The Somerset herald. [volume] (Somerset, Pa.) 1870-1936, 1896-09-30
SOUND MONEY TALK.
Bya Practical Business Man Of New
York.

The following address by Freeman
II. HuddIe, a prominent merchant Of
New York, is such a complete refuta-
ton of some of the sophistries INDUCED
i'm by candidate Bryan, that we
puhlish il for the information of the
readers of the HERALD:
"The capitalist and the banker,
whose uninvested wealth lies idle in
their vaults, drawing neither interest
nor dividends, are no more in the posi-
ton of their choice than is the work
ingman whose hands are nervously
folded across his knees What will
bring prosperity TO them will bring
employment Ia labor, and when labor
is employed at remuneTaiiye wages the
farmer never seeks in vain for profit
able market. Whenever capital Is
threatened or throttied the wheels Of
industry cease to revolve and the
workinginan's opportunity and the
farmers markets are gone.
Capital, labor, and agriculture are
essential parts of a harmonious whole
a. are the root, the stem, and the rip
ened grain of the farmers harvest.
Capital is the germ that, planted in
the human earth, takes root and sends
forth the tender stalk that nourishes
the grain at its summit and turns it
into gold. Labor is the root, agricul-
ture the stem and profit for all the
fruitage of the process, no part of
which can be omitted without destruc-
ton TO the plant.
''Who il willing to lend or invest a
dollar worth 100 cents while even n
possibility exists that only So cents
will be repaid. What farmer will not
hoard his grain if there is prospect
that there will be a rise in price? Has
he right to complain of the capitalist
refusing TO risk being robbed of half he
has? The gold standard has not para
lived the hand of labor or bereft the
farmers market of profit; but the
threat of a dishonest silver standard
has. The fact that the bullion value
of silver has fallen almost fifty per
cent. in ten years, almost twelve
per cent. since Bryan was nominated,
shows how difficult it is TO fix a ratio
that will last even a decade, and ex-
plains the reluctance of other nations
to join in such an attempt.
"Bryan says the test of the value of
money is its purchasing power, and
that 'an absolutely honest dollar would
not vary I'm purchasing power, but
would be staple when measured by
average prices. Average prices of
what, when, and for what length of
time? The prices of all commodities
change according 20 the relations Of
supply to demand. according to the
distance of the market from the source
of supply, according TO the means for
transportation, and the methods of
production. When some are high
Others are low, and the lowest this
year may be the highest next. Gold
coin or bullion, the standard of all val
ues, recognized and accepted the world
over, will buy more of any article in
some places than in others.
"An expression that occurs with
4 great frequency in Mr.. Bryan's adj
dresses is the value of silver measured
by gold He might as well say the
length of anything measured 10y the
foot or the weight measured by the
pound. We measure everything by
the measures we have adopted and the
instruments we have invented for the
purpose, or with some equivalent
Gold is the accepted standard of value,
and all values are measured by it. sill
yer has and can have no value unless
it is measured by. the accepted stand
ard. A ham can have no weight un-
less il is weighed by our standard of
weight, and there Is nothing by which
we can compute length, breadth or
thickness except by the accepted
standards of lineal measurement.
at is said by the advocates of free
coinage that there is not gold enough
in the country to transact its business.
Neither is there enough of silver if we
should coin it all. If every business
transaction were transacted by an act
ual transfer of coin, there is not
enough in the world TO transact the
business of the Emitted States alone
Fortunately that fact was discovered
and remedied long before Mr.. Bryan
was nominated. A sound paper cur
rency and subsidiary coins are parts Of
the circulating medium of every coun-
try that adheres to the gold standard.
at il the demand for the products
of the farm and factory that creates
prosperity, not n plentitude OF the
means of measuring values. We
might as well expect an increased de
mand for cloths as the result of multi
l lIE tAr lINliurI
business activity through a larger num-
Der of coins to measure values. Mr.
Bryan may multiply measures until
doomsday without adding an iota to
the needs of the community for what is
to be measured. His statement that
gold is a commodity that the people
must buy with the products of their
farms or of their toll is ineXcusably in
accurate. Gold coin is not commod-
ity. Nobody needs or can use it except
rs a measure of the worth of other
things. To acquire it is TO acquire the
means of exchanging one commodity
for another, for its sole office is to
measure what is bought and what is
sold. 1t is means of facilitating
an exchange of commodities, but in
itself is no more a commodity than the
bnshel, the gallon, or the pound"
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