The times. (Owosso, Mich.) 1882-1897, 1896-10-30


No matter whether the government i:
bankrupt that coins 1t, the money Is just
as good A piece of gold coined by the
Romans 2, 300 years ago Is just as good to-
day as when Julius Caesar rode at the head
of his legions. Since that time darkness
has fallen over the Roman empire, and the
empire has passed into oblivion, but the
gold coined shines as brightly now as in
Rome's palmiest days. That is good money.
Money as n Commodity.
But when you issue bill or note you
want some good person behind it. Money
that is money needs no guarantor, needs
no hacker; it is always good. No matter
how many nations go down TO DUST good
money remains forever the same Now,
then, you know what dollar is-23 and
e2-100 grains of pure gold is 81; no more,
no less.
What else is money? You see this is
quite question. What is money! Money
Is commodity. Wheat and corn are COM
modities So Is money, tho popularity
about money being that 1t Is exchangeable
for all commodities But 1t is commod-
ity; nothing more, nothing less. When a
man gives bushel of wheat for dollar
In gold, he buys dollar in gold and the
dollar in gold buys the wheat. Both are
commodities, and commodity is some
thing that cannot be manufactured by law.
We want a little sense. There was a
time when this government issued green
backs and people called them money, and
still we were getting in debt. We had
magnificent times. But when the time
came for payment then people said: "Do
not let us pay. Let us issue more green
backs We had good times then. Let us
keep it up" But whenever you issue your
promise to pay, the day Of payment comes,
and when that comes hard times come
along with it.
Here Is a man who buys farm on d
credit, buys wagon OH n credit, piano
on a credit sends John and Mary to school
on credit. And all at once they say,
"We want pay" "Why," he says, "gen.
tlemen, L never had better times in tho
world than when 1 was giving these notes,
and have got plenty more on hand, and
If you only had the philanthropy to take
them my family can be happy STILL" All
these things have to be paid, and they
have to be paid in money, and how are
you going to get your money? Primarily
you have got to dig it out of the earth.
Then how are you going to get itY You
have got to swap your labor, your muscle,
your mind, your property for that money.
Good Money Always Good.
Another thing. Good money is always
good. Good money Is always at par, never
Mt premium and never at q discount
When people buy good money with bad
money, they say the good money is at q
premium. That is not so. The bad money
is at discount That is what is the mat
ter Good money is always at par And
yet we have a man running for the presi-
dency on free silver platforms, with two
vice presidents, that says money is the
creature of law.
Well, as q man told me today, law is Of
ten the creature OF money, but money
never was and never will be the creature
of law. If you can make money by law,
why shouldn't we be rich? Ii a hundred
people should settle on an island and form
government and elect legislature, they
could make laws, and if money is the
creature of law there is no reason why they
should not be as wealthy as Great Britain
Law is inexhaustible, and if you can turn
1t into money no nation has an excuse for
being poor.
Then there is another thing. If the gov
eminent can make money by law-and l
would like to have some good Bryan man
answer the question-if the government
can make money by law, why should the
government collect taxes?
Let us be honest. Hero is poor man
with little yoke of cattle cultivating 40
acres of stony ground, working like a slave
in the heat of summer, in the cold blasts
of winter, and the government makes him
pay SO taxes, when, according to these
men, it could issue 500, 900 bill in
second. Issue bill and give the fellow
with the cattle rest. Is it possible for
the mind to conceive anything more alb
surd than that the government can create
money!
Government Creates Nothing.
Let me tell you why The government
creates nothing The government does not
support the people. The people have to
support the government The government
is perpetual pauper. 1t raises no corn,
no wheat, digs no gold. 1t collects taxes
-alms-and we have to support the gov
eminent. We give part of what we Gre
ate by our intelligence, by our strength,
Md. the government produces nothing,
ne yer did and never will. We cannot de-
pend Son the government for bread. We
have tor feed the government.
Withdraw our support, and where would
the gentlemen, Une OnclalS, DER WnaU
would become of your presidents and con-
crosses were it not for the taxes paid by
the people9 We-and remember tive
have to support the government. Govern
ment cannot support u.s. And the idea
that the government can create money, in
politics, in finance, is just as absurd as the
doctrine of perpetual motion is in meohan-
los, just az idiotic as the philosopher
stone, Just as absurd as the fountain of
eternal youth, just as idiotic as the trans
mutation of metals. Any man capable of
believing that money can be created by
law is incapable of reasoning on any sub
iect whatever
All, but they say WAT makes gold val
liable Is that the law has made 1t u legal
tender. Again, gentlemen, you arc argu-
ing backward because 1t was valuable
tle law made it a legal tender. .daking 1t
"a legal tender did not give 1t Yalue but,
being valuable, the law mG,o it legal
tender recognizing its v-lae. And yet
these gentlemen say that q got all its value
from tSo law mailing it legal tender. 1t
is exactly- the other way. The legal tender
law rests o. the value of the metal. Why