The record-union., 1896-10-09
THE SECRETARY OF THE FARM
ERS' NATIONAL CONGRESS TALKS
PLAINLY.

eOnS In the Forum for October why
the farmers interest does not lie with
the free coinage advocates. Mr.. Stahl
Is very plain spoken; he does not mince
matters at all, and he has no apologies
to make for or to any one.
He declarse that If silver and gold re-
main at a parity under free coinage at
10 to 1. then the people acting through
the machinery of government will pay
II for about so cents worth Of silver,
and that not a hundred farmers in the
nation have any silver to SELL
But the owners of silver mines and
the speculators in bullion will have sill
yer to sell. Now, then, he adds, if sill
yer and gold under free coinage at 16 to
1 do not remain at parity, then the
holders and manipulators of gold will
have dt to sell at a premium, which may
reach near hundred per cent, and the
farmers have not l per cent Of the gold
Of the country, so the premium will
go into the pockets of the "shylocks,
the very men the free coiners are de-
nouncing.
In neither case, then, says the Secre-
tary, will the farmers reap any benefit
In either case, as there will be no Gre
alton Of real value, the effect must be
to make the poor poorer.
Are we, then, to consider the rich
mine owners, the money lenders, the
rightful objects of national charity?
asks the Secretary. He adds that there
Is no reason why the Government, the
instrument of the nation, should pay
a dollar for 80 cents worth Of silver
than for so cents worth Of wheat And
who is there who will undertake to con-
trovert the proposition SO boldly put?
For it must not be lost sight of that
free coinage means coinage Of bullion
brought by any one to the mint, and
the making of a less value Of silver
into a greater legal tender of coin. 1t
is directly the opposite of coinage by
Government for its own account.
The dollar, says Mr.. Secretary Stanl,
that the Government pays out should
be such dollar as the people pay in
as tax. The dollar paid out for the
benefit of alias for the mail service,
for fnstance-should be such dollar as
the people pay in to the Government.
But If the Government pays the holder
of bullion 50 for that which is COM
mercially worth but 81, it Is the people
who make him that payment, not the
Treasurer Of the United States. The
farmers from the proceeds of 50-cent
wheat and 20-cent corn would make
large payment ON that account to en-
rich mine owners and bullion dealers.
This is an exceedingly blunt way Of
putting it, but 1t is incisiye for all
that, and the force of it cannot be de-
MED. Mr.. Stahl further holds that free
coinage as demanded by Bryan will
not be Of any benefit to farmer mer-
chant, mechanic, or the laborer, as none
Of these hoard gold. and none of them
sell silver. The farmer will not be
benefited if gold and silver remain to-
gether; he will not be benefited If they
fall apart; money Spectators will profit
in either case, because fiuctuation in the
currency increases the opportunities for
gambling.
Mr.. Stahl then announces the axiom Of
finance. the indisputable experience Of
all time, namely, that where there are
two kinds Of money, one inferior in
bullion value to the other, the inferior
money circulates among the farmers,
and the better money finds it's way into
the strong boxes of the usurers, and so
it will do until human nature changes,
he adds.
Farmers have always been the chief
sufferers from the act of debasing or
discrediting any part Of the money OF
country. 1t was 50 in the wild cat,
times, and SO it will be always. and
because Of the nature Of their business,
which deprives the farmer Of the earli-
est information. To this time the more
convenient greenbacks and notes cir
cuIate in the towns and cities. and the
less convenient silver circulatas
among the farmers in the country. The
best money gravitates to the cities
always.
Another reason advanced by this
straight-from- -the-shoulder reasoner is
that business which EMPLOYS labor in
field. shop, transportation, etc. is most
prosperous when the currency is stable
and every part of 1t has fixed and GER
tain value not doubted or distrusted bv
the people The history Of our country
presents no exception to this rule.
Therefore, the free and unlimited coin
age OF silver as demanded by the Chi
cago platform, would be Injurious to
farmer, merchant and manufacturer To
doubt this is to doubt all experience Of
the past
The prosperity of the farmer, says
Secretary Stahl, depends upon the abili-
ity of other classes to buy of him: his
comfort on the ability of others to fur
nish him what he needs and can buy.
He is to-day more dependent upon these
others than when the major part Of his
clothing was made on the farm, as we'll
as the furniture Of his home, and the
implements Of the farm from the basic
raw material Of the farm, and when the
major part Of the surplus farm products
was transported to market by the far
mer himself, by his own vehicles of
transportation
Farming is now more closely linked to
other industries than ever before, the
farmer depends more than ever upon
other classes and their prosperity, and