The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1896-08-31
Chicago. Aug. q. 1896.


the silver cause is gaining strength
daily. An adverse press is simply ex-
citing the public mind. and each ut
terance from prominent opponents of
bimetallism serves only to make new
converts to the silver movement.
As might be expected, the letter Of
acceptance by Mr.. Mckinley is widely
read and more widely discussed, but it
fails Of staying or even stunning the
free silver current. Coming from such
a source, the monometallic arguments
were expected to be presented in their
strongest light, and it is generally con-
coded by those yet in doubt as to the
wisdom of the course demanded in
the Democratic platform, that if 10
more potent arguments are to be adj
vanced from the Republican standpoint
then, indeed, is the opposition to Mr..
Bryan without much TO satisfy a mind
honestly seeking for light on the great
financial problems.
Beyond any doubt Mr.. Thomas b.
Reed is the brainiest man in the Re
publican party No speech from q, Re-
publican standpoint in recent times
will be read with as much interest or
as great satisfaction from a literary
point Of view as that delivered by Mr..
Reed at Old Orchard, Maine, on the
25th inst, but a man will go through it
Win d MICROSCOPE lOT any dT6GulE
IL is one of these speeches which es-
tablish in the minds of a free coinage
individual more firmly the correctness
of his position than even a dozen tell.
ing addresses of Mr. Bryan, because
men can believe that Mr.. Bryan can
be wrong though honest, but it is diff
ficult for them to imagine that if there is
any argument against bimetallism, Mr..
Reed would not be able to find 1T
and express it.
In the course of this delightful speech
Mr. Reed states: THE sachems Of New
England had no financial troubles, no
strikes. The currency question was
a simple string of wampum. In Central
Africa today banks never break, checks
are never dishonored, for neither banks
nor cheeks are needed for their kind of
prosperity" AS to the New England
sachems and the bank and check fea-
lures Of Central Africa, Mr.. Reed may
be answered by using his own later ar
gument that there was confidence on
the part of those dealing with each
other in the old Indian days of New
England and in the commercial ranks
of Central Africa. Human nature has
not changed materially. Ever since
man was he has desired to have a
greater share of the worlds products
than he himself could produce, and if
change there has been in the general
the direction Of stronger desire rath-
er than a lessening, to gain advantage
over ones fellows when bartering with
him. AS matter Of fact, the only diff
ference then and the conditions today
is that there was sufficient evidence of
wealth in the standards adopted by the
people to transact their business with
out resorting to the credit system. But
with the accumulation of wealth and
the irdisposition on the part of a dis
tinct portion of the race to produce
what they eat by the sweat of their
brows. or otherwise, they have limited
the creation Of these representatives
or tokens of wealth which will justify
men by b6rtering by indirect exchange
and they force mankind to augment
exchange or credit systems.
When Mr.. Reed says: Before the
factory system rendered combinations
of worlSmen needful, there was less dis
content, but also no progress" he
states what is outside the facts. He
Is either no judge Of human nature or
else he reads the history of mankind to
little advantage when he could permit
his hearers to infer that there has been
anything but discomfort characterizing
the history of the world since mans
creation. A school Of philosophers con-
tends that all of mars advancement
is due to his discomfort and it is a
school which holds in its ranks nine
tenths of civilized populations. If this
theory is true, then Mr. Reed is wrong,
for the continuous advancement of the
world is but evidence of an ever-grow-
ing discomfort with the conditions and
environments of man. It is to escape
these that he struggles for and attains
TO still higher and higher planes of eX-
istence. II might be well TO ask the be-
levers and followers of Mr. Reed,
when storing his sentences in their
minds, what hegets confidence? There
are few people unwilling to make ex-
change. even with the most notorious
thief. if by the exchange they may gain,
but the thief must be able to give value
for what he gets Confidence which
promotes exchange is not in the man.
AS a matter Of fact there is no conf
dence between the two. 1t is simply
a confidence in the things to be eX-
changed, and based upon a knowledge
of their value. Now there would be no
need Of confidence (Which is another
name for credit if for every dollar in
wealth in the world there was a repre-
sentative dollar. but because there are
not enough dollars in the world repre-
sentiug the values in existence. men are
compelled to resort to credits, and
credits are what breed panics.
oans are made on known or suppos-
ed value of wealth possessed by Dor
rowers It is not a confidence in the in
dividuals. It is confidence in his DOS
sessions. Could man convert his wealth
into money at will (Which he could do
were there sufficient dollars in the
world) he would not need credit 1t is
because there are not enough dollars
in the world that he is compelled to
borrow; and in borrowing he pledges
the property he has; and the very act
of pledging his property is evidence of
lack Of confidence on the part of the
man who lends the money. He lends
his money on the borrowers wealth.
and does not trust to the Willingness
or ability of the borrower to pay him.
But when the payment becomes due,
when the lender demands payments
which cannot be met. then the wealth
of che borrower begins to diminish in
value, because i is more difficult to
convert it into money. and his property
by this decrease in value due to the
unwillinSness or inability of the money
lender to make extensions or to keep
on lending.) the borrower becomes un-
equal to the task of paying the obliga-
ton due and he loses his property when
it becomes the wealth of the money
owner. Now, in this transaction there
is neither a decrease in wealth or in
the human labor involved in its crea-
ton; but compared with money, prop
erty wealth has steadily diminished.
till well-nigh valueless. We begin to
say there is a lack of confidence; at
least that is the reason ascribed by
those satisfied with existing conditions
and who own money which they are
unwilling TO lend. But if we have been
property holders who have lost all by
This increased value of money or de-