The Roanoke daily times. (Roanoke, Va.) 1895-1897, 1896-09-11

There is another reason why gold dol
lars are growing in price. New nations
are constantly adopting the gold stand
ard. Japan comes next. China and In
dia are being forced that way. This new
demand is going to make the gold dollar
more and more valuable and harder to get,
unless this nation averts the danger by
changing our system to bmetallism
You ask if would debase our coinage
say no. Let us go back to the system
we had. 1t was sound then and is sound
now. BY Juggling law they have made
the dollar worth too much. The eagle on
the gold dollar is n shy bird. Wall street
traps have made such birds scary. You
and are not as agile as we were thirty
years ago. We can't fill our game bag
as we could, when half the birds are driven
away, and the other half fly twice us
high.
You have been shown lately that Amer
lean dollars are worth twice as much ms
Mexican dollars and are asked if YOU
would reduce our dollars to the Mexican
standard. l was in Mexico thirty years
ago and looking over late Mexican papers
find prices there now much the same as
they We're in 1866. The Mexican dollar
has neither gained or lost in purchasing
power. The farmers bushel of wheat
would about buy n Mexican dollar thirty
years ago, and it will about buy one now.
But the American farmer must give two
bushels of wheat to buy an American dol
lar to pay the bond holder who loaned
our government paper dollars then worth
only about half bushel of wheat. The
American dollar seems to be like a
watered stock. 1t is really worth no more
than it used to be, but YOU must nav
twice as much as it is worth to get it.
l would like to see the American dollar
| made as steady and as honest rs the Mex
lean dollar.
You have been told that free coinage
of silver will help the American mine
owner. Thank God for something that
will help some American producer. This
country produces less than one-fourth of
the gold of the world. All gold owners
have free access to our minis. This coun-
try can produce half the silver of the
world Give American silver mine own
ers Mt least as fair a chance as the foreign
gold miner.
We have been told again and again that
this cause of distress is overproduction.
Let farmers raise less wheat and they will
get higher prices. Let planters be thank
full for the drouth in Mississippi and Lou
isiana, for those who are not ruined will
get better prices for their cotton. This
is devilish doctrine! But how are we to
stop the overproduction of men which
, drives down wages? And where has been
duced the value of your farm? --sSs slst9
If overproduction brings down values,
| let us try an overproduction of money,
to bring that down within the reach of
! the common people. Let us try such
production of dollars us will bring their
worth to the par of coin ut the time we
/ incurred our debt. We can then pay our
| debt in dollars better than those we re-
ceived, and as good as we agreed.
| on have been told that no 1n1lnr
too good to pay our pensions. I say any
! dollar is too bad to pay our pensions which
| Is wrung from the suffering OF our fellow
| citizens. Make our common people pros
porous, comrade, and you and may
trust them not to forget us in our old age.
Let them be ground down much more by
poverty, and they will not have the abii-
lty to pay pensions, however willing they
may be. And if you depend on the mil
lionaires for your pensions, you will fare
as you did in the war. You got paper
! promises. \
You ask if we did not have prosperous
times under Harrison, for whom YOU and
voted. L say yes, we did. During most
| OF Harrison's administration this nation
coined more than five millions of new sill
yer dollars every month; and the paper
representations of those dollars have been
about all the money you and have seen
since. If our delegates AT st. Louis had
had sense enough to insist on something
as good as the Sherman law, we might
| see some hope ahead under Republican
rule. But it seemed as if the big monied
men had that convention in their breaches
pocket. They made platform for mil
iior@iTes, and left the common peonle ont.
/ The few millionaires not already on the
Republican platform are climbing on it
| now we have seen something of the
| tenderness of millionaircs for the common
! people, and especially for the old soldier.
I remember that paper was good enough
! Tor you and me when we were in the field:
| gold was kept for the bondholdtr.
The old Republican ship has been sur
priscd by pirates. They control the en-
glnes and the rudder. They can drive
her where they please. While they NAV
deceive some of the old crew as to their
character for while, they will make
you walk the plank when they get ready.
Three months ago these same pirates
We're abusing Major Mckinley like n pick
pocket Now they love him If didn't |
think they had captured the Major as we'll |
as the ship might still vote for the Ma |
lor, for | esteem him rs n man. But
these shylocks always get their pound of
flesh. If they haven't got the Major in
irons he is in bonds TO their platform.
They always control the outfit when once
they get n foothold
The st. Louis platform betrays your
trust and mine in that it make the nation
no longer a free and independent nation
we are Americans. Some of us believe
IL right to retrace our steps, and make
our coinage law just as it was in 1873
Our fathers made the law hundred years
ago without foreign consent. Must we
ask a foreign permit To do aoa;D x,,bot