The representative., 1896-09-16

I
power that was Ameridah in it's charac-
ter, that sought to fasten on the people
of the republic an American yoke. We
are confronted with a Mrf1hey power that
is seeking to fasten up4R the people of
this country an English Yoke.
| We are now in the miHstsof the gravest
| crisis that ever confronted this republic.
In 1861 the Union was confronted with
dissolution, which meant anarchy in
respect to government, saHd a perpetua-
tion of African slavery I'm 1896 we are
confronted with the question of whether
ally enslaving the white race We are
confronted witt the question of whether
we shall install English Shylocks as a
taskmaster over all the generations Of
Americans that are yet to come.
We are not proposing to wrong any
body. We are proposing to give every
man his due. We are not suggesting ex-
periments. We are demanding a return
to the experience of the world for thous-
ands of years, and we say that this ex-
pertinent of trying to force the nations of
the earth onto gold basis for the benefit
of European creditors is running the
American people.
! We propose to pay back the English
creditors in the same money they gave
lis, gold and silver. We propose to give
them dollars that shall have the same
| purchasing power, that will buy as much
property and as much labor of every
kind, as had the dollars which they
gave us, money having exactly the same
purchasing power. We propose to pay
them principal and interest in the same
money exactly which they gave us, and
| we say that their acts in getting silver
demonetiZed and gold made dear, after
they had succeeded in getting our bonds
| and our notes, so as to compel us to pay
in different Kind of money from what
they gave us-to pay in dollars which
cost twice as much sweat, twice as much
blood. as did the dollars which they gave
us-we say that that act was fraud,
and was crime against civilization.
| NOT A PARTISAN QUESTION.
My fellow citizens, this is not parti-
| san question. It is not a question of Re-
publicanism or of Democracy. John
! Sherman and Grover Cleveland are
sleeping together. 1t is question of
patriotism. 1t is question of MAIN
tanning the institutions of the fathers,
for if the present standard is to be main
tained, it our people must go on paying
interest and principal in dollars that re-
quire twice rs much labor, twice as
much sweat, twice as much blood to OBJ
tain, as did the dollars that were in cir
culatiOn when the debts were created,
then the doom of American producers is
| sealed. Low prices will be made perpet-
ual and there will be no hope for the
| American farmer, the >American me-
chanic or the American laborer
! You have heard glib talk of 5O-cent
dollars. Gentlemen, there is no such
thing as a 50-cent dollar. The silver
dollars which they speak of as 5O-cent
dollars buy as much property on the av-
erage of every kind, buy, as much of the
products of the earth on the average of
every kind, as they did before silver was
demonetized. Silver has not fallen. 1t
occupies the same relation to property,
to the products of the earth, and to labor
that it formerly did. 1t is gold that has
+ gone up. The purchasing power of
gold has doubled and our people are
obliged to pay their debts, principal and
interest, in dollars which, as matter Of
fact, are 20O-cent dollars.
| Who gets the benefit, of this? The
English money lenders. Il is said, why,
we have local money lenders. Some of
our farmers have loaned money. Don't
they get the benefit of it? | say no.
No farmer, no resident of this state can
derive benefit from condition of af-
| fairs that bankrupts his neighbor, that
produces paralysis in the country sur
rounding him, for universal bankruptcy
must in the end pull dSwn and destroy
the local creditor. 1t is mistake to
suppose that local money lender de-
rives a benefit from the conditions
| which now exist
SEES PROSPERITY IN FREE COIN
AGE
We say restore silver to where it was,
coin it free as you do gold, restore to it's
legal tender qualities, and just as soon
as this is done, just as soon as silver can
be used at the custom house, used to
pay taxes, and to pay notes at the bank,
just as soon as it can be used to do the
same work that gold does, just that
soon the Importance of gold will be low
cred, it's purchasing power will be low
cred, the Importance of silver will be
raised, it's purchasing power will be
raised, until the two metals circulate at
par, just as they did 200 years before
silver was demonetized.
But, says some one, the idea of BIZ
metallism is all right, but we cannot go
it alone. We must have Europe to help
us, otherwise gold will go to a premium
Examine this a moment. Everybody
admits that if all the European states
would act together they could go it
alone. They could absorb the silver
that is annually produced, and, in fact,
a great deal more without having gold
go to premium. Now, gentlemen, the
internal trade of the United States un-
der normal conditions is greater than
that of all Europe put together, for,
while some European countries have
large populations they are so extremely
poor that they possess very little pur-
chasing power Consequently, if Europe
could go it alone, the United States
could still more easily do so. We could
absorb more than double the amount of
all the silver that would be brought to
our country, and it would be like putting
new blood into the body. The patient is
tne blood to it's normal condition and
then he will again be active.
INDEPENDENT ACTION HELD
FEASIBLE,
1t is said that a Mexican dollar, which
is as heavy as ours, is. worth only SO
cents in gold, and we are. asked, If this
is so how will we make our silver dollars
circulate side by side With gold. say
we will do it by giving our silver dollars
a field sufficiently large to absorb all,
and in which they can DO the same work
that gold docs The business of Mexico
is so smallsthat it does. not furnish q