The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1896-09-20
The Millionaire Governor Preaching
Free silver, but Demanding Gold
from His Tenants.
HoKE SMITHS CIRCUS ACT
TRYING TO sTRADDLE BRYAN AND
SOUND MONEY AT THE SAME TINE.
He Is Advising Gcorginns to Sup
port the Populistic Ticket.

| Special TO the Indianapolis Journal.
CHICAGO, Sept. 19.-John p. Atgefd. who
by the grace of few thousand deluded
| voters, slipped into the gubernatorial chair
of the State of Illinois and who is now
worshiping at the shrine Of Bryan, de-
| livered a speech in Central Music Hall to-
night to a good-sized audience. Altgeld is
perhaps the most arrant of all the dema-
| gogues who are trying to force the people
to carry a cross of silver. While preach
ing the doctrine of free coinage of silver
he is practicing the gold standard. Alt
geld is a millionaire and owns one of the
sky-scraping Office blocks of this city and
| when he leases office the tenant is
forced to sign a contract agreeing to pay
the rental value in gold. His speeches in
behalf of free silver therefore carry little
weight with thinking people
The Governors address tonight was de-
voted largely to combating the Hon. Carl
! Schurz's recent speech here. He said in
part:
Mr.. Schurz tried to convey the impress
sion that wages have not fallen, and were
/ therefore not affected by the demontiza-
| ton OF silver: and he says that wages have
| risen ~ pre- than 90 per cent. since 1860. See
| the ingenuity of this and ask yourselves
| whether this is a fair way of representing
| that question. All the world knows that
| wages have nearly doubled since 1860 The
| question is how have wages been affected
| by the fact that this country and Europe
/ demonetized silver and reduced the volume
| ct money in the world between 1873 and
| 1873 Had he been candid he would have
prior TO the general decentralization with
wages for twelve years after that general
demonetization was accomplished.
| In1S subject of wages was carefully in
! CURED into, in the year 1891, by a commit
| tee appointed by the United States Senate
/ This commission made a thorough investi-
| cation. John G.. Carlisle. the present Sec
rotary of the Treasury was a member of
/ that committee. 1t made a long and full
| report. and 1t showed that between 1910
and 1873 wages had Just about doubled, and
then, the report says: After 1873 there was
and shows that toward 1880 there was a
slight rise in wages above the point they
| the point they had occupied before and
| that soon thereafter a decline set in which
| continued.
| ACCUSED OF NOT BEING CANDID
MI Schurz was once a member of the
| United States Senate, and the investiga ton
by this committee on the subject of wages
must have attracted his attention. If he
was thorough in his investigation he must
have seen this report. Had he been thor
oughly candid he would not have tried to
make the impression that because wages
had risen between 1860 and 1873 that there
fore they were still as high as they ever
We're. Inc fact is that there great
fall in wages between 1873 and 1880, and a
sllght rally in 1880 due to causes. This lasted
for comparatively short time and since
that time there has been steady decline
IN wages. Wages and prices must on the
average go hand in hand Labor creates
properly If property must be sold for low
prices es sd then labor cannot be paid high
Both Mr.. SchurZ and Mr.. Cochran treat
the whole subject of falling prices as if it
We're simply a scramble between different
cftizenS-between seller and buyer IF this
were al, then the matter would not be of
such transcendent and far-rea ching impor-
lance and would not so directly affect the
welfare of the whole people. Neither grasps
| the great principle that falling prices first
disturb business in its entire circle and
affect the property of both rich and poor
and that when prices go very low they de-
stroy the purchasing power of the great
producing and farming classes and that
this destroys what we call the home mar
ket and forces manufacturing establish
ments to shut down. because there are
not sufficient buyers TO take what they
make, and thus forces labor into idleness
and destroys the purchasing power of labor
and produces general paralysis in the
land. No matter what may be the cause.
of falling prices. their effect upon the com
munlty Is more than mere scramble be-
tween buyer and seller. and here is where
all advocates of the gold standard fail to
rise to the occasion, fail to meet the re-
Quirements of the case. Their treatment
of this question is almost fippant."
In reply to Mr.. Scurz's assertion that the
price of wheat had been affected by in
creased acreage and labor-saving machin-
cry, Mr.. Altgeld said:
any Improvement in machinery for raising
and harvesting wheat in the last twenty
years. and the statistics show that there
has been very little increase in the produc-
ton of wheat in the United States in that
time. More is raised in the Northwest it
is true. but very much less is raised in the
Central and Eastern States / have endeav-
ored to get the most renable Data this
question from the reports of the various
boards of trade and the government re-
ports, which are recognized as the highest
authority obtainabe on this subject The
government reports show that the wheat
crop for 1878 more than 420. GOO 600 BUSH
els and that for the year 1896 the crop does
not exceed 400 600 900 bushels In fact, if the
increase in population is considered the
wheat crop has constantly grown less in
proportion to the consuming population
ever since 1873. The wheat crop of this
year is about Sc, 900 bushels short of
what the average has been since 1873 and is
20,000,00O bushels less than it was that year
So that, in spite of the opening of the new
fields in the Northwest, there has been
no greatly increased production of wheat
in this country, and when compared with
the consuming population. there has been
an actual falling off, vet twenty years ago
the price of wheat more than twice
what it is now
THE HOWL OF THE HYENA.
In concluding his address, which was very
long. the Governor said:
In all ages and in all countries the men
who are in the wrong deprecated discus
sion. In 10 country have dishonest policies
sought the sun, and no organization of
highwaymen has as yet petitioned for cleo
trio light. The man who has no argument
seizes the nearest epithet and hurts it.
These observations are sngularly applicable
to this gold-standard movement. 1t is the
hyena that has sucked the blood of COM
merce and left the PROSTATE form of labor
by the roadside 1t has rendered this Ma
ton helpless, and when the people try to
learn the cause of their distress, when
effort is made to diagnose the patient, then
there is Il fierce howl 1t came into the
world with a stealthy tread, and is seeking
to maintain itself by still more Steaathy and
dark deeds. Every man who does not at
once concede to it the sole right of travel
ing upon the highway is assailed with a
fiarceness that is calculated to brighten the
tinid and all others who are in any way
dependent The gold-standard people find
that the facts are against them.
They are obliged TO resort to de-
ception and sophistry to prevent the peo-
pie from putting an end to this policy;
therefore they deprecate discussion. Tn
willing to confess the truth they talk about
rousing the masses etc. The fight is as old
as human greed: old as human selfish
ness. For twenty years prior to 1861 the
slave power deprecated discussion, even in
the North. where there were no slaves, and
they put their objection on the ground that
il preIldiced the masses against he classes.
There never yet was a great wrong or a
great abuse but what objected to investi-
cation and discussion. Prior to 1861 the
slave holders were assisted by the hanging
on class. that aggregation of human beings