davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
The times. (Owosso, Mich.) 1882-1897, 1896-10-23
A Warning From Webster.

He who hampers with the currency
robs labor of its bread. He panders in.
deed to greedy capital, which is keen
sighted and may shift for itself, but he
beggars labor, which is honest, unsus.
pecting and too busy with the present
to calculate for the future The pros.
'perity of the working classes, lives,
moves and has its being in established
credit and o steady medium Of payment.
All sudden changes destroy it.
Honest industry never comes in for
any part Of the spoils i'll that scramble
which takes place when the currency of
a country is disordered. Did wild
schemes and projects ever benefit the
industrious? Did violent fluctuations
ever do good to him who depends OH
his daily labor for his daily bread? Ger
tainly never.
All these things may crafty greedi-
ness for sudden gain or the rashness
of daring speculation, but they can
bring nothing but injury and distress
to the homes Of patient industry and
honest labor. Daniel Webster, Speech
ut New York, 1887.
The times. (Owosso, Mich.) 1882-1897, 1896-10-23
Benefits of High Prices.

The issue between the friends Of
sound money and the believers in 80
cent dollars is at bottom a question
whether cheap goods or high prices are
best for the whole country. Until the
people understand that their interests
will be best served by gradual reduc-
ton in the cost Of all kinds of commod-
tiles plans for getting rich by paying
more for goods will be advocated and
seriously considered. There is no doubt
but that an artificial increase of prices
would benefit some persons. But the
people as a whole would be injured,
and the principle of the greatest good to
the greatest number forbids the grant
ing of favors to one class at the expense
of all others.
The times. (Owosso, Mich.) 1882-1897, 1896-10-23
WAGES VERSUS SIXTEEN 10 ONE.
The Silver Standard an Imposition Upon
Wage Farmers.

The Silver Standard an Imposition Upon
Wage Farmers.
No. 4 Of present Problems" pub
lished at l cent each at 81 Park
place, New York city, is unquestion-
ably the best pamphlet ON the wage
question for general distribution during
the present campaign. 1t is unanswer-
able. No intelligent workingman can
read it and continue to believe that free
coinage will raise his wages. He will
be sure that if free coinage gives us
cheap money, as the farmers expect,
1t will certainly reduce his actual
wages. A wage Garner may vote for
Bryan after reading this pamphlet, but
it will be for other reasons than any ex-
pected beLcfit to wages.
Mr.. y arner studies the effect of
cheap money experiments in Japan,
China, India, Chile, British Honduras,
Mexico and in this country, and in ev-
cry case he "nds unmistakable evidence
that cheap silver and paper moneys have
lowered wages. Wherever money has
been depreciating in value prices have
been rising, while wages have changed
not at all or have risen less rapidly than
prices AS result the wage Garner is
constantly losing ground, though he
may not know why he has to work
harder to keep himself and family.
Consequently the manufacturers and
other employers of labor in silver stand
ard countries are benefited by depre-
ciating currency. They find in silver
money the slickest possible scheme of
reducing wages without the consent or
knowledge of their employees.
In Mexico, where the workingmen
are such chumps that they do not know
when the value of their dollars is de-
clining, the big employers can keep the
country on the silver standard, but even
in such backward countries as Chile and
British Honduras the wage earners
could not be imposed upon forever by
silver and other cheap money. No class
of citizens rejoiced more than the wage
earners when these countries, short
time ago, stopped "monkeying' with
silver and adopted the standard Of the
civilized world-gold.
Mr.. Warner quotes numerous admis-
sions from silverite authorities as to the
effect of cheap money on wages. He
concludes that eff our wage earners be-
lieve they are getting too high wages,
and that this country is suffering in
consequence, all they have to do is to
take lower wages. If they prefer
roundabout way, they can favor free
coinage Of silver, and they will get
their wages cut down half without any
further trouble on their part. " y
There has never yet been made law to
put into any laboring mans pocket
single dollar that he did not earn. He,
Of all men, therefore, has the best right
to insist that there shall be no law
passed that will raise the price Of what
he has to buy, and thus take from him
any portion of what he has earned.'
The times. (Owosso, Mich.) 1882-1897, 1896-10-23

In the course of his remarks concern
ing certain "fixed charges" by reason of
which the farmer since 1878, as he as
serts, has found it more and more
difficult to live," Mr.. Bryan said:
Railroad rates have not been re-
duced to keep pace with falling prices. I"
Mr.. Bryan must have known that
this was not true. The reduction of rail-
road freight rates. caused in part by
laws enacted in legislatures which west
ern farmers controlled, as we'll as by
competition and by improvements which
lowered the cost Of service, has for long
time been the subject Of popular discus
sion in Nebraska and other western
states.
The government publishes the follow
ing statement concerning the remark
able decline in freight rates OH wheat,
in cents per bushel, by lake, canal and
rail from Chicago to New York since
1879:
The times. (Owosso, Mich.) 1882-1897, 1896-10-23
Tho worlsingman,s Place.

1t is to be noted that the free silver
party is largely made up of mechanics
and workingmen. And yet no "class"
Ito use Mr.. Bryan's phrase-would be
so quick to suffer from the adoption of
free silver, and none would suffer from
it so long as the mechanics and work.
ingmen. Their true place emphatically
Is now, as ever, in the real Democratic
party-the party of Jefferson-now led
by that old Democratic warhorse, Gen.
eral John M. Palmer. And it is good to
know that many Of them so see and act
=Hartford Times.
The times. (Owosso, Mich.) 1882-1897, 1896-10-23

Chump Citizen-Now that Bryan is
elected thought I'd come around to
the mine and get little f'free silver. F"
Uncle SAMMY dear boy, you've
made big mistake. Free silver,
didn't mean that every man who voted
for Bryan could walk up to the mint
and help himself. 1t meant that if you
have silver bullion you can bring it here
and I will put my stamp on it Stree"
of charge to you; that's all.
G. C.-But 1 haven't any silver bull
lionl
U. ST. didn't suppose you had. !,
G. O.-I don't know how to get any.
I'm poor workingman.
U. S.-Just so. "There are Others"
millions of them, like you.
G. C.-But how can get some silver
bullion?
U. S.-Work for it. But You might
as well work for something else, for my
stamp on silver wouldn't change its
value particularly. You'll have to hustle
for a living now as hard as ever
harder, i'll fact.
O. C.--But don't I come in some
where?
u. S.-Why, if tho silver owner owes
you dollar for work or goods, he will
pay you with 81 cents worth Of silver,
instead of with 100 cent dollar, and
you have made him free gift of 40
cents worth of work. You don't come
in. You are left out.
The times. (Owosso, Mich.) 1882-1897, 1896-10-23
A Great Prosperity Restoror,

While the debt paying power of sill
yer is doubled the purchasing power
will be reduced one-half. There is not a
man, be he laborer on the street or pres
ident of the United States, but would
find that his daily wages or his yearly
salary went only half as far as it went
in the days when silver was kept at par
with gold. There is not u widow or an
orphan but would find that the life in
surance policy was worth III purchasing
power but half of what it would have
been worth, or pensiorcr but would
find that his $12 month was worth
but S. And some men are persuaded
that by such policy prosperity can be
restored TO the land. Cincinnati Com
mercial Tribune.
The times. (Owosso, Mich.) 1882-1897, 1896-10-23
Mints end Mills.

The minis cannot make bushel Of
wheat worth dollar. Mills which
build up new towns and people then
with prosperous communities that in
crease the consumption of breadstuffi
will raise the price of wheat quicker
than all the free coinage laws that car
be enacted. The minis cannot create
value. Only the brawhy arms of honest
toll, directed by genius and intelli.
gence, can create value. The minis can.
not create prosperity or happiness -
Chicago Times Herald.
The times. (Owosso, Mich.) 1882-1897, 1896-10-23

If the parity of the two metals can.
not be maintained. silver basis would
be inevitable.
Legislation cannot make q fixed
standard Of value between two metals
where their production is not also fixed
by legislation.
Gold coin is the measure of value
adopted by the leading nations of the
world in which all obligations are
finally redeemable.
In order to maintain the ratio of 10
to /, 16 ounces of silver must be equal
to ounce of gold in value.
Whenever silver dollar cannot be
made exchangable with gold dollar,
depreciation and reputation will begin.
More silver has been forced into the
currency by 1iftyfold since 1878 than
there was for 80 years prior to that date.
The commercial ratio Of actual value
at which gold and silver can be ex-
changed is at present 8 i ounces of silver
to of gold.
Sound money and sound morals are
Synonymous terms. 10 pay dollars
uoDo WIN ~ uOiiaE WoIbu 90 OChto 10 kO-
pudiatioh to the extent of cent.
Mexican dollars have larger amount
Of silver than dollars of the United
States, yet an American silver dollar,
backed by gold standard, can buy two
Mexican dollars.
If it were possible for the United
States to maintain the parity of silver
with gold for ten years, the increased
profits of the silver mine owners would
amount to more than the entire national
debt.
Contracts are often made payable in
gold. Why are none made payable in
silver? Simply because neither party
prefers silver. There is no law against
such contracts, but silver is generally
considered an unstable measure of values
and therefore untitled for this purpose.
The times. (Owosso, Mich.) 1882-1897, 1896-10-23
Why Dollars Would Be Cheap.

The cry of the silver adherents is that
silver is the money of the poor, while
gold is the money of the rich. But sill.
yer will be the money of the poor and
rich alike when we are on the silver
basis, just as paper was the money Of
rich and poor alike when we were ON q
paper basis. The buying power Of silver
will be exactly what the buying power
of paper was-i. e.. its value relative to
gold. If silver is worth one-half of
what gold is, it will buy one-half of
what gold will. That is law of trade
as immutable as the law of gravitation
or any law of nature. Boston Herald.
The times. (Owosso, Mich.) 1882-1897, 1896-10-23
The Right of BOiting.

'.'No convention, says Mr.. Bryan in
letter written last February to Mr..
George M. Garden of Dallas, Tex,
"can rob me of my convictions, nor can
any party organization drive me to con-
spire against the prosperity and liberty
of my country" These sentiments are
exactly those Of the sound money men
Of the United States today. In refusing
to be bound by the Chicago convention
they are exercising precisely the same
right which Mr.. Bryan exercised in
1898, when he bolted the gold standard
and when he so vigorously defended the
privilege of doing so. -Hartford Times.
The times. (Owosso, Mich.) 1882-1897, 1896-10-23
Silver Down, Wheat Up.

Has any one observed any sympa-
thetio relations between the prices Of
wheat and of silver latelyp While the
price of wheat has gone up about 90 per
cent during the last month, the price Of
silver has been sagging until it is now
worth only 60 or GO cents per ounce
that is, until the silver in silver dol
lar is worth only 81 cents. If wheat
and silver don't get together at this
critical period for the white metal, its
best friends will desert it on election
6av
The times. (Owosso, Mich.) 1882-1897, 1896-10-23
Cheap Money Means Dear Goods.

Cheap money means dear goods. Try
as they may, the silverites cannot dodge
this simple fact. The free coinage agi-
tation would quickly die out if the ad-
vocates of tho silver standard were hon.
est enough to admit that their scheme
would double the cost of everything the
60, 900, 600 American consumers buy.
Yet this is merely another form of the
silverite assertion that free coinage
would raise prices twice as high as they
are now.
The times. (Owosso, Mich.) 1882-1897, 1896-10-23
The Gold Standard and Progress.

Since we went upon the gold standard
our labor has been so well paid and has
become so intelligent that we lead all
other nations in skill.
The agricultural laborer OF the United
States raises as much grain as three in
England, four in France, five in Ger
many or six in Austria.
Shall we reward him by cutting his
wages in two?
The times. (Owosso, Mich.) 1882-1897, 1896-10-23
silver production and Prices.

In 1878 the total worlds production
of silver was 81, 100, 900 ounces, ant
the silver in dollar was worth $1.04
in gold.
Last year the worlds product of sill
yer was l65. 900, 600 ounces, and the
silver in dollar was worth only so 7-1(
cents.
Will the silver miners restore the
production of 1878 as tho first step to-
We "~~storing the conditioner
The times. (Owosso, Mich.) 1882-1897, 1896-10-23
which?-It Cannot Be Both.

The paradoxes and fallacies Of the
free silver advocates are plentifully IL
Illustrated in the interesting letters OF
workingmen to The World.
One set stoutly maintain that there
would be no cheap dollar or so cent
dollar undor free coinage. If the white
metal were given unlimited coinage 1t
would instantly rise, they say, to ST.. 20
an ounce. The present price of GO cents
they attribute to the characterization in
1878, though silver dollar was then
worth more than gold one, and none
was coined or in circulation.
Another and the more numerous class
at the south and west insist that what
the country needs is cheaper dollar.
The good old gold dollar of Jefferson,
jackson and Benton has been forced
up" in value, they say. They want o
dollar of about half its value to increase
the price of their products and to enal te
them to pay their debts at half the pr, s.
emit cost and trouble As Mr.. Bryan
put it in his letter to The World, they
would "restore the parity b Veen
money and property" by reduci..s the
value of the dollar.
Now both of these theories cHlnot be
true. They are fatty contradi Dry. If
silver would appreciate under rec coin
age, there would be no che, } money.
Prices would not rise. Debts could not
be scaled down. If it would not appre-
ciate, the workingman's saved dollars
would be reduced one-half in value, the
cost Of his living would double and his
wages would not increase in anything
like the ratio of the increase in his ex.
penses.
Why is the best money too good for
wageworkers? What is the matter with
the highest standard of value in a coun-
try where the highest wages and the
highest standard of living prevail? The
World begs the workingmen to think q
little deeper and little further on this
vital subject New York World.
The times. (Owosso, Mich.) 1882-1897, 1896-10-23
Carlis1e's Five Points.

Il.
'There is not free coinage country
in the world today that is not on a sill
yer basis.
"There is not gold standard country
in the world today that does not use sill
yer as money along with gold.
III.
"There is not a silver standard coun.
try in the world today that uses any
gold as money along with silver.
~.
"There is not silver standard coun-
try in the world today that has more
than cne-third as much money in circu-
lation per capita as the United States.
V.
"There Is not silver standard coun-
try in the world today where the labor
ing man receives fair pay for his days
work -
The times. (Owosso, Mich.) 1882-1897, 1896-10-23
Where jefferson Stood.

Thomas Jefferson not only insisted
that the dollar, whether of gold or sill
yer, should contain dollars worth of
metal, the amount to be determined by
the market prices, but he went farther.
He had an Unborn, honest detestation of
the coin clipping methods by which
governments had sought to defraud the
governed. He denied the right of con-
gress to debase the coin by reduction
in its value
The times. (Owosso, Mich.) 1882-1897, 1896-10-23
Hard on the Laborer.

There is nothing more certain than
the fact that dollar worth only half as
much as the present one would only buy
half as much of the necessaries of life,
but it would probably continue to pay
for the same amount of work that dol
lar now procures. And would not that
be practically q reduction Of wages2--
ST. Louis Globe Democrat.
The times. (Owosso, Mich.) 1882-1897, 1896-10-23
The Craze viii Soon subside.

Only one course remains open to
Democrats-to guard faithfully the ark
of the covenant. This craze will soon
subside, and tho Democrats will return
to the fold. When they como back in
legions, they will sing halleluiahs to
those who remained steadfast in the
faith. The true test Of Democracy-is
now to be applied. ---Chattanooga Times
The times. (Owosso, Mich.) 1882-1897, 1896-10-23
What DO You DO with Doilarse

Spend them. Do you wish to get rs
little or as much as possible for your
dollars?
What good will it do you to take in
twice as many dollars from other peo-
pie if other people are to take twice as
many dollars from your
There are two sides to the cheap dol
lar. Z
The times. (Owosso, Mich.) 1882-1897, 1896-10-23
How Gold Gets It's Place.
R. P. Dexter of Galva. Ills, asks:
NWbv xvas ei luay 1faroouati1ad2

II. +. Dexter OF Galva, lis, asks:
"Why was silver demonetized?
ibid any country ever come to gold
standard through the efforts or the
wishes of the people of that country?"
The two questions may be answered
together. The people of many countries
have discontinued the use of silver as
standard money (demonetized silver)
because they prefer gold.
Secretary Morton said in public ad-
dress tho other day that they deferryized
fatboa.i ON the Missouri river in the
neighhorhood of Omaha because steam
boats served the purpose better. Later
they deferryized steamboats, because a
'steel bridge served their purpose better
still. They didn't make those changes
as the result of an election, but as a
Il after of business.
In like manner the principal COM
mercial nations have abandoned silver
and accepted gold as the standard. They
have not done so by any town meeting
process, but simply as matter of bust
ness.
In the dealings of men living in diff
erent countries, or in what is called in
,ternational trade, there is no standard
prescribed by law, or lawful money.
But gold has been accepted as the stand
ard by common consent. The people
engaged in this trade prefer gold.
Only short time ago Bolivia DELHI
erately abandoned the silver standard
and adopted the gold standard. What
the people think Of the change may be
learned from citizen of this country
;who was there at the time of the
change, and who describes the scenes
of rejoicing among the people as some
thing far SURPRISING any other demon
stration he ever witnessed. They re-
garded the change from silver to gold
as deliverance out Of wrotched condi-
ton into the light Of a new and better
era
The people of other gold standard
countries, whether that standard was
originally of their own choosing or not,
are not agitating for its abandonment.
This country may be regarded as an ex-
ception, but the agitation here is less
formidable than many people seem to
suppose.
Silver mine owners, dishonest debtors
and boy orator demagogues are not "the
people. Chicago Chronicle.
The times. (Owosso, Mich.) 1882-1897, 1896-10-23

Will Mr.. Bryan or any of those who
are prominent in the silver movement
say that he had never heard Of the re-
duction of freight rates which is indi-
Gated by this table? The cost of carrying
bushel of wheat from Chicago to this
city last year was only one-fourth Of the
cost in 1872 by lake end rail, and only
q little more than one third of the cost
in 1879 by rail for the entire dis.
tance. We have published the figures
for the last six years, because they show
that the low rates have been in force
during the years in which the farmers
of the west had great SURPRISES of grain
and provisions to be shipped to the sea-
board for export.
Here are some more figures which de-
serve the attention of Mr.. Bryan:
The times. (Owosso, Mich.) 1882-1897, 1896-10-23
RAILROADS.
Dividends

operated. earnings. paid.
1872............ 57,523 $165. 754373 s64, 418 1877
1S94...............T5.5O 1922, 539,276 85,27s,669
While the mileage has been multi
piled by 8, the dividends have been
increased by only 80 per cent, and dur
ing the last seven years the average an
nual dividend for all the railroads in
the country has been less than per
cent. New York Times.
The weekly Thibodaux sentinel and journal of the 8th Senatorial District. [volume] (Thibodaux, Lna. [i.e. La.]) 1875-1898, 1896-10-24

preston, ''or which ma come from it's
(fhe declsion's) rr"rrsal ny the court
as " may hereafter be constituted"
What is there wrong aboGt this
declaration that congress should use =
power which may he restored to it by
the reversal by the court as it may he
constituted in the future, of n decision
now shearing congress of that powers
Don't we all know that the personnel
Of the court is continually changing
from natural causes, aud that, ~ the
years roll by, the court changes it's
views on many subjects and reverses
lts decisions which had sometimes
stood f"r years? Does not our expe-
ri-nce on This very subject Of the in
come tax teach us the possibility Of a
cilaEg- of views by the court? Did
not 4 bare majority of Que reverse for
mer decisions which had stood the test
for yea,s9
1t will not do to say that the laa-
gnase employed conveys a threat to
re"rganize the court by adding 10 its
membership for the special purpose Of
securing a reversal Of the decision.
That would be a forced construction,
and a forced construction is inadmissi-
Die to dlsplace a natural one. Besides,
a we'll recognized rule If inteIpyeta-
ton is that every clause Of 4 given in
strument must be construed in the
l~ightofand with reference to the context
OF the Instrument, and under that rule
there Is no room for the forced con-
%strnction which the enemies Of the
Chicago platform seek to place on tins
CLAUSE, for that platform is character
ICED by IL %direcrness of expression sell
dom seen in the public declarations of
parties, aud il its trainers had meant
10 say what its enemies try to make
them say, th.y would have said it in
such direct language as would have
left no room for construction.
The weekly Thibodaux sentinel and journal of the 8th Senatorial District. [volume] (Thibodaux, Lna. [i.e. La.]) 1875-1898, 1896-10-24

and as Bryan needs only - votes OF
those n to elect him, as against the
SO of them which Mckinley needs to
elect him, the Post candidly to
the conclusion that Bryan has an east
Ter road to travel than Mckinley has,
to reach the objective which they are
both straining to make; and it winds
mp its article N the subject with these
words: "And under such circumstan-
ces Of uncertainty. young man from
Nebraska is dangerously near the
goal"
Most people who take o dispassion-
ate view Of the situation will agree
with the Post in preference to Hanna
and his committee. They will go a
little further and avow that, if the
Post says Bryan needs only an addi-
tional IS votes and has the seven
States Of Illinois. Maryland, Delaware,
West Virginia, Minnesota, Michigan,
aud Kentucky to get them from, his
election may be taken as a foregone
conclusion. Minnesota and Kentucky
would supply more than the needed
~ votes, aud Minnesota, and Ken.
lucky are both safe for free silver.