The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1896-09-02

should receive several IlHleS OO per
cent, for his work. This table of
wages quoted by the Times is a boom
erang. When properly understood it
| is one of the strongest arguments
against existing conditions.
The Times proceeds: 1.-THE restora-
ton of bimetallism (says Bryan) in the
United States will take away from
gold just so much of his purchasing
power as was added to it by the demo
netization of silver. That sentence
will kill Mr.. Bryan as a candidate.
There is not oratorical wind enough
in all Nebraska to convince the Amer.
lean people of the truth of the absurd
proposition that the demonstration OF
silver enhanced the power of gold; "
Really the Times is the first reputable
authority that has ever denied tile
truth that the demonstration of silver
ceteris paribus, enhanced the value OF
gold. Bismarck once said that the
Struggle of the nations for a single
gold standard was like the struggle OF
two men in q bed TO cover with sim
gle blanket. There was not enough
blanket to 60 round. Bismarck is not
generally regarded as Socialist, An.
archist or thief.
Possibly the Times may grasp the
following simple illustration. AT a
certain boarding house there are reg
ularly biscuits and waifles for break
fast. For some reason the waffles
cease TO appear while the number OF
biscuits is unchanged. There will ne
cessarily be a greater demand for bis
cults, followed by struggle in which
the sharpest will win and the weaker
20 ahungered. Then comes the cry,
"Give us back our watfles." A wise
landlady will heed the cry, and in re-
storing the watlles will diminish the
enhanced demand for the biscuits. A
stupid laudlady of Wall street, low
ever, may say, "You are set OF ras'
Gals. You have just as many biscuits
as ever. The demand for biscuits can
not therefore increase. Waifles are
bad for the stomach. Be content with
half as many biscuits apiece as before.
How long would such landlady re-
main in business2
The Times disposes of Bryan as fol-
lows: Gall that is leftof Mr.. Bryan's
assertion is the demand that the dollar
shall be split in two, and that is repu-
diation, naked and ugly"
In one respect the Times is right. Ii
the silver movement means anything
it means that many persons in the
United States believe that the value OF
the dollar has increased beyond all
reason and is devouring all products
in its capacious nav. That value
must be reduced. When the people
of the United States borrowed money
the dollar bore certain proportion to
the values of commodities. Now its
proportion is much greater. AS Bryan
said, no one would dare to enact a law
that debtors shall pay more dollars
than they bargained to pay. No more
shall they declare that the debt shall
be paid in bigger dollar. Is this re-
pudiationa
The bondholders bought bonds for
deprecated greenbacks worth at one
time not more than 35 cents on the
dollar. These bonds were payable in
gold and silver. Here was profit OF
more than 200 per cent. The bond.
holder split the specie dollar in half
by means OF greenbacks and thus got
two bonds for one. This was the same
"repudiation, nake1 and ugly" that
the Times now denounces. Did the
Times raise its voice then in protest2
If the bondholder gave the Govern
ment the very cheapest money he
could find what right has he to raise
howl when the Government pays him
back in the cheapest money denoml-
mated in the bond2 Where is the re
pudiation, naked and ugly" here2
The Times not only wants all the en-
hanced value of the bond represented
by silver, but twice as much. No one
is afraid of this bugaboo of repudiation:
For thirty-six years the legislation of
the Government has been constantly
favorable to certain clique of capi-
talists, and the people who have been
swindled by them propose to restore
equity by giving them just what the
law demands and no more.
Little space is left TO notice the alb
surd criticisms of the other papers.
But here is lucubration of the
Morning Advertiser: WAS ever a
more deliberate statement more pre-.
posterouly false? The whole span OF
history, from the beginning OF the
world, does not furnish one solitary
instances of the creation Of value By
Legislation. On the contrary, every
attempt at this form of legislation has
proved 4 signal failure"
Mr.. Bryan must have produced a
virulent form of hydropnobia among
his critics. Let us examine this state
ment of the Advertiser.
The Latin Union today by legisla-
ton causes vast amount of silver to
pass current at the ratio OF 15t to l.
During the France Prussian war the
French Government hoated large
sum of irredeemable paper money
Grredeemable paper money remember
and kept it at par with gold. This was
flat money, pure ard simple, and the
device of the French Government has
been commended by economists. Dur
lag the late war the United States
Government issued about $3.50. 900, 900
in greenbacks and made them legal
tender for all debts. They had no
value in themselves, but the fiat of the
Government that they should be legal
tender for past as we'll as future debts
caused them TO pass current and TO af-
ford the means of defeating the South.
The Advertiser knows nothing about
history ''from the beginning OF the
world" as is evident from the above