The Green Forest tribune., 1896-10-15
HENDRix'S WITTY SPEECH.
Ae Makes a Humorous Speech on Money
to Morocco Manufacturers.


to Morocco Manufacturers.
The Shoe and Leather Reporter pub
fishes the following speech made b,
Hon. Joseph C.. Hendrix at the Dime
of the National Morocco Manufactur
ers' association of the United States a
Manhattan Beach early this month:
Mr.. President and Gentlemen: I an
glad to see you, ''men of small brain
and large capital" I am glad alway
to face successful men in an American
industry. You represent trade whicl
money instrument There was leather
money once and plenty of it. You have
never set up any cry because of the de
monetization of leather, never asked
redress for the Crime of the abandon.
ment of the use of leather as money
You do not now ask for it's remonetiza-
ton.
Mr.. Stein-Nor for free tannage.
Mr.. Hendrix-No! Therefore, have
great respect for two people, the North
American Indian and the morocco man.
ufaeturer. Along these sand dunes from
Manhattan to Montauk point the anti
quarian can point to great heaps of
shells where the old squaws used to sit
and practice the free coinage of wam-
pun. After awhile a smart Yankee in
vented turning lathe which trans
formed the clam shells into money too
fast. This led to the demonetization of
the Long Island clam. Naughter.) The
poor Indian has passed off to the plains
and we hear no more of the free coinage
of CLAIMS.
These are simply evolutionary steps.
You look back to the beginnings of
your industry and marvel at the
changes. The world advances. Civili-
zation refnes. Commerce requires ex-
act terms and measures. IT insists upon
certainty, fixity in the standard of val
ues. It must have something upon
which it can depend. It has found out
that it must depend upon some one
thing. That is why it has veered to the
single standard. It has quit stepping
makes its election. It votes for gold be-
cause of its great value in small compass
and because of the fxity of that value
So it is that one great nation after an
other. under the command of its best in
telligenee. has come to the gold stand
nrd. Tt is because they have found it the
cheapest. best and most effective stand
ard by which no measure all values.
What does standard mean? What is
it's primary signiiicance9 Tt comes from
an old Latin word meaning something
to turn to. When you are in doubt you
gro to the standard. I don't care what
line of business YOU are in or what
course in life YOU pursue. a standard
governs It somehow or other. You ride
on a. railway on a standard Tauoe. you
sit at tab1a Of standard height. and
so on through the list The standard
must be the thing it stands for. IF YOU
hive a standard of WEIGHT. it may be of
diamonds or precious stores. but it has
got to have weight-that is the first
thing. If you have a, standard Of length,
It must have length And when yon
come to the question of the standard of
vallle. whatever it is made of it has got
bo have value.
You can talk about the whole ques-
fion of finance in 100 different lights.
But this is the main point-vou must
have standard of value. That stand
ard must have value. We choose for the
standard the metal which f1uctuates the
least in value. Thatis the whole story
Of the gold standard. [Cheerss1
Our friends ont in Chicago claim that
the gold standard is Pritish policy
which we are seeking to enforce In this
countrv Did YOU ever hear anything
about British policy in connection with
the law of gravitation or a British nol-
lev of good health against bad health
good clothes against Ff,oddy? There
are other countries IN the world besides
Great Britain We do not have 10 look
10 Great Britain to know what is good
thing. TGreat applause.) We are old
enough and big enough to krsn.w a good
thinn when we see It, Ours is a coufi-
try that for GO years has been under the
gold standard. You have never kpown
anything else. XII YOU have was built
upon the gold standard. The greatness
and development OF this country have
been attained under that. stendar1. How
is the world lining up on this. question:
China, Japan and Mexico are for free
silver Great Britain, Germany, Francs
and the great empires Of Europe are for
gold Where do we belong? There Is
only one answer. Can anyone fapcy
that our great population, MADE mp Of
70.Co0o0o of the best .exampies Of the
Anglo-Saxon race, mixed with Irish wit,
Scotch cunning, German thrift. h go
jng to step from the high plane where