The Somerset herald. [volume] (Somerset, Pa.) 1870-1936, 1896-09-30
SOUND MONEY TALK.
By a Practical Business Man of New
York.

By a Practical Business Man of New
York.
The following address by Freeman
II. Huddle, a prominent merchant of
New York, is such complete refuta-
ton of some of the sophistries INDUCED
in lev candidate Bryan, that We
publish il for the Information of the
readers of the HERALD:
The capitalist and the banker,
whose uninvested wealth lies idle in
their vaults, drawing neither interest
nor dividends, are no more in the posi-
ton of their choice than is the work
| ingman whose hands are nervously
| folded across his knees. What will
bring prosperity to them will bring
| espplnyment 10 labor, and when labor
| il employed nj romuuCratiye wages the
| farmer never seeks in vain for profit
able market. Whenever capital Is
threatened or throttled the wheels Of
industry cease to revolve and the
workingman's opportunity and the
| farmers markets are gone.
Capital, labor, and agriculture are
essential parts of Il harmonious whole
"a are the root, the stem, and the rip
| ened grain of the farmers harvest.
Capital is the germ that, planted in
| the human earth, takes root and sends
| forth the tender stalk that nourishes
the grain at its summit and turns it
| into gold. Labor is the root, agricul-
ture the stem and profit for all the
fruitage of the process, no part of
which can be omitted without destruc-
tion to the plant.
"Who il willing Ia lend or invest II
dollar worth 100 cents while even u
possibility exists that only So cents
will be repaid. What farmer will not
hoard his grain if there is prospect
that there will be a rise i'm price? Has
| he a right 10 complain of the capitalist
refusing to risk being robbed of half he
has? The gold standard has not para
! lyzed the hand of labor or bereft the
farmers market of profit; but the
/ threat of a dishonest silver standard
hns. The fact that the bullion value
of silver has fallen almost fifty per
cent. i'm ten years, almost twelve
per cent. since Bryan was nominated,
shows how difficult il II to fix a ratio
that will last even II decade, and ex-
plains the reluctance of other nations
to join in such an attempt.
Bryan Says the test of the value of
money II it, purchasing power, and
that AN absolutely honest dollar would
not vary I'm purchasing power, but
would be staple when measured 10y
average prices Average prices of
what, when, and for what length of
time? The prices Of all commodities
change according 20 the relations of
supply 10 demand. according To the
distance of the market from the source
of supply, according to the means for
transportation, and the methods of
production. When some are high
Others are low, and the lowest this
year may be the highest next Gold
coin or bullion, the standard of all val
ues, recognized and accepted the world
over, will buy more of any article in
some places than in others.
"An expression that occurs with
great frequency in Mr.. Bryan's ad-
dresses Is the value of silver measured
10y gold. He might a well say the
length Of anything measured by the
foot or the weight measured 10y the
pound. We measure everything by
the measures we have adopted and the
instruments we have invented for the
purpose, OF with some equivalent.
Gold is the accepted standard of value,
and all values are measured by it. sill
yer has and can have no value unless
it is measured 10y. the accepted stand
ard. A ham can have no weight un-
less il il weighed by our standard Of
weight, and there j. nothing by which
We can compute length, breadth or
thickness except by the accepted
standards of lineal measurement.
at l. said by the advocates of free
coinage that there Is not gold enough
in the country to transact its business.
Neither i there enough of silver if We
should coin it all. If every business
transaction were transacted by an act
| ual transfer of coin, there is not
; enough in the world 10 transact the
| business Of the United States alone
Fortunately that fact was discovered
and remedied long before Mr.. Bryan
was nominated. \ sound paper cur
rency and subsidiary coins are parts OF
the circulating medium of every coun-
try that ndheres tO the gold standard.
III j. the demand for the products
of the farm and factory that creates
prosperity, not ii plentitude Of the
means of measuring values. We
might as well expect an increased de
mand for cloths aS the result of multi
tiplying yardsticks as an increase in
business activity through larger num-
| Der of coins TO measure values Mr..
Bryan may multiply measures until
doomsday without adding an iota to
the needs of the community for what is
to be measured. His statement that
gold Is commodity that the people
must buy with the products of their
farms or of their toll is ineXcusably in
accurate. Gold coin is not a commod-
! ity. Nobody needs or can Use il except
IL measure of the worth of other
things. To acquire it i to acquire the
means Of exchanging one commodity
for another, for it, sole Office i To
measure what i bought and what is
sold. 1t is a means of facilitating
an exchange Of commodities, hut in
itself i no more commodity than the
bushel, the gallon, OF the pound"
H