The pioneer press. (Miller, Hand County, S.D.) 1893-190?, 1896-08-27

could be increased, ! will be ready to sun.
port him, because | know of no test Of
prosperity absolutely infalliblc except the
rate of wages paid TO laborers.
Nhen We come to find how Mr.. BRYAN
expects to Increase the wages OF labor. we
ma ourselves lost in a maze of contradic-
ton. No man can tell how or where or
when the wages of the workingmen are
TO be Increased, but anyone who examines
the scheme can see that the inevitable trn-
dency, the Inevitable consequence of a
debasement In the standard OF value, must
be a reduction in the rate Of wages. and
that Is the conspiracy in which the Popu-
lists are engaged.
Now, Mr.. Bryan tells us that he wants
TO cheaper the dollar; that he wants TO
Increase the volume of money. ! do not
quite understand a Populist's notion OF
what money is, further than that he be-
lieves 1t Is n desirable thing to get and
that he Is not very particular about the
means by which he can get his hands on
IT. Nothing Is more common than the mis-
take that money and property are identical.
The issue of paper money simply Is no
more an increase of wealth than the issue
by an individual OF his promissory note
would show an increase of his property.
As a matter Of fact, an Increase in the
coinage is mo- proof Of an Increase in prop
erty, but may be a strong proof Of a de-
crease in Wealth. 1t is not the volume OF
money. but the activity Of money that
counts.
The basis Of sound trade Is sound money
Etappfause); money which Is intrinsically
valuable, money which like the gold coin
age Of this country the government cannot
affect II Ii tried to. / can take a ten-dollar
gold piece and l can defy all the power Of
all the governments Of this earth to take
five cents Of value from 1t. Having earned
II by the sweat Of my brow, having earned
II by the exercise OF my brain, having
earned 1t by the exchange Of my commodi-
ties, l can go to the uttermost ends Of
the earth, and wherever l present it, its
1 value will be
UnquestiOned and UnchnlIenEed.
That gold dollar this meeting, the Dem
ocratic party, the honest masses of this
country, without distinction Of party divis-
ions, demand shall be paid to the Iaborer
when he earns Ii. and that no power on
earth shall cheat him Of the sweat of his
brow. 1t is perfectly clear that the pur-
pose Of the Populist is TO put up the prices
of certain commodities. Mr.. Bryan's Ian
guage is that he Is going to improve the
conditions of the people Of this country.
l do not suppose he claims he can multiply
the lumber of chairs upon this platform
or upon this floor, although he has shown
his capacity to empty them. If he Is going
to work any change In the conditions Of
men he must increase the material pos
session of some part of the community.
Now, if he got possession of the govern
1 nav III IN I" h' N'u u I'l a oht
single thing of value by any exercise OF
governmental power in the world. No
power ever yet exercised by tyrant or by
constitutional monarch can cause a barren
field to become fruitful, can cause two
blades of grass 70 grow where one grew
before, can bring together the stones that
compose this building and raise them into
q stately temple dedicated TO political dis
cussion. No, ii requires the labor of man.
and the labor Of man alone to create
wealth. If Mr.. Bryan is going to enrich
somebody. the thing which he means 10
bestow on him he must take from some
body else. Who is to be despoiled and who
Is to be enriched by the exercise OF this
new scheme Of government? "a cry Of 'sil-
yer mine Owners."D
My friends. the silver mine owner will
get cheated with the rest. A government
never can be generous. because IL 1t be
generous to one. IL must be oppressive to
another. But his financial scheme contem-
plates an increase in the price of certain
commodities. We are coming now pretty
close to the wood pile behind which the
African Is concealed.
Now. IL everything in this world or In
this country, including labor, be increased
In value tomorrow In like proportion, not
one Of us would be affected at all. IL every
thing be Increased 10 per cent In value.
we would pay 10 per cent in addition for
what WI would buy, and get 10 per cent
more for what we would sell, and we would
be exactly In the same place we occupied
before. Therefore, It Is fair to assume
that Is not the lame and impotent con-
clusion which this Populist revolution con-
templates. What, then, is in 1t? 1t Is an
Increase in the price of commodities and
allowing labor to shift for itself. If the
price Of commodities be increased and the
price Of labor be left stationary. why, that
means a cutting down Of the rates OF wages.
If, instead OF a dollar which consists Of a
a given quantity OF gold equal to a hundred
cents anywhere In the world, with the pur-
chasing power of n hundred cents. the
laborer Is to be paid in dollars worth 80
cents each, why, he can only buy half as
much with a days wages as he buys now.
Wageearners, Mr.. Bryan says. know that
while a gold standard raises the p%urchas-
ing power Of the dollar. IL also makes 1t
more difficult TO obtain possession Of that
dollar. They know that employment is less
permanent, loss Of work more probable
and unemployment less certain. If that
means anything. Ii means that
\ Cheap Dollar
would give him more employment. more
frequent employment, more work and a
chance to get unemployment after he was
discharged. If that means anything 1t
means that IL the laborer is willing to have
his wages cut down he will get more work.
But a diminution In the rate Of wages does
not increase the scope of employment. The
more abundant the product, the higher the
wages. There cannot be an abundant
product unless labor Is extensively en-
ployed. Mr.. Bryan would have you believe
that prosperity is advanced by cheapening
the rate of wages, but the fall in the rate
Of wages always comes from a narrow pro-
duction. and narrow production means there
Is little demand for labor in the market.
When, after the panic of 1873, the price of
labor fell to ninety cents a day, 1t was
harder to obtain labor than when the rate
of labor was 81. and the difference between
the Populist who seeks TO cut down the
rate OF wages and the Democrat who seeks
to protect 1t, Is that the Democrats be-