The Monitor-register., 1896-08-14
The Money Question and the com'
~ mon People.

Our correspondent, over the nom ae
qls,ne of "Patriot," in anotner coiu"n'
ia ouite original in one respect, at least
in that he seeks to gather force for his
free silver theories by an appeal to the
Dark Ages, and assuming that the evils
of that far.away period were caused by
decreasing money and falling prlces'
while most of his compeers are content
to begin with the "crime of '73, F." as tney
term it, wi hen silver was demonetizeo; OF
more properly, when it was omitted iro"
the coinage act as not demanded by the
necessities of our currency.
He says that sit is universally con-
ceded that falling prices result from tne
contraction of the money volume" Fer
haps. but if he had been careful TO eAau,
ins statistics he would have disooVefeu
that there was in circulation on June i
1886. according to the U. .. treasury
statement, 81, ,521, 564. 9SS. Then nine-
tenths of the business of the country ID
done by checks, according to the treasury
estimate. and the clearing house state
ments of the leading cities for the year
ending July 1st amounted to 500, ooo' 'ooo'-
ooo and this does not represent the total
amount of business transacted. Beside,
,bere was never more idle money in the
country than to day; so that our present
financial or business depression cannot pe
iustly charged to a contracted money
volume, We had good times from 1885
to 1892, when there was less money IN
circulation than now.
The need is not for more money, but
for business confidence that Will unlock
idle capital and give our idle workmen
an opportunity to earn an honest dollar.
There is not silver standard country in
The world to- day that has more than one
third az much money in circulation per
canits as the United States; and there
is mt a silver standard country in the
world to- day where the laboring man
receives as much per day for his days
WORK.
We fully agree with "Patriot," how
ever. that we can safely charge to
"eriminal and selfish legislation" the
sscalamities that have come upon US like
a food, and, to be more specific than he
is, we can name the act. 1t was the
passage of the Wilson-Gorman-tarifS
for-revenue-only law, which opened
American markets to the English CAPT
talist and manufacturer with their under
paid labor, and closed our own factories
and turned our laborers out as beggars.
This was the colossal crime of the century,
as the last three years have sadly proven,
and the glib talk about contracted cur
rency (Which is a false assumption,
according to authenticated statistics),
and the conspiracy of English money
power to control our financial system by
reason of the gold standard "a favorite
of Carl Browne when he was in
Woodstown during the Gen. Coxey cru
sade) is but weak effort to throw W dust
in the eyes of the unsuspecting reader.
Again, if, as alleged by patriot" the
gold standard places the control of our
volume in the hands of English
who seek to impoverish our
wag e-earners (and this they have accom-
plished by the adoption of the Wilson
German free trade act, and not because
of any contraction or control of our cur
rency), will We be any better off to adopt
the free coinage of silver and transfer in
reality the control of the money power
to the silver barons of few Western
States, who. perhaps, can be counted on
for whom "Patriot" is SO concerned, will
receive in return for their honest toll g
deprecIated money, with purchasing
power equal to about one-half the dollar
they now get? And not only this, bu
they will be compelled to pay about
double what they are now paying for the
necessaries of life Gas the claim of fret
silver coinage advocates is that it viii
increase prices of living commodities)
with no probable increase in the rate O.
wages.
Again, how is it, that if under free
coinage, the United States can take
care of itself Independently of all othel
nations, by what means is that liberty
now abridged and the common people
left prey to the English money barons
Such statements become valueless by
their own extravaganza. We want CAPT
tai from abroad. We have millions oi
square miles and 75,0O0,000 of people
and undeveloped riches without stint
but there is not enough capital to keeE
these people at work. We are most
prosperous when all are at work, and
when this happens we borrow of the rest
of thu world thousands of millions oi
dollars as matter of business, that oul
wage-earners may be kept at work al
the highest wages Of any country in the
world, and not as a gratuity to foreign
capital.
These are cold facts, undisputed, and
this is the outlook if the free coinage ol
silver is fastened upon this country. The
fulfillment of the dire prophecy of Mr..
Lincoln will then have begun, and the
efforts of the silver advocates to work
upon the prejudices of the people (Which
is their chief stock in trade), in an at
tempt to infame passion and array labor
against capital, and section against sec
tim, is monstrous injustice, if not q
crime.