The Forrest City times. [volume] (Forrest City, Ark.) 1871-1919, 1896-08-07

| a.
country whose brave men and brave
| women, when only a few million strong,
| waged war upon the greatest and most
powerful nation on earth to maintain their
| liberty and their independence from the
/ land beyond the sea. For eight long years
| they fought for their homes and their fire.
sides against British cannon, against
British soldiers and hired Indians, hand
+, full of powerful, struggling men, and they
conquered. And yet, when we have grown
! 20, 000, 900 strong, remote from all the other
nations of the earth, able and patriotic
heroes on land and sea, full of energy and
thrift and courage, we must bow down
and be abject slaves to the LON bard
street In London and not in America. Who
dare not say that we can make our own
| financial system for ourselves? Americans
who dare not manage their own internal
relations without the consent of foreigners
beyond the sea! There are no such Ameri-
cans in this campaign The only Americans
are the ones who say that this government
is big enough and strong enough to make
it's own laws and manage its own affairs,
and do right in themselves; right, indie
pendent of all the kings and potentates of
ali the world.
Now, let us see what this question real
ly means l have been told OF a new Issue.
and that we are advocating something
specious and untried. l ask you men and
women, to glance back at history from the
day of civilization until about 1873 Gold
and silver alike have been the money of all
the most civilized nations of the earth from
the earliest time down to about this period.
All nations alike used these two metals
side by side the money of the world.
England alone demonetized 1t some years
before, but left all the other nations using
these two metals side by side
As to Free Coinage.
Now what does the free and unlimited
coinage of gold and silver mean? l think
hv nrnnnpdin0 N pvn 7
answer most of the arguments of the
gentleman. The world. for some reason
or other, has adopted gold and silver as the
money of the earth, and provided that these
metals and these alone are absolutely
money. Paper Is not money-it is promise
| to pay money: but gold and silver have.
all the years of the world, been considered
alone as money, everything else being pay
| able In them, and down to 1873 for more
| than 20 years the ratio of gold and silver
remained substantially the same as to-day,
| fifteen and one-half to one. as such ratios
| are to-day in France. For nearly 20 years
| this period was substantially undisturbed
81 am willing to admit. If you bring me
"a or % grains of gold. whatever 1t is, we
will stamp a dollar mark on 1t and you may
| take 1t and go away, and IL you bring to US
sixteen times the weight in silver we will
stamp dollar mark on that and you take
| II and go away. And these two things only
are money to be used as the absolute money
of redemption all over the world. as they
were practically up to 1878. Now the
amount of gold and silver in the world for
100 years and more has been substantially
equal in vaSue at a ratio Of fifteen and one
half or sixteen to one. You probably can
not verify all / say, of course, without
some study and investigation, which
hope you will give. Applause and cheers.l
1t is very evident that these people do not
believe in verifying anything by study and
investiga n-Iapplause and laughterl-
but prefer to take 1t on the side
Now. my friends and enemies-political
enemies of course, l mean do not ask
you to believe anything l say. Applause
and cheers 1t is entirely possible | am
mistaken in some things, have been many
times l undoubtedly shall be again All
hope to do and shall do is to give you some
| thing to think about, and ask you to think
1t out and work 1t out for yourselves and
| not to be fooled about 1t.
Cheap Money Advocated.
Gold and silver, as have said. have been
the money of the world. And here's an
| other fact which even the intelligent gentle
man will not dispute-that the value of
everything depends largely upon the amount
of money there is in the world. The more
money there is in the world the cheaper
| that money is. which is very evident. lap
| plausel The more wheat there Is In the
world the cheaper II is. The more Of any
| commodity there is in the world the
| cheaper 1t is; the less there is OF any COM
modify In the world the dearer 1t is. and
| that applies to money the same every
thing else. And upon this, strangely
| enough, the gold and silver men agree
| alike. The senator says We want 5o-cent
dollar, and that there is so much silver In
| the world that II we coined it 1t will be
| worth only so cents, which proves exactly
the position | take-that the more there is
the cheaper 1t is the less there Is the dearer
| it is.
| Now, up to 1873 every farmer. every
| business man. every person who contracted
! a debt or obligation OF any Kind knew that
| that was payable either in gold or silver.
| and that he had recourse to all the gold and
| silver of the earth from which to draw the
money to pay the obligation hich he made.
| They understood perfectly well that all
the mounts and valleys and hills Of the
whole world were open to them and from
all Of these they could dig o,:t the gold and
/ thu silver alike and that these would be
! taken, either one, as the DEBTOR saw fit to
| choose in payment of the obligation that
| he made.
From about 1850 to 1873 was growing up
the great manufacturing and commercial
| spirit, which has been stronger during
| those years than in any previous history
| of the world. Factories, mines, mills, rail-
| roads. the great development Of all the ma
| lions of the earth, was taking place largely
| from 1850 TO 1873 or 1875. In all these years.
| also, municipal, state, national and private
| Indebtedness was growing up as we'll. 1t
| was growing up because of the enterprise
and industry of the people not alone of
America, but of the whole world, too. Dur
| ing those same years were growing up that
| class of people who have not only been a
| blight to this age. but the blight of alnos;
| every age that has gone before the great
| creditor class of the earth. During those
| years the public and private, the municipal
| and national bonds of the world were be-
| ing accumulated in Inc hands of few peo-
| pie in the older nations of the earth. All
! of these bonds all of this ind III elnass wa .