The copper country evening news. [volume] (Calumet, Mich.) 18??-1907, 1896-09-17

wage earners by tho thOuhands Will lose thelF /
and be turned into the street.
No class OF society will DO spared the de- 1
structive consequences. Every frightened
creditor pressed by his own creditors and APP
prehensive OF a growing loss by every days |
delay. will eagerly pounce upon his debtors.
The prompt settlement Of every account will |
be pereinptorily demanded. Our farmers who |
have mortgages ON their property and who
have been told that free coinage Will make
things exceedingly easy for them will have
some unexpected experiences. Every mortgage
debt that il due will be quickly called IN. The
mortgageor who tries TO have his bond extend
cd will find an unwilling ear. He who seeks
90 borrow money in order 60 replace the old
mortgage with a new one will be told that this
Is no time for loans, except. perhaps, upon ex'
orbtant conditions. The mortgageor may find,
too, that his bond IL payable In gold coin, and
he will have TO buy the gold ut the premium
then ruling. Foreclosures will be the order OF
the day. The mortgageor who seeks shelter un'
der the laws delay will at any rate further
burden his property with the cost OF legal pro
ceedings. Everywhere anxiety, embarrass.
ment sacrifice. loss and distress, even before
Mr.. Bryan could ascend the presidential chair
Bryan's Bimetallism.
After five or six months Of such deadly
crisis. Mr.. Brysn's extra session Of congress
would begin and give us free coinage. Then
as Mr.. Bryan solemnly promised US In his
great New York GRAFTON, free coinage will give
US bimetallism, bimetallism will give US an
abundance OF money, and all Will be right.
Bimetallismf What IL bimetallismp IL Is q
monetary system in which the two metals cir
culate together for all the purposes of money
on "A parity with each other upon a fixed legal
ratio which in our case is 10 to l. Evidently
to have bimetallism gold must be on hand
As well as silver.
How will Mr.. Bryan get the gold back from
the money powerY Evidently he must offer
an inducement? What inducement? To be
,t,,ta xt,fI hsa tn
silver. But who will offer gold bullion to have
IL coined into dollars for circulation when he
can have silver dollars with the same legal
tender power at half the pricef Only an idiot
would do that. OF course, gold will be offered
only when the silver dollar is up again to the
gold standard. There is the rub. But here
Mr.. Bryan steps In with a theory which Is a
curiosity in statesmanship. He said in his
New York speech: Amy purchaser who stands
ready to take the entire supply OF any article
at a certain price can prevent that article from
falling below that price. So the government
can fix price for gold and silver by creating
demand greater than the supply" And
again, "When "a mint price IL thus established.
II regulates the bullion price, because any per
son desiring coin may have the bullion CON
verted into coin at that price, and any person
desiring bullion can secure 1t by melting that
coin"
Would he Silver Recommendation.
whatf Is this to mean that under free coin
| lion and pay a certain fixed price for 1t? IL
| 90, then Mr.. Bryan, the great free coinage
apostle, does not know what free coinage Is.
| Let us remind him. II means that the owner
of silver bullion may take IL TO the mint and
| have it coined and returned to him in coined
| pieces, 80 many dollars for so much weight Of
| pure silver. IL does not mean that the govern
| ment "stands ready to purchase the entire
| supply Of silver at n certain price" The gov
eminent does not purchase single ounce OF
| IL. Ii merely receives the bullion. stamps IL
and returns 1t. And to fixing q price, as
| soon as the government stops holding up the
silver dollar to the gold standard, as 1t would
with Mr.. Bryas's election, the silver dollar,
| measured by ~ purchasing power. will be
/ worth not cent more than the market value
/ of the silver contained in 1t. II the market
| value of that quantity Is 30 cents, and you
| present at the mint 80 cents worth OF bullion,
| you get back, not q gold dollar. but a silver
| dollar worth just 80 cents. You might, instead
| OF taking your bullion TO the mint, sell 1t In
| the market for just the same amount of non
| ey. Indeed, bullion owners, unless they have
some special reason for taking their bullion 70
the mint, will take 1t to the market and sell
| IL there, as they very extensively do in al
countries in which there Is free silver coinage
Why should they notp Because, II they have
| their bullion coined, they get legal tender dol
lars for it, Why, IL they sell IL in the market
they get there legal tender dollars likewise
Ii will therefore be mere question OF specia
convenience whether they take it to the mini
or to the market. And in the market, accord
| ing to all human reason and experience, III
| price will temporary fluctuations notwith
| standing, remain on the whole very near x
| the figure OF the cost at which it can In large
| quantities be produced Mr. Bryan's strang'
| imaginings have therefore proved only tina
| when he speaks Of government purchases o.
| silver and fixing prices and creating a de
| mand greater than the supply. he simply doe
| not know what free coinage is.
Every sensible person, trust, will now ad
| NIT that free silver coinage in the United
| States alone will make bimetallism, the equa
use of both gold and silver money, utterl!
| impossible, here as we'll as abroad. IL VII
| confirm Europe in gold monometallism ant
| condemn us 10 silver ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ex
| based upon silver. No doubt this is what tn
| silver men are really aiming at.
How Free Silver VIII Work.
Let us now consider how It will affect tn
| various interests of the people. The frs
| blessing we are promised TO flow from fire.
| coinage is a general rise of prices. This mean
, | that the silver dollar will buy less than tn
| gold dollar did, and this for the reason tina
| IL is no longer worth much as the gold dol
lar. Evidently the promise OF bimetallism, o
silver rising to its old price on the one hand
and the promise of higher prices owing to
less valuable silver dollar ON the other han
; do not 20 together. The one or the other Is
| fraud. OF course the fraud Is the promise G
, bimetallism. The rise Of prices owing to tn
| debasement OF the dollar will begin at ono
| | as soon as gold departs and we slip on the s
, | yer basis. Bread will be dearer milk. coffee
sugar. tea, meat vegetables, will be dearer
clothes, shoes and hats will be dearer; rents
, | furniture, coal, kerosene-in short, every al
r | ticle the price of which be raised by tn
) | seller.
High prices are two edged sword-handy I
Il l.s. 20 t1eh ,,xy lac
r | press, of course, hardest upon those who an
compelled TO buy most in proportion to thei
| income or their earnings. And who are they
The poor people. What rich family spend
D | upon the actual necessaries Of life, the indi
pensable food, clothing and shelter, is yer
, | little compared with its income Most of II
r expenditures go for things that are not nece
saries and may be classed as luxuries, the pu
4 | chasing Of which may be suspended OF pos
2 | poned without hardship But the poor famil,
r | the wage earner's family, is obliged to spen
= | upon food, clothing, shelter, heat and ligh
|, that cannot be temporarily dispensed WI,
tho n
J. | fore suffer by far the most
a Where the Wage Garner Will Come In
2 How stands the case OF the wage earne
whose product can be raised in price propo
tionate to the debasement Of the dollarf a
Q the dollar falls in value the manufacturer
i the merchant marks uf his goods. The worl
> ingman or the clerk, finding himself haI
pressed by the rise in price OF the necessary
Of life, applies for q corresponding ipcrea
y of wages. The head Of the factory or Il
! mercan tile establishment admits that some q
crease is called for. But" says he, "you a
y not the only person In trouble. The value
8 our money Is fuctuating. We hardly kno
z what 10 Is today. We surely do not know VIII
q IL will be next week. Profits are excessive
y | close anyhow. We make sale or purcha
J, | today and think IL Is at profit. Tomorro
II / So. ,nav AID that AZ was at n losa We hard