liverpool or
Hamburg an amount of silver bullion
which he can have coined into SO at
the United States mints.
"In other words, the American
workingman must then pay SO, or ii7e
days earnings at - per day, for The bar
rel of -four; for Mr.. Bryan and the
Chicago platform tell you they will at
once pass laws making silver at l6 TO
legal tender for the payment of debts
past and present, which means that
the workingman must accep; silver for
his wages, at par value, at 100 cents ON
the dollar, coined at 10 to /, with only
81 cents of metal in IT, In other words,
Bryan proposes to enact laws to the
effect that the workingnian, who to-
day buys barrel Of flour with two and
one-half days of labor, mus; and shall
work five days for the same barrel of
flour; for, mark you, there is no sug-
gestion even that the legislation which
shall double the legal tender value of
silver shall also double the scale of
wages; and every wOrkingman, and
every farmers helper, aud every mine
owners workman, knows that his
wages will not be voluntarily advanced
by his empIoyer-excepting possibly
after long struggle, and then even
the advance will not be in proportion
to the advanced cost Of daily bread"