Evening journal., 1896-08-19

hing TO get, and that he is not very particular
lbout the means by which he can get his |
hands on t..
Nothing is more common than the mistake
that money and property are identical They
Ire not. There may be a very large volume Of
circulating medium and very great poverty:
therefore paper money simply is no more an
Increase of wealth than the issue by an indi-
ridual Of his promissory note would show an
Increase lf his property. As a matter II fact,
an increase in the coinage.is no proof Of an in
crease in property, but may be strong proof
Of decrease in wealth IL is not the volume
Of money but the activity Of money that
sounts
The basis of sound trade is sound money
money which is iIftrinsieally valuable. money
which, like the gold coinage Of this country
The government cannot affect II it tried to. /
can take $40 goldpiece, and can defy all the
power Of all the governments of this earth to
lake cents OF value from t. Having earned
I by the sweat Of my brow, having earntd it
by the exercise OF my brain, having earned IL
by the exchange of my commodities can go
to the uttormost ends OF the earth, and wher-
ever present it its value will be unquestion-
I'd and unchallenged. That gold dollar this
meeting the Democratic party, the honest
masses Of this country, without distinction Of
party divisions, demand shall be paid 70 the
aborer when he earns 1t, and that no power
on earth shall cheat him of the sweat Of his
brow.
It is perfectly clear that the purpose of the
Populist is TO put up the prices of certain
commodities. Mr.. Bryan's language is that he
Is going TO improve the condition Of the peO-
pie OF this country. do not suppose be claims
be can multiply the number OF chairs upon
this platform or upon this hocr, ui hough he
has shown his capacity to empty them. If he
Is going TO work any change in tie conditions
| of men, he must increase the material posses
sion OF some part OF the community. Now, II
be got possession Of the government tomor-
row. he could not create one single thing Of
value by any exercise Of governmental power
/ IN the world. No power ever yet exercised by
| tyrant OF by constitutional monarch can cause
barren field to become fruitful, can cause
1 two blades of grass to grow where one grew
before, can bring together the stones that COM
pose this building and raise them into state
| ly temple dedicated to political discussion.
/ No, IL requires the labor of man and the labor
Of man alone to create wealth.
Governments Cannot BE Generous.
| If Mr.. Bryan is going to enrich somebody
4 the thing which he means TO bestow on him be
must tako from somebody else. Who Is TO be
despoiled, and who is to be enriched by the ex-
ercise of this new scheme Of governmentY Gov
| ernment never can be generous, because IL it
be generous to one il must be oppressive to
another. But his financial scheme contem-
plates an increase in the price of certain com
modfties. We are coming now pretty close TO
the woodpie behind which the African is con-
eealed. Now. II everything in this world or In
this country. including labor. be increased in
value tomorrow In like proportion, not one of
us would be affected at all. II everything be
Increased 10 per cent in value. we would pay
10 per cent in addition for what we would buy
and get 10 per cent more for what we would
sell and we would be exactly ~ the same
place we occupied before. Therefore it is fair
to assume that is NOS the lame and impoteni
conclusion which this Populist revolution con-
templates What then. is it2 II Is an increase
In the price Of commodities and allowing labor
to skift for itself II the price of commodities
DO increased and the price Of labor be left sta
tianary, why. that means a cutting down OF
the rate Of wages. II instead Of a dollar which
consists Of o given quaRtity OF gold equal te
| 100 cents anywhere in the world with the pur
chasing power Of loo cants, the laborr Is 4
be paid In dollars worth 50 cents each, why
be can only buy half as much with day
| wages as he buys now.
WAGE earners, Mr.. Bryan says, know tina
| while a gold standard rfses the purchasini
| power OF the dollar it also makes IL moro din
cult to obtain possession Of that dollar. The
know that employment is less permanent, los
| Of work more probable and re-emplcyInen
less certain. II that rRBans anything IL mean
that cheap dollar would give him more EN-
pfQy1nent, more frequent employment, NOR
work and q chance to get tre-enrploymeRt afte
he was discharged. II that means anything
lneaDs that II the laborer Is willing TO hay
his wages cut down he will get moro work
But a diminstion in the rate Of wages doe
not Increase the scope OF employment tn
| more abnndant the product the higher Ia
wages There cannot be an abundant produc
unlsss labor Is extensiyeiy employed. Mr.. Bry
| an would have you believe that prosperity !
1 advanced by cheapening the rate OF wages, bu
the fall In the rate Of wages always come
/ from a narrow production. and narrow pro
suction means there is little demand for labO
| in She market. when. after the panic OF 1874
the price Of labor fell 20 % cents day, it wa
harder TO obtain labor than when the rate o
|, labor was 81. and the difference between th
Populist who seeks 70 cut down the rate @
waees and the Democrat who seeks 20 protec
, | 81 Is that tho Democrat believes that hip
! woges and prosperity arc synonymous. an
, | the Popuist wants 10 cut the rate Of wages II
! | order that ho may tempt the farmer to max
I | war upon his own workingmen.
Says He Is After the Creditor.
Mr.. Bryan leads the van in saying that il /
the creditor he is after. In order that 20
should understand just how change in tn
standard OF value enables menlto cheat thei
creditors you have to consider the functo
| which money plays In measuring debts. II
had paid $40 for ten yards Of cloth to be de
nvered 70 me- next week and in the intern
: the government should pass law declsfin
= | that herenfter the yard measure should COZ
. sist OF IS inches and that all existing contract
D should be settled In that system of measure
. would be cheated out of half the cloth fo
j. which ] had paid. II, on the other hand,
+ owed a cloth merchant for ten yards Of clotl
T which ne had delivered to me and which wa
e payable next week. and in the meantime th
i | government should change the standard
y value and cut down the unit of coinage on
u half, then would settle that debt with s., an
, the cloth merchant would have been cheate'
1 Now, the Populist loves to say that the cre'
l. itor is person who oppresses tho westei
y farmer. The creditors of this country are NJ
IS the bankers; they are not the so called capita
7 lists; they are the laborers. and it is at the e
2 pense of labor that this charge is made. n
lahorer Is always q creditor for at least oi
j. days work When any man can show me a I
j. borer who has been paid In advance for
l. days work. j will show him "a laborer who
4 a debtor. The laborer, by the very law of
d being, must be a creditor for at least one day
D. work and is generally a creditor for week
s. work OF two weeks work. Every great indu
e trial enterprise has for its chief creditors
l. own laborers. The heaviest account in evei
e department Of industry. whatever it may be,
!; | always the wages account.
10 The pretenso that the farmer Of Nebraska
n suffering under the weight Of a mortgage co
Is tracted under a metal which has steadily !