The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1896-10-25

perhaps 92S, 600 horses. go 900 horses have
been displaced; there is no longer any use
for them; no use e l has bssn found, and, as
have ceased to be raised. Now 1t took one
fifth that number Of horses to keep up the
stock every year $4,000 horses had to be
bought every year to keep $50, 900 in USE
The $50 900 horses which have disappeared.
consumed $50, 600 tons of hay per annun, and
they consumed TWENTY-FIVE and one-half mil
%hs aoes the farmer q
the market he had; but his market has been
reduced by 10000 horses per annum. by
20 g y: eco oo tons Of hay per annum and by
Do you think ha yJ have per e. lo aa
for the fall Of the pricesAn silver to show a
fall in the prices of those things? (Applause)
And adsl,. So my friends, = might go on in
sufficient one. which has nothing to do with
silver, for the falls in pricesb Ordinarily it
Is Is the competition Of an increased production
ventions, and not infrequsnpy by things made
at wages which are current iri' silver-standard
countries. 90 Il
QUESTION OF DEMAND.
There is another reason; and that is. the
lack OF demand; and when we speak OF that
Lack OF demand does not necessarily come
because an article Ia no longer wanted by the
public. Lack of demand comes when the
public for some unfortunate and unhappy
although 1T wants it. WhenSa man is out
Of employment, or Is on half wages he
necessarily has to be more economical in
the purchase OF goods and accessories of life
chases OF one family Isl no great thing. but
when that Is multiplied by thousands as
1t unhaDDily must be in times of great de-
preston, then the produce of the necessaries
of life finds a greatly decreased market. and
II he sells his goods at all he must sell them
at greatly reduced prices. Now he> in turn,
must economize In his. purchases; SO the
trouble grows, We are all agreed that we are
in a time of great depression but we are
not all agreed as to what Is the cause of it.
| think there are two main causes. but
make no assertions as to things / cannot
prove. l do not think s4it is because our
currency is too good. And If good currency
would kill prosperity, prosperity would be
dead in England and in France; and they
are two of the most prosperous countries in
the world. do not think, my fellow citizens,
that 1t Is because we have not enough money
We have more currency circulating in this
country than ever circulated in our most
prosperous times; and there never was a
time when there was so much idle capital "
ing ready, anxious to be invested at low
rates of interest. at the lowest rates we have
ever known. II there could only be assured
to the owners of it some chance of Its prob
ably safe return. Applause)
Inc causes, my friends, of our depression,
are, / think, mainly two. :. One Is the actual
and the threatened competition of foreign
made goods, goods made at low wages, which
have been admitted here under the reduc-
ton of our import duties;5 under the reduc-
ton of the tariff which was in existence and
under which we had such great prosperity.
The next, and I believe the greatest and most
potent cause, Is the loss of confidence of
men Of business resulting in the paralysis
of trade and manufacture, caused by the
threat and the bare danger of q debasing of
our currency. Men Of business do not know,
and they cannot know, what would be the
condition of their affairs on the 4th day of
November if Mr.. Bryan should be elected.
They do know that there would inevitably be
very great change in all the affairs of
business, in credits and in prices. But they
do not know, and they cannot foresee what
would be the progress Of those changes. nor
how many and how great would be the
calamities accompanying them; and because
things, men Of business are standing still,
they are not ordering goods from the manu-
facturers, and manufacturers, having no or
ders are closing down. thei mills or are
small business, and fearing continuance Of
small business are not ordering cars they
are using old cars, getting along with their
equipment as well as they can Great manu-
featuring shops, having no. orders, are buy
ing no lumber or hardware or materials and
are laying off their men; and the hands
being idle, are buying less and less goods.
And SO it goes; And SO I fear. my fellow
citizens, It will go, until these deceptive
and destructive heresies, which are alarming
all men of integrity and Of substance in this
y,
Of intelligent American votersss .-(Applause)
! do not my friends, pFetend ito be able to
say what will remove all depression But of
one thing / am sure that there can be no
disturbed by threats which IF carried into
execution, would turn depression into ruin.
We can get no more certain. lesson from his
Tory Tor and we can only be wise Il we follow it
have profited by the national blunders and the
commercial plumbers found In history. And
the unsuccessful men. land the unsuccessful
nations are those who bIindly go on repeating
those blunders. Applause.l
JUST A BARE ASSERTION.
Men who work for wages are vaguely told
that the change to a free silver currency will
dement, them, but they are not told how. No
argument is used no fact is pointed out, to
induce them to believe it, it all rests in bare
assertion. Now, what are the facts at pres
ingmen ought to consider before plunging or
assisting the country to plunge into change
from what is going on now?
They ought to consider what has been the
development OF their interests under the gold
coinage, which has been maintained by this
government since 1884. 1t was established by
commission Of congress which sat in 1891,
commission of the senate,s on which were
Democrats. Republicans and everybody, and
they all agreed as to the facts. 1t was estab-
lished that the wages Of the principal me-
chanical employments in this country q have
in my rocket list of twelve Of the principal
ones, like bricklayers and carpenters and
painters and blacksmiths, etc., had all in
creased between 1860 and 1890, and that, TAX
ing them altogether they had increased So
per cent; that is to say for every dollar that
mechanic got in 1860, the value of his labor
in 1890 was $685. Now, what are the other
facts that they ought to consider? One Of
them is that it is an unmistakable lesson Of
history that any further issue Of unlimited
legal tender silver by this government will
put us upon a silver basis and all gold will
A11 -
be worth only so cents on the dollar, and
that that is the dollar with which they will
be paid. The next proposition that they must
consider is that with aEdebased currency
such that would be, not differing in its
essential character from that which was in
use by US during our war the price of all
goods goes up about twice as fast as wages.
And they ought also to know the further fact
which is no assertion Of NINE that the wages
of days occupation in any silver standard
country in the world, does not begin to buy
life that can be purchased by the days wages
of that occupation in the United States of
America. fApplause.)
Now, my fellow-citizens. when you add to
that that the inevitable disturbance Of what
ever still eists of business, the laying off of
employees, which must for long time at
least, follow change Of our financial sys-
TEN, it seems to me that Il am very safe in
warning wage-earners not to be rash In
trusting the rosy but improved assertions of
Mr.. Bryan. IL such a change my fellow
citizens is to be made for the mere purpose
of hurting employers, which seems to be the
idea of Mr.. Bryan, one gets to the end of
argument very quickly. The failure or shut
ting down of a large faEtory has in all my
time been considered very mich more of a
calamity to the employed than to the en-
ployers. In such case the one may have a
reserve on which he can exist, but there is,
unhappily for those who live by wages, GER
tain to be most acute distress among them.
A closing down or reduction Of work caused
by popular vote can help the matter In no
possible way; it would only multiply the or
binary and in evitable calamities of business
Reflection, 1t seems to me-, must teach any
man that an unsuccessful or embarrassed
employer cannot have prosperous employees,