The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1896-09-10


to obtain, and that wages are high,
when the country is industrially pros
porous, and business is good" On
the contrary. he knows only too well
that when commercial crisis arrives,
followed by long depression, men are
thrown out of employment, wages are
lowered, and a bitter winter struggle
with the wolf at the door is sure to
come. A chance for. employment and
good wages, therefore, is inextricably
bound up with those conditions which
produce general business prosperity.
The proposition is so true that it needs
no further illustration.
With this understanding let us now
examine the effects of free coinage of
silver on wages.
l. The first and most conspicuous eff
feet Of the free coinage Of silver-or
even the probability Of it-would be a
commercial crisis. Why? Because of
the extraordinary damage which would
ensue from a change of standard in
which all agreements are made. Our
business men having securities would
try to sell them at once, while it was
ment. Foreigners would send home our
bonds arP; stocks to be sold for the
same reazsTa. Every one would be rush
ing to sell before the drop to the 81
cent standard comes. Therefore, the
suspicion, or the probability of free
coinage would have the effect of the
reality in bringing on a crisis. For if
everyone were to SELL prices of Securi-
ties would fall, no one would buy in a
falling market; and men must in
evitably fail who had securities behind
their loans which had shrunk in value
(unless they could promptly give more
collateraD. But this Is not all. The
change of standard would strike deep
er than this.
manufacturer has paid for his land
and materials in dollars Of the existing
standard worth 100 cents each in gold.
He sold his goods on time, say, for $40,
600. Now see the effect of free coinage
of silver and of the drop to the 50 cent
silver dollar. His $4,000 of goods were
made and sold on the 100 cent basis;
on the silver basis he would receive
silver dollars in payment worth only
$780, relatively to his original expendf-
ture for labor and materials. If his re-
turns are thus cut in two, how can he
pay his Workingmen next month? A
loss of As per cent would ruin any eS-
adjustment. Then, look at the succeed
ing results: Every producer is borrow
ing legitimately from time to time.
His notes mature sixty or ninety days
hence. If his sales are paid for in silver,
his means for meeting notes drawn on
the existing gold basis are halved. If
this be general-as of course 1T must
be-and If most men are unable to meet
their notes when due, ruin and failure
are inevitable. If the establishment
fails, where is the operative to get en-
ployment? 1t is the urgent duty of
every workman to fight against the free
change Of standard because it will
bring a crisis, and close the factories
Of the country. 1t is to their interest
to have regular employment and steady
wages.
2. The banks and capitalists are al
ways in a position to see when a storm
is coming and to prepare for danger;
but the miserable injustice, in such
schemes as free coinage of silver, which
change the standard is that their effects
fall upon the inexperienced poor. Am
bilious politicians without monetary
training, have brought forward a mere
theory, wholly unsupported by facts,
on which they hope to ride into power.
If they should prove to be mistaken
the consequences to the country will
be fearful beyond description. The re-
sponsibility they assume is awful. Then
if they find themselves mistaken, these
politicians will not have it in their
power to repair the ruin they have
caused to industry and the loss of en-
ployment to labor. If the producer is
ruined by silver legislation, the laborer's
chance to earn any kind Of dollar, good
or bad, is gone.
The politicians, however, will have
won their game, and gained possession
Of office and power; but the evil eff
fects Of their mistakes must be ex-
plated by the poor and the helpless.
What right have any group of polit!-
clans to terrorize the world of indus
try, change the standard, shake credit,
multiply diStrust, create uncertainty
in all dealings, thereby bring all in
dustry to a standstill, and take the
bread from the mouth of the laborer
and his family? The mere possibility
Of silver standard-remote as that
is-has already paralyzed industry. No
business is being done; and house after
house is giving way under the strain.
If the condition Of industry and en-
ployment this summer is the result of
the mere possibility Of Mr.. Bryan's
election, no one can picture the result
which would follow the reality. No
country, not the strongest country. In
the world could escape the commissions
Of a panic which must inevitably fol-
low the change Of standard on which
every business transaction has been
based in all the intricate ramifications
Of past dealings in land and goods.
Tt is arrant folly to talk about this
country being able to do what It pleases
with it's standard, irrespective of other
countries SO also any strong man, If
he pleases, may put his finger under
a triphammer, irrespective of what
other men may do; the only result
would be that his finger would be
crushed, and other mems would not
be- Just in proportion to nations
commercial property and Industrial
greatness are it's business transactions
larger, more intricate; and the conse-
quent ruin in changing the standard
will be just so much more appalling.
Certainly, stability and confidence
which will start the factories going,
fill the shops with purchasers, increase
the demand for wool, wheat corn and
food-these will bring the laborer
those conditions by which he can OBJ
tain most employment, for the highest
wages. The proposition to Introduce
the silver standard Is by it's very ma
ture the destruction of certainty.
8. The free coinage Of silver means
a rise of prices, but not a rise Of
wages. In all the arguments for silver,
it is argued that prices are too low,
and that silver will raise the prices
of wheat, cotton and food. And 1t Is
an absolute certainty that these arti-
cles will command more in SO cent
dollar than they will in 100 cent dol
lar, such as we have today. On the
silver basis prices will go up, and, I'M
less wages go up in proportion, wages
will not buy so much food as now. But
if silver should make employment
scarce, and then raise prices too, the
workman will be doubly injured. Now
what are the facts as to prices in sill