Audubon Republican. [volume] (Audubon, Iowa) 1894-1925, 1896-09-03

ho ~ LIDS dlWty uDuC III tuC pasb ~ Will
not consent to put this country on silver
basis, which would inevitably follow indie
pendent free coinage Mt ratio of 10 to ].
1t will oppose the expulsion of gold from
our circulation.
Effect on Farmers and Laborers.
If there is any one thing which should
be free from speculation and fluctuation,
it Is the money Of country. 1t ought
never to be the subject of mere partisan
contention. When we part with our labor,
our products or our property, we should
receive in return money which Is as stable
and unchanging in value as the ingenuity
of honest men can make It, Debasement
Of the currency means destruction Of val
ues. No one suffers 80 much from cheap
money as the farmers and laborers. They
are the first to feel its bad effects and the
last to recover from them. This has been
the uniform experience Of all countries
and here, as elsewhere, the poor and not
the rich are always the greatest sufferers
from every attempt to debase our money
1t would fall with alarming severity upon
Investments already made upon insurance
companies and their policy holders, upon
savings banks and their depositors, upon
building and loan associations and their
members upon the savings of thrift, upon
pensioners and their families and upon
wage earners and the purchasing power Of
| their wages.
The silver question is not the only issue
affecting our money in the pending con-
test. Not content with urging the free
coinage of silver, its strongest champions
demand that our paper money shall be Is
sued directly by the government Of the
United States. This Is the Chicago Demo-
cratic declaration. The ST. Louis people 8
declaration is that "our national money
shall be issued by the general government
only, without the Intervention of banks of
issue, be full legal tender for the payment
Of all debts, public and private" and be
distributed direct to the people and
through lawful disbursements Of the gov
eminent" Thus. in addition to the free
coinage Of the worlds silver, we are asked
to enter upon an era of unlimited ire
deemable paper currency. The question
which was fought out from 1866 to 1879 Is
thus to be reopened with all its uncertain
ties, and cheap money experiments Of every
conceivable form foisted upon us
This indicates most startling reaction
airy policy, strangely at variance with ev-
cry requirement of sound finance. but the
declaration shows the spirit and purpose
Of those who by combined action are con-
tending for the control of the government.
| Not satisfied with the debasement of our
coin, which would inevitably follow the
free coinage of silver at 16 to /, they would
still further degrade our currency and
threaten the public honor by the unlimited
issue Of an irredeemable paper currency.
! A graver menace to our financial stand
ing and credit could hardly be conceived,
and every patriotic citizen should be
aroused to promptly meet and effectually
defeat it.
In the Highest Degree Reprehensible.
1t Is n cause for painful regret and solicit
tude that an effort is being made by those
high in the counscls of the allied parties to
divide the people Of this country into class
! es and create distinctions among US
which, in fact, do not exist and are re-
pugnant to our form of government. These
appeals to passion and prejudice arc be-
E. meath the spirit and intelligence of free
people and should be met with stern re-
: Duke by those they are sought to influence,
I and believe they will be. Every attempt
to array class against class, "the classes
against the masses" section against SEQ
ton, labor against capital, 1.-THE poor
against the rich" or interest against in
terest in the United States is in the high
est degree reprckensible. 1t is opposed to
the national instinct ard interest and
! should be resisted by every citizen.
We are not a nation Of classes, but of
sturdy, free, independent and honorable
people, despising the demagogue and new
er captivating to dishonor. This ever
I recurring effort endangers popular govern
j ment and is a menace to our liberties. 1t
L.,
: peal. 1t Is as old as government among
men, but was never more untimely and
unfortunate than now. Washington warn
! ed us against it, and Webster said in the
senate in words which l feel are singular
! ly appropriate at this time: II admonish
the people against the object of outcries
/ like these. 1 admonish every industrious
laborer of this country to be on his guard
against such delusion. l tell him the at
tempt Is to play off his passion against his
interest and to prevail on him, in the name
! of liberty, to destroy all the fruits of lib
erty."
The Protective Tariff.
/ Another issue of supreme importance is
that of protection. The peril of free silver
, is a menace to be feared We are already
experiencing the effect Of partial free trade.
The one must be averted, the other cor
rected. The Republican party is welded
! to the doctrine of protection and was new
or more earnest in its support and advoca-
! cy than now. If argument were needed
to strengthen its devotion to the Ameri-
! can system" or increase the hold of that
system upon the party and people, 1t is
found in the lesson and experience of the
! past three years Men realize In their own
daily lives what before was to many of
them only report, history or tradition.
! They have had a trial of both systems and
! know what each has done for them.
WaskiD rtcn il his farewell address, Sept.
! II, 1876, 100 years ago, said: LAS very
! important source of strength and security,
cherish public credit. One method of pre-
serving it Is to use it as sparingly as pos
sible, avoiding the accumulation of debt
not only by stunning occasions Of expense,
but by vigorous exertions in time of
peace to discharge the debts which IN
avoidable wars may have occasioned, not
ungenerously throwing upon postority the
burden which we ourselves ought to bear. /"
To facilitate the enforcement of the max
inns which he announced he declared: ut
is essential that you should practically bear
In mind that toward the payment Of debts