The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1896-10-06
COPPER FOR MONEY
ONE FREE COINAGE EXPERIMENT.
RESULTING IN DIsAs-
TER.
SWEDEN HAD A CHEAP MONEY.
w. w. THOMAS TALKS FINANCE AT
THE FIRST BAPTIST
CHURCH.
SWEDEN HAD A CHEAP MONEY
MEETING IN THE EIGHTH WARD.
8. A. Anderson. Il. A. Jaggard and
DR.. A. j. Stone Deliver Inter-
esting Talks.

w. w. InOmaS, minister to sweden
for score of years until Grover Cleve-
land named his successor, and whose
residence is Portland, Me-, did not
make many voters last night by his
talk at the First Baptist church on
the money question. In the first place
his audience was made up largely Of
| individuals of the feminine gender and
youths not yet reached the voting age,
and, in the second place, judging from
the applause, there were no free silver
people present to be converted. Mr.
Thomas spoke under the auspices of
the young mems committee of the
church, and his was the second of a
course Of talks on the financial ques-
ton arranged for the enlightenment of
the young people of the church. At the
last meeting a free silver advocate,
who is a candidate for congress, was
the orator; last night the sound money
side of the argument was presented.
Mr.. Thomas is Maine man, and
many of his arguments were based on
incidents of that state, and some of his
most telling points bore directly upon
the influence of the recent election and
the influence it has already had in
forming the sentiment of voters in
other states, turning them away from
the free silver fetish. At times the
speaker seemed to forget his surround
ings, and then he spoke with enthusi-
asm that reused his hearers to. applause
that echoed through the groined arch
es of the edifice. But as whole the at
titude of the speaker was that of a
lecturer engaged in the pleasing pas
time Of delivering a thoughtful and
scholarly address on topic of no very
great public interest.
1T was the blunder of '92 and not
the crime Of '73 that has caused the
hard times and depression in the Unit
ed States" declared Mr.. Thomas. eff
the people had been content to re-elect
Mr. Harrison and to be content with
the McKinly law, the good times that
prevailed under previous administra-'
tons, with the Republicans in power,
would have continued. 1t was the re-
duction Of tariff under the Wilson act,
and not the so-called decentralization of
silver that closed the factories of the
United States and started the. furnaces
of England: that made hundreds of
thousands of American workingmen
idle and gave employment to the labor
ers of foreign lands. That the English
appreciate this fact is shown by their
treatment of Mr.. Vision when he went
abroad. Did you hear of any special
honor being shown Tom Reed, an
apostle of protection, when he was in
London? No, but Wilson was ban
quoted in London and the papers re-
ferred to him as friend of that nation
and the man whose tariff law had
made it possible for the furnaces and
mills of that country to start up. It
is not the silver question but the ques-
ton of protection to American indus
tries that is today the uppermost
thought in the minds of laboring men
and their employers.
Let me tell you Of Sweden's exper
ience with free silver" and Mr.. Thomas
produced a piece of copper about eight
inches square, that at one time cir
culated in Sweden as money. Sweden
has no silver or gold. but it has plenty
Of copper. In the time Of Charles l.
free coinage of copper was begun in
that country and such money as you
see here was declared legal tender.
The government put five stamps upon
it, one on each corner and one In the
center to declare its value. This piece
is stamped as worth two dollars. But
if you remember history Alright, the
OlU not create the NdiQGs Tie
money was too bulky and not ex-
changeable for the money of other
countries. The people revolted and
the head of the ruler was the price of
the experiment, as well as untold suf-
fering produced by the hard times that
this money brought about. The free
coinage advocates in this country would
try the same experiment. They pro-
pose that the government shall coin
free of charge, all the silver that may
be taken to the minis. The govern
ment is to declare each dollar coined
worth one hundred cents regardless of
the fact that 1t will be actually worth
| only fifty cents. For this act. the gov
eminent is not to receive one penny
of profit. The silver mine owner and
| the owner of silver bullion Is to have
| all the profit and the poor man who has
| nothing is to receive his pay for SER
vices in silver dollars that are worth
| fifty cents. In other words the silver
men propose to coin a silver dollar
and declare that 1T is worth a gold dol
| lar. If free coinage of a cheap metal
| is good thing, the free coinage of
cheaper metal is better thing. If the
| hon owner will insist he may secure
| the free coinage of an iron dollar, and
| declare that 1t is as good as a silver
! dollar. You never hear an advocate of
| free silver urging the free coinage of
| ally worth one hundred cents They
! are seeking the profit that cheap dol
| lar will bring and are not thinking of
the misery and ruin that will be the
part of the people. The creditors Of
the nation are the middle classes, the
! man with q few dollars invested in a
I bank and whose money is loaned TO
railroads and other great enterprises.
] These enterprises will be the first to
suffer under free coinage, and the own
ers of the little bank accounts will find
| their savings reduced one-half by the
issuance Of this cheap dollar.
! But let me assure you that Mr..
Bryan and his followers will not win
their fight for free coinage. AS in Sep
TENDER. on the 18th of November, Mr..
Bryan will hear mighty sound that
will arouse him from his slumber, He
will cry to his vice presidents, oh Sc
wall, oh Watson, what is this mighty
noise?' And Sewall, will reply, Tt is
the reverberation of the mighty voice
! of the people of Maine declaring for
sound money by majority of 10000
votes, oh Boy Orator Of the Platte
And the sound from Maine will be
echoed throughout the nation, and state
/ after state will repeat the sound in a
mighty declaration against the doctrine
Of dishonesty and reputation
/ The feature which characterized the
sound money meeting at Western and
| University avenues last evening was
the close, quiet attention, rather than
the wild and hysterical noise which
marks many similar events. The au-
dience was composed entirely of La
boring men.
/ S. A. Anderson, Republican candi-
| date for county attorney, was the first
| speaker of the evening. Mr.. Ander-
| son argued the technical side of the