The people's journal. (Pickens, S.C.) 1891-1903, 1896-10-08
AT PROVIDENCE, II. 1.
He Advocates Nothing Revolutionary
An Honest Dollar Does Not
ClnuEe its pucchnSinm Po1yar

He Advocates Nothing Revolutionary
An Honest Dollar Docs Not
Change its Purchasing Power.
A crowd of $1,000 people greeted
VIM. j. Bryan when he reached Prov
idence, r.. l., where he spoke as tol-
| lows
81 do not come to preach to you l.
now gospel. The position which we
take on the money question is an old
position, not new one. We nro not
lying in the face OF natural laws as
our opponents sometimes assert, nor
are we trying to 0verturn the princi-
pies OF political economy. Those who
advocate blmetallism are the only ones
| IN This campaign who are telling econo-
mic truths and defending the natural
laws of trade. When | define an
honest dollar as an honest dollar which
does not change in it's purchasing
power 1t may give to you a definition
"hlch has been s. sound definition
among all writer's on political economy
when give you that definition, am
slmpl giving you a definition which
has been given to the world by that
dlstlng educator who lives in
inns city and who is an honor not only
nation. (Applausc.)
Professor Andrews in recent work
entitled: "An honest dolar,n COM
menccs the rst.chaper with the words
which | shall quote: sit is always
assumed or admitted that tho ideal
sort OF money would be money with a
unit having stcadfast general pur-
chasing power" When Professor
Andrews describes the ideal money ais
Il money whose unit is the stcadfast
general or average OF purchasing
power, he planted himself upon the
sold rock and all the tinancicrs OF this
and other countries cannot prevail
against the character Of this definition.
lApplause The poet has told us that
an honest man is the noblest work
OF Cod" We may supplement this
statement by adding that an honest
Will be the noblest work Of man, but
my friends, the gold dollar which is
praised today as the honest dollar, is
not the honest dollar, and those who
love 1T most, love it because Of it's own
dishonesty as a dollar. (Applause.) J
An honest dollar is one which pre-
serves It's general purchasing power
from day to day and from year to year.
THEN the dollar which rises in pur-
chnsinE power is just as dishonest as
the dollar which falls in purchasing
power.
If orc of our Western men advocat-
ing bimCtallism calls attention to the
injustice OF the gold standard they say
that he lacks education and when a
learned man like Professor Andrews
advocates bimetallism and denOunces
the gold standard with emphasis which
Iphn nt
of it? Much learning hath mado
him mad" Weusay that anybody who
has piece OF gold sufficient to make
one dollar can have that dollar coined
into u dollar. And the fact that any
holder OF gold bullion can at any time
convert that bullion into money
enables him to charge for that gold
bullion the mint price. The mint
price for silver would be established
the same as the mint price for gold
has been established. Under free
coinage at ~ to man who owns
silver bullion knows that he can tahe
it to the mint and have it converted
into dollars of 100 cents of United
states money. Some OF our opponents
have been calculating as to how much
money they could make under free
coinage in buying silver at SO cents
and having it coined into 100 cents.
| any of you held silver bullion would
you sell it to anybody for balf the
market price and let the purchaser
mako the profit? The Republican
party does not present any financial
policy and say that they propose that
the policy will beneG, the people.
The Republican party simply proposes
to maintain the policy of their plat
form and that platform Processes to be
bad when it promises to maintain that
policy until foreign nations como to
our relief. But my friends, if YOU be-
lievc the United States government
should have Il financial policy of its
own, suited to its own needs, its own
people, administered by the hands of
those who love her, then YOU can onlv
express yourselves When you act with
those who advocate bimctallism at I6
to | without tho aid or consent Of anv
other nation upon tho Garth. If the
llnanciers who want the government to
issue bonds SO they can buy bonds
hnvo the wight to keep the govern,
mont issuing bonds all the time, putting
debt upon the people, then you, the
people, have to bo taxed to paw these
bonds.