Omaha daily bee., 1896-12-11
pRoplG1rtyg FALSE pocTB,yEs


the United States at the recent prcsi-
dental election.
This movement portcnds no good to
the people of Nebraska. While Coy
crnor Holcomb and senator Allen are
both endcavoring to dSubuSr the minds
and allay the prciudiccs of investors
and capitalists 10y assurances that Ne
braska has no disposition TO rcpudihtc
honest debts or to violate contract OBJ
| legations. this new. untmely and useless
renewal of free silver agitation can tend
only to intensity diStrust in this state
ana retard its Industrial development
which requires the assistance of foreign
| capital. If Nebraska is to be further
disturbed and torn up by political con.
tentiOn the friends of sound money may
as well meet the issue and resume the
campaign of education which will open
the eyes of the dcludcd masses to the
| folly and wickcdncSs of the whole
scheme of spurious bimetallism which
is as different from the double standard
of the fathers of the republic as is Il
coach-and-four from Il dog cart.
The cSse ltial feature of the double
| standard is that the metal value of every
coin shall be equal to its money value
The ratio is always presumed to repre-
sent the relative commercial value of
the money metals and not an arbitrary
price at variance with the commodity
val1e. The attempt to place sixteen
| ounces of silver on an equality with one
ounce of gold, when one ounce of gold
buys in the markets of the world thirty
ounces of silver is no better than n
scheme to cut every gold coin i'm two
and force people to accept each half in
payment of the amount represented by
the whole. II is downright swindlc
under the guisc of restoring the double
standard
ON this point the latest contribution
from the incisivc pen Of Henry Labou.
cherc, editor of the London Truth.
hits the nail squarrly on the
head. "On what did the presidential
election turn in American asks Mr..
labouchcrc. "Mr. Bryan proposed the
free coinage of silver and ratio of IL
mediate effect would have been that
every one would have been relieved of
onC-hnlf of his liabilities and the liabil.
ity of the United States TO the lend
ing powers of Europe would have been
reduced by that amount. After such an
experience of the mode of meeting liza
bilities it is evident either that no one
would lend an American anything. or
if he did it would only be at an inter
est TO cover the risk of another rcduc-
ton in the amount of his loan. Ampri-
cans are not fools. They soon pen.
ceived that Mr.. Bryans scheme would
prove ruinous TO the progress of their
country. Not only were financicrs
against it, but the workers. The lat
ter failed to realize what benefit il
would be to them to be paid even
double wages if everything that they
had TO purchase cost double. At most.
this would have placed them in the
position that they are now. But they
had n shrewd suspicion that whilst the
buying power of the dollar would be-
reduced by one-half the increase of
wage would not keep pace with this
halvinG of the dollar. Mr.. BRYAN,
therefore, was defeated by large ma
jority."
Continuing in this strain, Mr.. Labou-
chere says: "There are men amongst
us who honestly and conscientiouSly
believe that bimetalliSm would be an
advantage to us. This may appear sur
prising. but everywhere and in every
age there have been persons who lose
their heads over some theory ana then
are unable to perceive its practical
folly. In the middle ages there were
many chemists who passed their lives
trying TO transmute silver into gold.
and there is much similarity between
those chemists and the bimctallists of
our day. increase the worlds coin. |
they say, and you will increase its |
wealth. This is almost MS absurd as
it would be TO suppose that the climate |
of this planet would be bCttcred were
there more baromcters. The wealth OF |
a country has nothing to do with the |
volume of its currency, because cur |
rency is nothing more than n measure |
of value for everything else. Nothing, |
indeed, is more remarkable than the |
very small amount of currency that !
sutlices for the worlds requirements.
The bimeta lists won d have Us !
believe that trade depression, fail in
value of land absence of employment
among artisans, agrarianism in Ire
land, squalor, suffering and misery
everywhere will cease if only we will
adopt their noStrum. If so. the world
can be converted into n paradise by
very simple jugglery and 1t is II won
der this has not already been done"
Experience ana sound reason. how
ever, do not count for anything with
the men who are seeking to revive the
agitation which has proved so dis,
astrous Most of Them are politicians
whose only hope Is 10 fuse themselves
into Office at Tie expense or the states
This class has nothing to
lose and everything 10 gain.
EERntN ipDREJI