The Coconino weekly sun., 1896-10-08
PATRIOTIC FARMERS. Whenever Danger Threatened the Country They Have Rallied
 to Its Support. HARD TIMES AND THE CAUSE. Employment of Labor in Mechanical Industries and Not Debased
 Money is Needed.
HARD TIMES AND THE CAUSE,

luton the farmer mas alWayS Tallieu t'
 the support of his country. There i:
 good reason in this, in the fact that h'
 owns the broad acres of our territory anC
 is so identified with our institutions tha
 protect him in this ownership that his in
 terest is necessarily of character tC
 make him the safe conscrvator of oul
 governments perpetuty. prosperity ant
 honor.
 In the present campaign we are con
 fronted by an issue that affects every
 class of our citizens, hence. there is an
 interest in the outcome more intense than
 in any campaign since 1860. One reason
 for the manifestation for so much inter-
 est is the fact that the country has been
 suffering from an unprecedented period
 of depression and is earnest in its intent
 to secure relief. Among those who la-
 bor none have more reason for com
 plaint than the farmer. Prices of his
 products have been low. values of land
 and stock have continued to decline,
 until discouraged and disheartencd.
 demagogues seem to believe him ready to accept any promise that they make, but the fact is. and better still. he is ready 10 review and discuss fully the merits of the propositions offered. The proposition that has been urged paramount to all others, is the free and unlimited colnaSe of silver.
 There never was more deceptive proposition, one more startling in its effects and results and one that would
 be more disappointing should it become a practical fact It is advocated by men having pecuniary interest at stake, backed by combination of capital un- eQualed by any that has ever attempted to control our government since the day of the slave power. The silver mine owners of the United States, skilled in political maneuvering. have organized themselves into syndicate for the pur- pose of forcing upon the country. with out regard to consequences, the free and unlimited coinage of silver.
 The magnificent scheme was outlined by Mir. Bryan in his Madison square speech when he said At the present time and under the present law, silver dollar when melted loses nearly one-half its value, but that will not be true when we can establish mint price of silver and leave no surplus silver upon the market to drag down the price of sil- yer bullion," and then to show the pos sibility of cornering silver and forcing it to a price satisfactory to mine owners, i've cannot even expect all of the an nUal product or sllNtE bttduSt iuhid, China, Japan, Mexico and other silver using countries must satisfy their annual need from the annual product: the arts will require a large amount and the gold standard countries will need a consider able quantity for subsidiary coinage; we will be required to coin only that which is not needed elsewhere. but if We stand ready to take and utilize all of 1t, other nations will be ready to buy ut the price we fix"
 This is the silver miners scheme as outlined by Mir. Bryan. The people are invited to loan the resources of this gov ernment to silver syndicate in order that it may be able by taking all the silver that is offered to the world 10 fix the price and compel other nations to pay that price. This is worse than free and unlimited coinage, yet it is the only way Mir. Bryan says whereby the parity with gold. The magnitude of the scheme and their audacity in attempt ing it's execution challenges admiration. but the American people are accustomed to investigate the claims of parties and men. They want to know for themselves the why and wherefores, if some great radical change is proposed. That they will thus investigate and judge for them | selves is evidence that they are quail. l Atu TUT
 That present conditions are hard, es- pecially among the farming class, every | one admits. There is undoubtedly a | cause for this abnormal condition. The | silver advocates attribute the existing | depression to the characterization of sil- | yer, "the crime of 1873" as they desig- | nate the suspension of coinage of silver | dollars in 1873.
 They. fail to show how that legislation raIunal rrinpc. fboy o;,,, Al | did. They fail also to show why prices | continued to decline after coinage of sil- l yer was resumed in 1878. They ignore all the facts of development, the large and unprecedented production of farm products and especially the improbable | division of labor. The building of new railroads and the opening of vast terri tories for cultivation are entirely ignored. During the years 1S7S-79 and 80 it is known that over G00,000 mechanics left | the factories and shops of New England and the middle and older Western states to locate on the lands in Kansas and Ne braska and the Dakotas. These all be- came active producers instead of consum- CTS of farm products.
 What we now need is to roverse tb;s condition Of affairs and secure less nro. duccrs and more consumers of farm pro duets: II by any way we can do this. we will have accomplished something prac. 1lcai Tn corrcctn. the ills our farmers nave to bear. There is method hv which this may be accomplished. n remc. dy that it not only practical but nor. manent and far reaching in its erfect,
 There is a well established nrincin,o ;,, political economy often reforreJ tn m writers that ''thc greatest crcator Dy wealth is the greatest possible divisinr of labor" Previous to the election ns Iana n1 under the operation of the Ranm,,iiooS iiooS policy of protection, we were tiiGan stpu"',i;a to realize 0ur benefits of this princinio ,nS nnS we were rapidly overcoming our a%von ana conditions by increasing the demand fs fsr farm products. The interest which tIa IIr movement of labor has in protective d, dne ties lies in the effect which the moyomcn, of labor has upon the supply and demand of agricultural products. It is impossibIc to maintain a proper division of labor except we produce the largest amount of manufactured goods possible within our own territory. Open our ports free and allow our markets to be supplied by the manufacturers of Europe and the effect would be to compel our wage earning