Pike County press. (Milford, Pa.) 1895-1925, 1896-09-11
souRkr oockRAN ON eaYAN.
The Eloquent Ex-Congressman Exposes et.a
Free Silver Fraud or Worlxingmsn.


Free Silver Fraud on woriSinGmsn.
In his great speech In Madison Square
Garden, New York city, ex-Congress-
man Bourke Cochran said in reply to
Presidential Candidate Bryan;
II everything In this world or In this
country, including labor, be increased
In value tomorrow In like proportion,
not one Of MS would be affected at all.
II that was Mr.. Bryan's scheme, he
would never have Populist nomination
10 give him Importance in the eyes Of
this community. II that were all that
he meant he would not be supporting
1t, and would not be taking the trou-
BILE 10 oppose 1t. II everything In the
world be increased 10 per cent In value,
why, we would pay ro per cent In addi-
tion for what we would buy and get 10
per cent more for what we would sell.
What, then, is itP 1t is an increase in
the price of commodities and allowing
labor to shift for itself. If the price Of
commodities be increased and the price
81 labor be left stationary that means a
cutting down of the rate of wages.
If, instead Of dollar which consists of
given quantity of gold equal to hun
dred cents anywhere in the world. with
the purchasing power of a hundred
cents, the laborer Is TO be paid in dol
lars worth 80 conts each, he can only
buy half as much with days wages as
he buys now. If the value Of this Popu-
list scheme, then, is to be tested. let the
laboring men of this country ask Mr..
Bryan and his Populist friends simple,
common, everyday question, Where
do / come inH'
Mr.. Bryan himself has a glimmering
idea of where the laborer will come in,
or, rather, of where he will go out.
There Is one paragraph In his speech
whioh-whether It was the result of an
unconscious stumbling into candor or
whether 1t was a contribution made in
the stress of logical discussion am ut
terly unable to say-that throws flood
of light upon the whole purpose underly-
ing this Populist agitation. Wage earn
ers, Mr.. Bryan says, know that while
gold standard raises the purchasing
power of the dollar it also makes it
more difficult to obtain possession of the
dollar. They know that employment is
less permanent, loss of work more prob
able and unemployment less certain.
II that means anything, IL means
that cheap dollar would give him
more employment, more frequent en-
ployment more work and a chance to
get re employment after he was dis
charged. If that means anything in the
xxs1wlA -. "a
the laborer is willing to have his wages
out down he will get more work.
If st were true that reduction in the
rate Of wages would increase the chance
Of employment would not blame Mr.
Bryan for telling the truth. because,
however unpalatable the truth may be,
conceive IL the duty of any man who
attempts to address his fellow citizens
never to shrink from statement Of the
whole truth. whatever may be the con-
sequences 10 himself. But, as a matter
OF fact, adiminution In the rate of wages
does not increase the scope Of employ
ment
There cannot be an abundant product
unless labor Is extensively employed.
You cannot have high wages unless
there is an extensive production In ev-
cry department Of industry. and that is
why / claim that wages are the one
sole test Of q country's oondition-that
high wages mean abundant protection,
and abundance necessarily means pros
perity. Mr.. Bryan, on the other hand.
would have you believe that prosperity
is advanced by cheapening the rate Of
wages. but the fall In the rate Of wages
always oOmes from a narrow produo-
tion. and marrow production means
there IS little demand for labor In the
market When. after the panic Of 1878,
the price of labor fell 10 90 oents day,
II was harder to obtain work than when
the rate Of labor was 81. and the differ
ence between tho Populist, who socks
10 cut down the rate Of wages, aud the
Democrat, who seeks to protect IL, Is
that the Democrat believes that high
wages and prosperity are synonymous,
and the Populist wants to cut the rate
Of wages IN order that he may tempt
the farmer to make war upon his own
workinRmen.
HOW do you ind businessf If you
want to borrow money, are you not told
that this free silver racket is soaring in
vestors5 Don't manufacturers complain
that they have difficulty In getting loans
with which 10 buy raw material, pay
wages and carry stocks Of goodsf Isn't
the uncertainty about the money In
which loans will be repaid playing the
dickens with credits and confidence
among business menS