The times. (Owosso, Mich.) 1882-1897, 1896-10-09
OUR COUNTRY'S HONOR.
Watts s. Humphreys Powerful Plea
For It..

Watts s. Humphreys Powerful Plea
For It..
BY far the most pleasing and convincing
political speech heard in Owosso this year
was that of Watts S. Humphrey, of Sagi-
nav, at the armory, Monday evening. 1t
pleased everybody and even the strongest
silverites are unable to refute the stateme nts
made by him, and the conclusions drawn.
Could Mr.. Humphrey speak to every voter
in this county there would be verta-
BILE landslide for sound money and national
honor. Despite the rain and cold the
armory was filled with voters and interest
ed ladies, when James Osburn introduced
the speaker. Mr.. Humphreys m amer is
easy and his voice plain, and his convinc-
ing way of talking makes his audiences
friendly on the start.
He said that it was high privilege and a
solemn duty every citizen had to perform in
casting ballot, and the meetings were
necessary that everyone might get the full
est knowledge possible on the questions at
who supported the dangerous principles ad-
vocated by the opposition as stated by Bry-
an, was a lunatic, a fanatic, or repudia-
zionist, nor an anarchist, populist or a
vo!urionist. Most people are honest in
their beliefs and If they vote wrong do it
from ignorance. The duty of speakers was
to instruct the people; If they state the
truth, let the people judge from it; if they
speak untruths they do an injury to them
selves, to their hearers and to their country.
His statements he stood ready to prove, his
opinions he submitted for the calm judg-
ment of all who might hear. The question
which seems paramount was that of money.
1t bad three functions-frst, as a medium
of exchange for the products of others, used
old; second, as measure of values, every
thing being valued in money; third, as
standard for future dealings. If man de-
sires to build house everything is estimat-
ed in money and that money must express
the same amount Of value when the work is
done. Money has two values, first its
purchasing value;. second, its rental value
expressed in interest. 1t cannot be meas
ured as other products. The price of wheat
is regulated by supply and demand and is
consumed, while money is never consumed
and its value is the same. 1t has two pow
ers, debt paying and purchasing; the debt
paying power can be regulated by law; the
purchasing power congress can not increase
or decrease; one person has the goods,
another the money; If a price can not be
agreed upon each keeps what he has, no
power can compel man to sell; when we
desire to purchase we must haye something
everybody will accept; different things, to-
bacco, skins, furs, shell, iron, grain, and
many other things haye been used, but now
gold Is the standard of value the world oyer.
Money is coined by the government and
has been the cause of much trouble. Kings
have been overthrown and governments de-
stroyed through attempts to debase 1t; first,
by making coins smaller, then by debasing
it by putting in less of the fine metal and
more alloy. The financial plank Of the
Chicago platform is as much an attempt at
debasement as though they proposed to re-
duce the fineness of the coin. Unless the
government stands back of every coin used
1t Is of less value, as shown by the past,
that when the confederate would win in the
civil war then paper money was of more
value, when they lost it went down in value
as did the great banks of the U. s. govern
ment when they won and lost. The sOlidity
of the government and its promise to re-
de ,m the greenbacks was what made them
of any value.
Much has been said shout these hard
times and the cause has been claimed by
some to be the demonetization of silver by
the government in 1878. If that was so
why had not England hard times, and why
was money so cheap there-the interest
rates being two and three per cent All
the civilized nations of the earth were on
gold basis except half-civilized Russia, and
she was now preparing to go on the gold
basis. The people had demonetized silver
and not the government. 1t was good in
business only for change, as shown by the
fact that If a person had a $50 bill and were
offered 10 and one half silver dollars in
change when buying fifty cents worth of
goods they would not take 1t, but demand
bills or gold. There is less than $1.92 per
capita in circulation, not because there is
not enough coined, but because the people
did not want it and would use but limited
quantities of 1t, and 1t is further proven by
the fact that the U. s. government, by law,
instructed the treasury officials TO send
silver to any part of the country and pay
the express charges If people would take it
and use 1t, giving of course, bills or gold in
exchange. 1t would be useless to keep on
coming the stuff when people would not
uss it, for vast proportion of 1t must lay
In the treasury and depreciate in value.
Now the people were asked by the free