, 1896-10-19

of an education by the light Of a PIN
torch-a man whose whole life was de
voted to the proposition that a govern
ment of the people, by the people ant
for the people shall not perish from the
earth.
And l might go on and mention Gree
ley, and Grant, and Garfield, and Harri'
son, and James G. Blaine, and many
others, whose names are written on
the pages Of history in letters of gold
all Of them coming from the masses.
From the common people have sprung
the leaders of this nation. There are
no classes in America. (Applause.) II
will not do to confound the laborine
man with labor. nor the rich man with
wealth.
In this country the individual mem,
bers of society are as shifting as the
sands Of the e The rich mar OF to-
day is the poor man of tomorrow.
There are more poor people in this
country dependent upon wealth for a
livelihood, than there are rich people;
and while it is true that labor creates
wealth. 1t is equally true that wealth
creates and employs labor. and the la
boring man who raises his arm to
strike down and destroy invested
wealth raises the weapon Of his own
destruction. Nine-tenths of the wealth
of this republic, no matter how it is in
vested, represents the opulence Of those
who were born in poverty.
1t is not in the power Of party lead
ers, or party platforms, to make up the
issues OF a campaign. This is done by
the people, and the issue in this cam
paign is the money question. An at
tack has been made upon u financial
system. A revolution is proposed. The
leaders Of the new democracy assert
that the free and unlimited coinage of
silver at the ratio Of 16 to l by this
government will prove a panacea for
all existing political evils. They de-
mand a change rs a remedy. had an
acquaintance once, who was laid low
with typhoid fever. For days and
nights w watched anxiously at his
bedside. One evening the doctor came.
He felt the patients pulse, wrote out
a prescription, gave him some medi-
cine, and then said to us: by mid
night there will be a change" There
was a change. My acquaintance died,
and ever since that time I have real
lied the vast difference between q
change and a remedy. daughter and
%applause.) Then and there I learned
the lesson that no matter how I'll a man
may be, until the breath leaves his
body q change may be a change for the
worse as we'll as for the better, and in
this respect the body polite is no diff
ferently constituted than the body of
the man. One OF the strongest pleas
made by the advocates OF free coinage
OF silver, and the plea that seems to
take strongest hold upon certain class
es of people, is the cry that things can
be no worse-let us have a change. It
would be we'll. however, for us to re-
member that while stagnation Of busi-
ness and labor Is serious, 1t is tempo
rary, and it will not do to seek a cure
by a change which courts dissolution.
1t is proposed to open the mints of
the United States to free and unlimited
coinage. That is, it is proposed that
We say to the owners of silver bullion
the world over, not even excluding the
subjects of Queen Victoria: you may
bring to our mints So cents worth OF
silver bullion and have 1t coined and
stamped a dollar" Then the govern
ment is to deliver it back to the own
er. and he can compel you and me and
everyone else to receive 1t at the valu-
alton Of one hundred cents, for our Ia
Dor, or for the products OF our labor.
And this is to be done without the
slightest reference to the market value
and the market ratio existing between
the two metals. 1t is an old saying that
such and such a thing is worth its
weight in gold. The stamp of the Uni
ted States government upon a gold dol
lar adds nothing to its value. The gold
dollar OF the United States is worth a
dollar because 25.S grains Of gold have
a market value OF one dollar. Melt it
down until the stamp of our ration dis-
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