Hot Springs weekly star. (Hot Springs, S.D.) 1892-1917, 1896-10-16
A popocRAr TEMPLE DEMOLISHED
E. w. Martin ami w. o. Temple Met i'm
Joint Debate Wednesday Night.

E. w. Martin ami w. o. Temple Met I'm
Joint Debate Wednesday Night.
One of the most satisfactory and in
structive political discussions of the
campaign that has been given in this
portion of the state was held at the
opera house on Wednesday night when
Hon. E. w. Martin, of Deadwood, and
Hon. w. o. Temple, of Rapid City, met
in joint debate. Mr.. Martin had been
billed to speak here on that evening
more tnan week in advance, while
Mr.. Temple had expected to discuss
the issues on Monday or Tuesday even
ing of this week but was unavoidably
detained elsewhere. So it was that
when Mr.. Temple reached here on
Tuesday night he found that all ar
rangements had been perfected by the
republican committee for Mr.. Martins
meeting at the court house. Mr..
Temple thought the opportune time
had come for showing up the fallacies
of the republican doctrine. He forth
with challenged Mr.. Martin to a joint
discussion, Mr.. Martin accepted and
the details were arranged at meeting
of the chairmen of the central COM
mites of the hepopocraticand republican
parties on Wednesday morning. Under
the rules as agreed upon Mr.. Martin
was to open the debate and speak one
hour and fifteen minutes, Mr.. Temple
to follow with speech of one hour and
a half and Mr.. Martin to close the dis
cussion in a fifteen minute address.
The meeting had been we'll advertised
and at an early hour the house was
crowded. Judge Gull called the meet
ing to order and stated the terms of the
discussion. The Firemen's band open
ed the exercises with an overture, the
Mckinley male quartet rendered an
enlivening campaign song and then
Mr.. Martin was introduced amid a storm
of applause. He wasted little time
in preliminaries. He at once launched
into the heart of his subject and pre-
sented an array of facts and figures
that fairly staggered his antagonist.
He proceeded to show that silver has
not tiuctuated with other commodities:
that while at times other commodities
have gone up in price silver has gone
down; that while nearly everything
else had tluctuated violently gold had
remained practically stable as measur-
ed by labor, the only correct standard
of measurement; that the purchasing
power of the dollar has asincreased owing
to the reduction of the cost of pro-
duction of manufactured goods while
the value of farm products has been
governed by the law of supply and
demand; that our circulating medium
has not contracted, on the contrary
it has gradually expanded until now
this nation standsfourth in the amount
of iis per capita circulation; that prac-
tically the entire silver production of
the world since 1873 has been coined
into money, and that the surplus that
we hear so much about exists only in
the Imagination of popocrats; that not
withstanding this fact the value of
silver has steadily declined and that
the free and unlimited coinage of silver
at the ratio of 16 to / when the COM
mercial ratio is 30 to 1 would result
most disasterously to the financial,
commercial and industrial interests of
this nation.
When Mr.. Temple took the floor his
face was flushed and he was evidently
much disconnected by Mr.. Martins
masterly handling of the subjects under
discussion. He made few allegations
in support of the free coinage propo-
sition and asserted again and again
that he would prove conclusively be-
fore he got through that the free and
unlimited coinage of silver by this
country alone is entirely practicable
ard that the republican theory of
finance is a delusion and snare, but
his proofs never appeared. He started
out by saying that we had been led to
believe that the question of money was
too comprehensive and too intricate
for the ordinary mind to grasp, when,
as matter of fact it is as plain as the
nose on mans face and he could ex-
plain it in few minutes, and yet when
he sat down exhausted he was still
saying that he could prove his assertions
if he had more time. He thought he
saw flaw in the statement of Mr..
Martin wherein the latter stated on the
authority of the secretary yofthe.treasur-
cry that the worlds product of silver
for several years past had been coined
into money. Mr.. Temple said the
statement grossly misreyresented the
facts as the amount coined, as stated,
included about three hundred; millions
of silver recoined. Mr.. Martin knock
ed the props out from under this argu-
mont hx atatin0 thoV tho f3o,,.n. <,3vo,,