The Dakota chief. (Gann Valley, Buffalo County, S.D.) 18??-1913, 1896-09-17
THE L v QUESTION.
Rev. Theodore L.. Cuyler Discourses on
Its Moral Aspects.

Its Moral Aspects.
Unless / mistake the signs of the
times. the principle of universal suf-
fragc will be subjected to Il more severe
strain this year than at any previous
time during the present generation. The
ClVl wal imposed but II slight strain:
slavery was a sectional institution. which
went dow under the superior forces of
IN" Tree states; and the preservation of
the nations life appealed to all classes,
rlch or poor, educated or ignorant. The
hnmblest hodcarrier in an Eastern city.
and the toughest miner in a Western
camp, coulG. understand why the flag
should be fought for and the Rebellion
suppressed. The issues then were plain,
distinct and simple.
Inc great. burning question which is
to be submitted to the SURFACES of thir-
teen millions of voters this year is one
mat requires some study and intelligence
to comprehend it, and an honest con-
science to decide the moral issues in
VOWED. The currency question is far
more vital than high or low tariff. or any
policy towards foreign nations. 1t fixes
the value of every dollar that the shop
Keeper puts into his till. every dollar
that the housewife carries To market,
and every dollar that is put into the
contribution box on the Sabbath. Dis
honesty in the currency taints every
business transaction in the land. I'm
happily there is no question on which
there are more plausible Sophistries cur
rent and more demagogueish appeals to
unreasoning prejudice. The silver in
%tercst. also. is immensely powerful. and
ITS propaganda have Sown its Spccious
literature broadcast. There is hardly a
barroom or grocery in the South, or Il
saloon in the vast West. in which tracts
or papers cannot be found in advocacy
of cheap money" or the dollar of
our fathers" or ''thc poor mans COIN
or some kindred financial farragO. 1t is
not surprising that the free silver lun-
acy is widely extended and deeply seat
ed.
Politics and finance belong to the do
main of ethics. and there are some moral
aspects of this free silver agitation for
all good citizens. One of them is the
current delusion that there can be a dou-
bic standard of values. This is as alb
Surd and as immoral as the use of two
yard sticks in Il dry goods store, or two
kinds of a multiplication table in a count
ing room. Yet thousands of ignorant
voters i'll every Southern and Western
state are made to believe that both a
gold and Il silver standard are possible
and are desirable.
GU Another immortality connected with
this free silver crusade is the temptation
which it offers to the debtor class to dis
charge their debts in Il "cheap' currency.
1t is Il very attractive idea to il man who
is heavily in debt that he may pay off
his obligations in a dollar that is only
worth 10 or 60 cents. That the same
sort of deprecated currency may be
passed off on to himself does not seem
to enter his thick skull. An unstable
standard of values is Il constant inccn-
tive to dishonesty. 1t bases the credit
system on Il quicksand.
CD One of the worst features of free
silver d~emagoguery is its attempts to eX-
cite hostility between classes. According
to the lingo of these crossroads poll
t%icians. gold is the money of the rich.
the silver is the money of the poor Ia
borer: therefore. silver should be thrown
into the most enormous circulation. what
ever be its value. Whereas the most
cruel fact connected with this delusion
is, that under a deprecated currency and
in Il time of financial panic or depression,
the poor laboring classes are uniformly
the severest sufferers. If the reckless
experiment of Il free coinage of silver
should be carried out, and a widespread
panic should ensue, should not feel half
as much pity for the so-called "~gOldbugs
of Wall street as | should for the poor
negro on a cotton plantation or a poor
carman in the streets of st. Louis. If
ANYONE wants to see the incendiary at
temptS to array one class against an
other, let him read the recent address
of the Populists. issued from st. Louis
after the Republican convention had
wisely declared for the existing gold
standard. That address mingles it's culo-
gies of Senator Teller with the shame
less statement that the existence of IA
gold standard is ~ tyranny more grind
ing than th1t of cZDrS IN. nIlnprnrS and
that 1.-THE common people will be in no
better condition than that of the black
slaves before emancipatiOn!' During the
next four months We may expect a del
ugc of this misunderstanding nonsense
among the more ignorant classes in all
parts of the land. Universal suffrage
puts Il ballot alike into the hands of the
intelligent and the ignorant. of the wise
and of the foolish, and this fact involves
the necessity of the most constant. pa
tient and thorough enlightenment of the
masses of our cOuntrymen on the simple
A. Il. c principles of honest currency.
One of the most dangerous symp-
toms just now is the rapid spread of the
pOpuliStic hereSicS in regard to the
standard of values. the functions of gov
eminent, and the sacredneSs Of national
honor. These immoral ideas have in
fected many members of both the old
parties as well as become the cardinal
doctrines of the new party. We had
a melancholy exhibition of this in the
United States Senate when a senator
from North Carolina introduced a bill
that really involved the reputation of
national obligations. This measure was
denounced by Senator Hawley of Con-
n|ecticut as the most iniquitous and dis
graceful measure he had ever known 10
he introduced into that body" Yet this
same diSgraccful bill actually passed the
Senate. receiving the unanimous votes
of the free SilvcriteS in the Republican.
Democratic and Populist parties, That
the highest legislative body of our land
which once echoed to the lofty patriotic
%clouucnce of Clay. Webster. Wright.
Seward. Sumner and EdmundS-should
Stoop 10 snch an ignoblc t~ravcSty of lcgiS-
lation is enough to make every American
blush for his country.
W., boo. a prcat 1pol obout thn duties