The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1896-09-27

Give Mr.. Long the Skinning That Wa
Expected and Looked For-Both OF
Them Were Dienified In Their Debate
Long is Said to Have Converted Many
to the Gold Side.
The third of the series Of joint debates
between Long and Simpson, candidates
for congress in the Seventh Kansas dis
trict, was held yesterday at Wellington.
The best of feeling prevailed. The two
men were in the best Of spirits and the
contestfrom start to finish was a contest
| Of intellect discussion of issues. Mr..
| Simpson is an antagonist who is alert
and quick at repartee, but he is clearly
not Longs equal as a public speaker.
| OF this there dS no question. Even the
Populists concede that as an orator Mr..
Long has the advantage of Jerry-but
they say it is the lawyer against the
farmer. They knew this before the de-
| bate begun In the contest If oratory
is with Long how about the argument?
| Simpson opened the debate by saying
| We are called regulators because We
want to pay our debts in deprecated
| currency. We contend for an honest
dollar. He proceeded to outline what
is an honest dollar. He argued that
the number of dollars in circulation com
pared with the demand for dollars regu-
late the value of the currency; that his
opponent takes the ground that value
of the dollar depends upon the material
of which it is made
1t is noticeable that Simpson argues
that the number of dollars in circula-
ton in proportion to business and popu-
lation and not on population alone. This
is marked modification of the percapi-
Ia circulation theory.
Simpson assumes that gold is appre-
Chatting puts his argument on the ground
that an increasing dollar is a dishonest
dollar and bases his whole case upon
this proposition. Currency ought to
keep pace with business, but in order to
overcome the argument that circulation
has increased percapita his reply is that
business has increased. But if bust
ness has increased where comes so mach
complaint against the existing money
standard? To prove the point Mufhail
is referred to to prove that population
has doubled and business increase l 900
per cent An effort is made to snow
that the currency has been contracted
by bank reserves SO that the actual cir
culation IS less than the treasury re-
ports would indicate.
From this he commended that we have
a shrinking volume of currency and fall
ing prices; that the gold standard has
been costly in the way of bonded debts
under the Cleveland administration and
uhaItin the interest Of England is due the
condition of this nation.
In the effort to prove that some ma
ton had proven bimetaIlism a success
had given double coinage and circula-
ton he came back to France, claiming
that France had maintained the coin
age and circulation Of both metals and
TO anticipate the reason for Frances
action in increasing her free coinage, he
said Germany mad closed her minis to
silver and attempted to throw it upon
France and she rebelled and closed her
minis, from patriotic and not financial
reasons France did it; we can. We
can do it by taking all the silver that is
offered at s1.29 per ounce, this will fur
nishan unlimited demand which would
raise the price of silver. He argued the
farmers are 1aborers, their products
their wages, and whatever would raise
their price would benefit them. The
most rema rkable statement was that
unlimited free coinage of silver would !
not drive out gold but that gold being |
the sole standard would go out and pro- !
ceeded to take a vote of the audience to |
prove it.
Long received a great ovation when |
he rose to reply. He appeared to splen- |
did advantage and after a little prelimi- |
nary he went to the question as issue |
He said he was unable to understand /
Mr.. Simpson. who didn't believe that |
free silver would drive out gold. but who )
argued that gold had already been |
driven out. He then proceeded to ex-
plain in the clearest manner free COIN !
age--contrasting ii with government /
coinage. Free coinage is private-gov-
eminent is public-one coins the metal |
and returns the coin TO the bullion holder
and the other buys the bullion and puts /
in circulation the money on its own ac-
count.
Government coinage is upon the faith |
of the nation and is the only means vet i
devised whereby both coins have been !
kept in circulation-this is the test from /
experience and a minute of experience
Is worth month of prediction. He
said that his opponent had failed to
prove that any free coinage nation had /
gold and silver in circulation; that he |
had even retracted what he said about
Mexico in that she Disseminated against |
silver at hep custom house. to establish
a reason for her two kinds of money and |
that he had not yet attempted to reply
to his question. How il happens that
we have more silver percapita now than
We ever had under free coinage Of both
gold and silver. He showed that the
staterentthat the amount of money in
circulation fixes the prices by citing
Frances sS5 per capita; Switzerland's
SO per capita, in which prices are the
same. He showed that agricultural pro
ducts were higher from 1850 to 1890 than
between 1910 and 1850, and cited Bryan
70 prove that prices had declined on
many things through the agency of in
ventions and lsbor-Saving machines. He
contended that the importation of live
stock under thu Wilson bill had affected
the price OF live stock in the southwest
and that as the per capita consumption
of wheat had fallen off about two bush
els this had affected enc price OF wheat
In reply 20 the example OF France
the ratio. Long cited not only
the French monetary commission Of 1867
that the coinage ratio had not controlled
rhe commercial ratio; that gold went 10
R premium and out OF circulation till
1889. after which silver was at a prem
iJsn and went largely out OF circulation.
He also cited the statement of the
French minister OF finance OF 1876 TO
show that the matter in France had
bsen under consideration since 1857: that
the gold standard had been growing in
favor: that the change in silver opinaza
was deliberate; that France was con-
vSnced thai she had not maintained the
Nornrr,ar rial rarfn and that 70 o,r.l