Union County courier. [volume] (Elk Point, Union County, D.T. [S.D.]) 187?-1913, 1896-09-03

It will preserve their equality in the fu-
ture as il has always done in the past.
1t will not consent to put this ountry on
a silver basis, which would inevitably
follow independent free coinage at a ratio
OF IL to 1. 1t will oppose the expulsion
of gold from our circulation.
Farmers and Laborers Suffer.
If there is any one thing which should
be free from speculation n 1uctuation
never TO be the subject of mere partisan
contention. When We part with our la
Dor, our products or our property We
should receive in return money which is
as stable and unchanging in value as the
ingenuity of honest men can make it. De
basement of the currency means destruc-
tiou of values. No one suffers SO much
from cheap none as the farmers n la
borers. They are the first to feel it's bad
effects and the last to recover from them.
This has been the uniform experience Of
all countries, and here. as elsewhere, the
poor and not the rich are the greater
sufferers from every attempt to debase
our money. 1t would fall with alarming
severity upon Investments already made:
upon insurance companies and their pol
!>y holders; upon savings banks and their
depositors; upon building and loan asso-
cations and their members: upon the saw
ings of thrift: upon pensioners and their
families, and upon wage earners and the
purchasing power of their wages.
Irredeemable Paper Money.
the silver question is not the only issue
affecting our money in the pending con-
test. Not content with urging the free
coinage of silver, it's strongest champions
demand that our paper money shall be
United States. This is the Chicago Dem
ocratic declaration. The st. Louis peo-
ple's declaration is that "Our national
money shall be issued by the general gov
eminent only, without the Intervention of
banks of issue. be full legal tender for
the payment of all debts. public and pri-
vate,' and be distributed "direct to the
people, and through lawful disbursements
Of the Government"
Thus, in addition to the free coinage of
the worlds silver. we are asked to enter
upon an era of unlimited ir~redeemable
paper currency. The question which was
fought out from 1865 to 1879 is thus to
be reopened and all its cheap money ex-
/. erlments of every conceivable form foist-
ling r~eactionary policy, strangely at va
rance with every requirement Of sound
finance; but the declaration shows the
spirit and purpose of those who by COM
bined action are contending for the con-
troll of the Government. Not satisfied
With the debasement Of our coin which
would inevitably follow the free coinage
of silver at Is to l, they would still fur
Their degrade our currency and threaten
the public honor by the unlimited issue Of
an irredeemable paper currency. A grav-
er menace to our, financial standing and
credit could hardly be conceived and ev-
Try patriotic citizen should be aroused to
promptly meet and effectually defeat it.
1t is a cause for painful regret and So
.icltude that an effort is being made by
those high in the counsels of the allied
parties to divide the people Of this coun-
try into classes and create distinctions
among US which, in fact, do not exist and
are repugnant to our form of government.
These appeals to passion and prejudice
are beneath the spirit and intelligence Of
q free people, and should be met with
stern rebuke by those they are sought to
influence and l believe they will be. Ev-
cry attempt to array class against class,
the classes against the Masses" section
against section, labor against capital, "the
poor against the rich" or interest against
interest in the United States is in the
highest degree reprehensible. 1t is op-
posed to the national instinct and interest
and should be resisted by every citizen.
We are not a nation Of classes, but Of
cturdy, free, independent and honorable
people, despising the demagogue. and
never captivating to dishonor. This ever
recurring effort endangers popular gov
eminent n is a menace to our liberties.
1t is not a new campaign device or party
appeal. 1t is as old as government among
men, but was never more untlmely and
unfortunate than now. Washington
In the Senate, in words which / feel are
singularly appropriate at this time: II ad-
monish the people against the object of
o~utcries like these. l admonish every
industrious laborer of this country to be
on his guard against such delusion. I tell
him the attempt id to play off his passion
against his interest and to prevail on him,
ia the name of liberty, to destroy all the
fruits of liberty"
Importance of Protection.
Another issue Of supreme importance
silver 10 q ems to be feared. W.
are already experiencing the effect Of par
tial free trade. The n must be averted,
the other corrected. The Republican par
y is welded to the doctrine of protec-
ton and was never more earnest in its
support and advocacy than now. If ar
gument were needed to strengthen its de-
crease the hold of that system upon the
party and people, it is found in the lesson
and experience of the last three years.
Men realize in their own daily lives what
before was to many Of them only report,
history OF tradition. They have had a
trial Of both systems and know what each
has done for them.
Washington in his farewell address,
Sept. II, 1896. a hundred years ago, said:
las a very important source of strength
and security cherish public credit. One
method of preserving it is to use 1t as
sparingly as possible, avoiding the accu-
mutation of debt not only by stunning oc-
casions of expense but by vigorous exer-
ions in time of peace to discharge the
debts which unavoidable wars may have
o%ccasioned, not ungenerously throwing
upon posterity the burden which we our
selves ought to bear"
To facilitate the enforcement of the
maxims which he announced he declared:
st il essential that you should practi-
cally bear in mind that toward the pay
ment of debts there must be ~revenue; that
to have revenue there must be taxes: that
NO taxes can be devised which are not
more or less inconvenient or unpleasant;
that the intrinsic embarrassment insep-
arabic from the selection. OF proper OBJ
lects (which il always q choice Of diff
%culties) ought to be q decisive motive for
a construction of the conduct Of the gov
eminent in making 1t, and for q spirit of
acuuiescence in the measures for obtain
ing revenue which the public ~exisencies
may ct any time dictate"
Animated by like sentiments the people
Of the country must now face the condi-