The representative. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1893-1901, 1896-09-09

reduce the selling price OF property and
of products, and destroy the prosperity
OF the producing classes, This rule is
recognized by all great ihanciers of the
world as an immutable and fundamental
law of finance, and it has been verified
by the financial historyG0f our country.
LIBERAL PAPERg CURRENCY
PRAISED.
From 1862 to 1866 we had neither gold
nor silver in circulation in this country.
Our money consisted of treasury notes
issued by the government, and of ma
tiOnal bank notes, and) according to the
treasury tables, we had during that time
altogether 1852, 00O, 600 OF paper money
in circulation. 1t is tpue gold was at a
premium. Some time it took $3.50 of
paper money to get 81 of gold, but the
people did not need gold, and the most
prosperous. years that this republic has
ever seen were those years. Many of
you recall them distinctly. Farmers
prOspered as they never had before. The
merchants and the bankers prospered,
and the manufactures were running to
the fullest capacity
But the government decided to return
to specie payments, and for that purpose
began to call in and cancel the green
backs and issue bonds in their stead.
which did not circulate as money, and
between 1866 and 1870 the paper money
IN the country was reduced by more than
one-half, and there followed a cores
pondlng fall in prices. This produced
the panic of 1873, during which time
prices fell from the paper money basis
down to what was then called the specie
basis. This was local to this country,
and did not affect Europe The years
OF ruin and disaster following the panic
OF 73 were the result of the contraction
or the currency by the government
The resumption Of specie payments by
the government was on the basis of gold
and silver These two materials had done
the business of the world since the dawn
OF civilization. For 200 years their rela-
ton to each other was established. and
was practically uniform throughout the
world. Unfortunately for mankind the
moneyed classes of Europe conceived the
idea that it would be to their interest to
make money dear and property and labor
cheap.
DEBTS AS THE RESULT OF WAR
During the decade following the war
our people had become the great debtor
people of the earth. Not only had the
SOV ~ SAC, IAC oIuISS, jllS COuutlCS tiuU
the cities issued bonds, but the railroads
and all other great properties and great
interests had issued bonds Even most
of the farm and city property had been
mortgaged. The great bulk of all this
Indebtedness was held by the English
money lenders. The interest on this
vast debt had to be paid by the American
people in one form or in another, either
in the form Of taxes, or increased charges
on the railroads, or increased prices on
articles purchased, but under the prices
which then existed for farm products and
for labor our people were able to pay this
vast interest and yet have a surplus left
which enabled them to supply them
selves with the comforts and even luxu-
ries of life. and we had what was then
known as the great American market.
Our farmers were prosperous, and all
other classes were prosperous. This
was when we had silver and gold At
that time the London bondholders had to
take the interest on two 81 900 bonds to
buy horse, or to buy hundred bushels
OF wheat, and buy cOrrespondingly in
creased amount of labor, or any other
kind of property, and this is what thew
accomplished.
In 1873 they got our government by
law to demonetize silver stop it's coin
age, deprive it of it's legal tender func-
tons, and reduce it practically to the
oasis OF token money, and as the amount
OF silver dollars in the world was inst
about equal to the amount of gold dollars
in the world, it followed that silver was
demonetized, and it's coinage was stopned
thereafter the work which was formerly
done by gold and silver together had to
be done by gold alone. The number of
people who had to have gold was doub-
led, its Importance was doubled. and it
necessarily followed that it's purchasing
power was doubled, SO that thereafter a
gold dollar would buy just twice the
amount of property, twice the amount Of
labor, that it formerly did, on the aver
age.