Owingsville outlook., 1896-08-20
Farmers and Free Silver.

To the Farmers of jefferson
County: make no apology for ad-
dressing you upon a subject of the
grasest Importance to each of you
and 10 myself. Born and reared
on Beargrass, / have done every
sort Of work that is usual on Ken
tucky farm; L have plowed, chop
ped wood, planted corn, cut hemp.
and worked in the harvest field.
The farm on Beargrass that my
grandfather settled in the Indian
days, my father held and his chill
dren hold to this day, every foot
of the original tract is held by HE
descendants. Many years ago -sny
father acquired a farm on the Ohio
river in Henderson and Union
counties, which he gave to ME. To
these lands and to my personal la
bor look for the support of my
family.
From that Ohio river farm for
many years the rent has been a
portion of the crop. My interests
are the same as yours. If the free
coinage of silver is your interest it
is also mine; if it be my interest
that it be stamped out as a de-
structive doctrine it is equally
your interest.
Perhaps it may be said that as a
from those of the farmer. / be-
lieye that my interests are the
-s&alr in both directions. In any
event, the facts which i shall bring
to your attention are such as you
know about and in respect TO which
you cannot be deceived by either
lawyers or politicians.
Frankly, therefore, and with no
fear of resentment from you, ad-
dress you on this momentous ques-
ton.
1t is not my purpose to rehearse
or discuss the questions of "re-
demption" money or fiat" money;
the alleged "crime Of 1873" or the
matter of international bimetal-
Hsm." / shall leave these matters
TO the politicians, who doubtless
will continne as they have done
TO cloud the skies and to muddy
the waters until men Of plain sense
and ordinary experience can see
nothing clearly in the skies or up
on the earth.
What / shall do is this: / shall
recognize what every Kentucky
farmer knows; that within late
years your lands have deprecated
f, in value; that your crops of wheat,
corn, potatoes and all others, do
not bring their former prices; that,
ms a result, the farmer has suffered
and is suffering; and that it re-
quires all his conservatism, all his
patriotism, all his native firmness
and that philosophy born of indie
pendence, to restrain his impa-
thence and to keep it from break
ing out in vain and foolish discon-
tent.
shall seek to gather up and
state facts which are known to
us all, common to our daily expert
ence, and endeayor 10 ascertain
whether they explain, in whole or
in pant, the troubles that are upon
the country without the necessity
of resorting to the ''crime of 1873"
as their explanation. If we shall
find that such causes exist, known
and certain to us all, causes which
are wholly independent of the coin
age or the currency question, we
shall then be prepared to ask of
the politicians why they attempt |
to mislead us by the repeated dec
laration that il is all due to the
demonstration of silver, and that
free coinage will restore prosperI-
~.
III they shall fail to point out
that free coinage will tend to re-
move these deep-seated causes of
depression, We shall know that
they speak in ignorance or for pur-
poses of deception. In either case
resentment and contempt will con-
spire with true patriotism to in !