The Columbia herald. [volume] (Columbia, Tenn.) 18??-1935, 1896-10-30

want to call your attention to an
other thing before taking up any
discussion of any particular phase Of
the money question. | want to re-
call what you read in this mornings
paper that the rate of interest had
been raised per cent. by the Bank
of England. The rate Of interest
there now is per cent. 1t has been
raised per cent. within six weeks.
The Bank of Germany has raised
the interest to per cent. and the
Bank of France has refused to sell
gold. I call your attention to these
facts because my friends, [ cannot
understand how anyone could fail to
see the significance of these things.
Small Stock of Gold. MA
Our opponents tell us that gold
offers a safe foundation for an inter-
national money. They tell us that
gold alone is good throughout the
world. l want you to understand,
business men of Peoria and Illinois,
that this rise in the rate of interest
in England and in Germany and the
action of the French bank, all these
things indicate, 1 think conclusively
prove, that the stock of gold
throughout the world is so small
that the nations of the world are
grabbing to get their share. What
has created this special demand? 1t
is not hard to find the cause. The
financiers declared that it would not
do to have another bond issue in the
United States during this campaign.
1t has been decided that another
issue of bonds would be an object
lesson which they could not afford
to risk and therefore the fnanciers
of New York went to work to supply
the Treasury with gold to tide it
over the campaign and when they
found it was difficult they appealed
to foreign financiers who were inter-
ested in fastening the gold standard
permanently upon the American
people, and these flnanciers aid in
the plan and as gold left Europe, as
gold came to us from England, the
people there began to feel the efforts
of its departure and the Bank of
England raised the rate of interest
and stopped the flow of gold to the
United States, and Germany had to
protect herself and France has to
protect herself.
Constant Peril.
And thus, my friends, this one
little agitation proved to the people
of the world that so long as gold
was our money there must be con-
slant agitation, constant peril to our
commercial fabric, as the gold goes
from one nation to the other. Our
gold goes abroad and then we be-
come agitated and we must either
issue bonds to bring that gold back
or else we must lower prices to bring
the gold back that way. These are
the two only ways in which our
stock of gold can be replenished. If
we become short of gold and issue
bonds we simply postpone the evil
day because we must pay these
bonds back. and pay interest on the
money while we have it. If, on the
other hand, instead of issuing bonds
we lower prices, we simply drive
down the value Of our exports below
the cost of production and throw
upon the producing masses of this
country the burden of maintaining
the gold reserve. I want the bust
ness men of the nation to see in
this agitation that is extending
throughout the world an evidence
that the commerce of the world is
built upon foundation entirely too
narrow to support it.
Neck in the Moose.
1 have used this illustration that
no man would care to put his neck
into loop and let some unknown
hand off in the darkness hold the
end of the rope and not knowing
what moment the rope would be
pulled. My friends, that is our con-
dition to-day. We have our com
mercial systems built upon little
pile of gold and foreign powers and,
foreign financiers hold a string to.
that gold and they can disturb all
the commerce OF this country when-1
ever they want to by jerking the
foundation from under our system.