The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1896-09-02

Now. If you viii be quiet for a while, /
will talk to the people on the other side
and come back TO you later. You have
been very patient. l hope others will do
as well as you have done. l don't know
whether | can keep track Of my speeches
OF not. / have been trying to tell those
other people some of the things which |
been here.
Now, you will find people who are
afraid of g flood Of silver. There is moth
ing that excites my sympathy more than
to find a man who never had enough
money in his life, who has not enough to
pay his debts and does not know where the
money is to come from to buy food for the
next week. There are some people who
have an idea that the free and unlimited
coinage of silver would in some way, they
know not how, bring ruin to this country.
Did you ever try to figure out just how &
man was going to hurt us by bringing sill
yer here? If not, suppose you examine the
situation and see whether you can find any
way in which you viii be injured. Let US
suppose that you had free and unlimited
coinage of gold and silver at the present
legal ratio of Is to l; then what? Why.
any person in the world owning silver
bullion could bring that bullion to our
mintS and have ii converted into full legal
tender silver dollars just like the ones that
you use to-day. Now, how could you DE
injured?
A BRYAN EXAMPLE.
Suppose some man made up his mind to
injure the American people under free
coinage; how would he do it? Why. he
would take this silver to our m-int-suppose
a thousand dollars of it, and have it coined
into dollars: then he would take these dol
lars out to hurt the American people with
them, and how would he do it? He could
take that money home and he would be re-
CURED to pay the cost of freight on it, and
he would lose the cost of coinage and lose
the freight both ways, and we could stand
it longer than he could. All, you say that
he would trade that silver for gold and
take the gold away and leave the silver.
Where would he get the gold? Would he
get it at the treasury of the United
under binetalIism the government does
not agree to swap, but under bimetallism
the government converts the silver bullion
into silver money and gold bullion into
gold coin and makes them legal tender
for all debts, public and private, But it
d9es not agree to redeem a gold doilar IN
plause.) So tina under bimetallism this
foreigner could not exchange his silver at
the mint for gold unless the government
was disposed to let him have it. Where
would he get the gold? He would have to
find somebody with the gold. He could not
hurt anybody by trading silver for gold
until he found somebody who had the gold
and that would let most of the people of
the United States out of danger.
In Illinois last year, in q debate, my
opponent was very friendly, and we called
speech he turned to me and said: Brother
Bryan, will you loan me a silver dollar to
Illustrate my argument; | haven't any.
When it came my turn | thought / would
try an experiment. and I said: Brother, I
want to use a gold coin to illustrate my
argument; L haven't any. VIII you let me
not have any. And then l called the at
tentiOn of the audience to the fact that l
was defending silver and had the silver,
but he did not have the gold with which to
illustrate his and he had just
told them that gold was the only good
money, but he did not have a dollar Of 1t,
and they did not have any of it. Well, now,
he would have to find somebody with the
gold, and, more than that, he would have
RI find cnp1nhn1xr with tho GOLD who was
willing to let the gold go. When would
the man who held the gold let the gold go?
Why, whenever he thought that silver was
better for him than the gold, and not until
then.
well, there is another way that he might
do. He might. instead of taking the silver
home. instead Of giving to US, instead of
trading to us for gold, he might trade it
to US for property. Whenever we have
anything to sell we are looking for a man
who has the money to trade for what we
have to sell and instead of being fright
ened, if he will just let us know when he
is coming with his silver to exchange for
our products we will meet him at the depot
with a brass band and escort him through
the town and show him where the property
is that he can buy. Have you ever heard
people say that it did not make any diff
ference how much money there was that
you could not get any of it unless you had
to sell? hat is very common
argument. Whenever anybody asks you
how much, unless you have sonnet ing to
sell, you ask him how you can get any
money at all, no matter how much you
have to sell. until you find somebody who
has the money with which to buy? OF
course you cannot get any money unless
you have something to sell; that is, ordi-
and have control of the finances of the
government you may sell credit and get
money
- SIMPLE PROCESS"
"a gentleman asked me last night how
this money could be put into circulation.
TGat m nv v,;pI ie 49, 80 ~ 80 o;o
pie of processes. Do you ever have any
trouble in getting your money into circu-
lation? Now 1 know from your conduct
that your trouble has been just like mine,
not as to how to get money into circula-
ton. but how could you keep it from get
ting into circulation? Now here is the pro-
cess. We have the free coinage of gold.
II any man produced gold from the earth
he can take that gold to the mint and
he can use that gold coin to buy anything
he wants. But he does not spend a dollar
of that gold coin without putting the mon
ey into circulation. 1t is not worth any
thing to him until he puts it into circulation
the countrys money, to be used in buying
all of the PRODUCTS of the toll. How about
silver? The process is just the same as
with gold. The man who owns a silver
mine produces the silver, but instead of
going to find somebody who wants to use
the silver to make spoons out of. he takes
IlihL OllN0I ~ llIC IliiIil Glld Ids l. OllN l.
ed into money and then that money is his.
to pay for the labor of producing the silver
and paying all of the expenses of mining
and whatever there is left over and above
that is his profit; but he cannot spend a
dollar of it without putting that into cir
culation. where it will be used to purchase
the products of your toll and the toll of
all who labor in the United States. Now.
that is where the money gets into circula-
ton.
Just a word as to money. There are
some people who have an idea that gold
has some divine attribute that makes it a
staple while all other things fiuctuate, that
makes it good while all other things are
bad. l want 30 say that a dollar is a
creature of the law. There is no such
thing as a dollar except the law creates
pay it with a lump of gold, while you can
pay your debt with a hog or a steer, if the
man who holds your note is willing to ac-
cept it. But money is. that with which you
can discharge your debt, whether the man
wants to accept it or not. Money is that
which the law creates and which the law
makes a use for. How are you going to
increase the volume of your money? There
is only one way and hat Is by legislation.
needed about $40. 000,0 coo simply to keep pace
with population and industry. If we
needed it then we need it now. and yet,
my friends, the Republican party is not
Offering you a means by which you can
brine into existence the money that the
people need to do business with. You cam
not feed an adult upon food sufficient for
a child. You cannot feed a family upon
the food sufficient for one person. Neither
can you supply society with money enough
to do business with unless that money
keeps pace with population ana with in