The Irish standard. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn. ;) 1886-1920, 1896-08-08
NELSON Wild CHATTER,
WAS OBLIGED 70 SAY SOMETHING

But The Facts and Figures Were All
fs.s- In His rlind Very Wide Of
i 49, .S;zs4s,1.f.. : !: ~ ..&2s,5s. = &
g. 50 The Truth.
Those who have taken time to wade
through the report of the speech made by
Knute Nelson at Alexandra last Friday
night have. found what they knew before
hand-that It was tho nouth:ng Of the
machine. 1t was a mass OF facts and fig
ures distorted 30 as to furnish support for
the single gold standard in opposition to
! the free coinage Of silver. v>s...
| The materials, out Of which the speech
was built, when disjointed and put into
correct shape, form an excellent defense
| Of the free coinage cause. The historical
fragments and statistical quotations, which
Senator Nelson distorts into arguments in
favor of gold, are Of inestimabie value in
proving the reasons why free coinage
should be adopted.
| The speech starts out with the admis-
{ sion that the country has been brought to
state. where it suffers from q currency
| famine, where capital has been paralyzed
| or driven into hiding and where labor has
been forced into idleness or ION the
tramp" His allusion to the Democratic
administration as being the cause falls
fiat, because none is so ignorant that he
does not know that the previous Repub-
lican administration not only squandered
an immense treasury surplus which was ON
hand at the time of the partys assump-
ton of the government, but wound up its
term of power by leaving the country. on
the verge Of bankruptcy Like all agents
of the machine, Senator Nelson devotes
his efforts to concealing the true cause OF
the present state Of affairs, but how, on
top of all this, he can have the hardihood
to get np before an intelligent public and
plead for continuation Of the curse which
is upon us-that is what puzzles the peo-
ple,s and that Is what gives them plain
view of the machine and it's parts at work.
l.: History is, quoted to show that we had
free coinage from 1892 to 1878; but pur-
posely omission is made of the fact that the
country also enjoyed far more prosperity
during that period as a whole, notWith-
standing the ravages of the civil war, than
has been experienced at any time since.
The claim is made that during this period
of free coinage of both metals we never
had bimetaltsn1, for at one time all the
silver left the country and at another, all
the gold. The explanation adduced ex-
plains more than was intended. 1t ap-
pears that silver left us. because our ratio
was Is to 1, while in Europe it was only
1914 to L.; that is, 151s ounces OF silver
would buy an ounce Of gold In Europe,
while here it required 16 ounces of silver
to effect the same purchase. For this rea-
son our silver went in exchange for for
eign gold. Later on-in 1854--our ratio
was changed to 14.8S to /, while the ratio
in Europe remained. as before Then it
was that foreign silver came and absorbed
our gold.
These facts prove, if they prove any
thing at all, that coming or going Of. either
of the money metals so far as nations, in
div;dually or collectively. are concerned,
is entirely dependent upon the coming ;;ra-
ito between the two metals, and that mon
ometallism Or; bimetallism has . nothing
whatever to do with that occurrence.
Hence these facts prove conclusively the
fallacy of the goldites' assertion that we
would be reduced to a silver standard If
free coinage of silver were adopted: By
simply keeping the coinage ratio in har-
mony with thati'of other countries the
metals must, and will, keep in concurrent
circulation.
Perhaps the most Herculean task of
Senator Nelson in: his speech is the at
tempt to prove that there has been no real
fall in prices, at least no general fall, and
that the price Of labor. has of late years
been going UP instead Of down.
OF course somebody's statistics have
had to be 'resorted to for this purpose.
Senator Nelson Uses those Of one Al
dricht which were probably gotten up for
the express use of. the machine These
remarkable statistics show that there
was steady advance in wages from 1910
to. 1860: from 1860 to 1875 the advance
was not regular, but more rapid (what-
ever that means; from 1875 to 1880 there
was a standstill, but since that time the
advance has been continuous 1t passes
comprehension: how an intelligent
person can venture to make such an as
sertion in: the face Of the terrible depres-
sion in labor and wages that have been
experienced during the past few years.
It.,is true that organizations and costly
strikes have prevented wages in some
branches from dropping entirely out of
sight; but surely no one can:shut his eyes
to the fact that labor and wages IN gen
eral nave fallen during the past few years
to such degree that hundreds Of thous- |
ands of honest working men have been
reduced to actual pauperism. And the
proof of this Is to be found in every vii
lage,. hamlet and city all over this gold
bug infested country. - . 81
The consular reports from China, Mex
leo and other semi bar barous or semi |
civilized countries are addueed to- show
what people get for their work there.
But what that has to- do with the Amer |
lean citizens in the United States no one
but Knute Nelson can tell. lf:one savage
were willing to do duty for another saw
age for one clam she'll per day, what UNI
der the sun. would that have TO do with
American institutions and American peo-
pie? Is this an insinuation that the
great laboring and middle classes of the !
United States are expected to submit to
being reduced to the state Of starved bar
barians; that SO long as their condition
has not been ground down to the level of
the halt worked wretches who feed on
rats and rice and perish like dogs so long
they have no right to raise their. voice
against oppression gainst having their
rights mercilessly trampled upon? Such |
insults should not be tolerated in a civil
liked nation, much less listened, to by a i
free and intelligent people.
Continuing Senator Nelson says that !
it is more profitable to raise wheat tn 1896 /
under the gold standard than it was in
1859 under bimetallism. How prof
wheat raising was il 1852 very few know
and still less care. But everybody who
knows anything about wheat raising at I