Alma record. (Alma, Mich.) 1878-1928, 1896-10-16

value or tAat quantity l. % cents. ana You
present az the mint 80 cents worth of bullion,
you get back not gold dollar. but silver
dollar worth Just 80 cents. Nou might, instead
OF taking your bullion 10 the mint, sell it in
the market FOR just the same amount of non
ey. Indeed. bullion owners, unless they have
some special reason for taking their bullion co
the mint, Will take II 70 the market and sell
IL there, as they very extensively do ia all
countries in which there l. free silver coinage.
Why should they noti Because, II they have
their bullion coined, they get legal tender dol
lars for n. Why, II they sell II in the market
they got there legal tender dollars likewise.
1t will therefore be a mere question Of special
convenience whether they take il 20 the mint
or TO the market. And in the market, accord
ing 10 all human reason and experience, its
price viii, temporary fluctuations notwith-
standing, remain on the whole very near 20
the figure of the cost At which it can in large
quantltie, he produced. Mr.. Bryans strange
imaginings have therefore proved only that
when he speaks of government purchases Of
silver and fixing prices and creating de
nand greater than the supply, he simply does
not know what free coln@Ee ls
Every sensible person, / trust, win now adj
nit that free SILVER coinage IN the United
States alone viii make hinct.lllsnl, the equal
use of both gold ana silver as money, utterly
Impossible, here as Nau as abroad. IL WIZ
confirm Europe in Po!d recommendation and
condemn US t. silver Mouomctalil-m--th" *
cl1 We use OF sllvur - money and OF paper
silver men are really aiming at.
How Free silver VIII Work.
Let us now consider how 1t VIII affect the
various Interests of the people. The first
blessing we promised 20 how from free
coinage J. a general rise of prices. This means
that the silver dollar viii buy less than the
gold dollar did, and this for the reason that
II Is no longer worth as much a the gold dol
lar. Evidently the promise OF bimc tallism, OF
silver rising 10 its old price on the one hand,
and the promise Of higher prices owing to
less valuable silver dollar on the other hand
do not 60 together. The one or the other IL
fraud. OF course the fraud l. the promise of
bimetallism. The rise Of prices owing 10 the
dcbasemont Of the dollar Will begin at once
"a soon as gold departs and we Slip on the sill
yer basis. Bread Will be dearer: milk, coffee,
sugar, tea, meat, vegetables, will be dearor;
clothes, shoes and hats viii be dearcr; rents
furniture, coal kerOsene-in short, every ar
ticle the price Of which can be raised by the
seller
High prices are two edged sword-handy TO
the seller, but unpleasant 10 the buyer. They
press, of course, hardest upon those who
compelled to buy most in proportion to their
income or their earnings. And who are theyY
The poor people. What rich family spends
upon the actual necossarics of life, the indis
pensable food, clothing and shelter, Is very
little compared with its income. Most of its
expenditures go for things that are not ncces
chasing Of which may be suspended or post
poned without hardship. But the poor family,
the wage earner's family, Is obliged 10 spend
"a very large part Of its income from day 10 day
upon food, clothing, shelter at and light,
that cannot be temporarily dispensed with
without hardship. From rise in the prices
Of the necessaries of life the poor people there.
fore suiter by far the most
Where the Wage Farmer VIII Come In.
How stands the case Of the wage carners
tKhD hn ga1 in ri
Tomato 10 the debasement of tine Gollarf As
the dollar falls in value the manufacturer or
the merchant marks up his goods. The WORK
lngmun or the clerk finding himself hard
pressed by the rise in price of the necessaries
IF life. applies for "A corresponding increase
Of wages. The head Of the factory or the
mercan tile establishment admits that some in
crease Is called for. But, 80 says he, ''you are
not the only person in truublp. The value Of
our money u huctuatinR. We hardly know
what il Is tocay. We surely do not know what
IL will be next week. Profits are excessively
close anyhow. We make sale or purchase
today and think II Is at profit Tomorrow
We may find that IL was at loss. We hardly
venture 10 make contract 10 be filed at
future time, because We can make no safe col
culat.ons. We can increase your wages a lit
tie, but not much. For that you will have to
wait until things are moro settled Besides,
this silver free coinage has thrown all bust
ness into dreadful confusion, and there are
plenty Of people cut Of employment who
would do your work for less than you get
now And 50 the wage Garner has 10 be sat
ished with little increase of pay and wait for
more while the advanced prices of necessaries
prey l. ON INN.
l. this mere conjecture? 1t is the experience
of every country that has been cursed by
rise OF prices through money of huctuating
value. l defy any one TO show me in the whole
history of the world "A single exception. Have
we not, during our civil war, witnessed IL with
our own eyesf In 1852, when our lrredeemRble
paper currency had begun TO depreciate the
average wages of labor rose only per cent,
while average prices rose IS. In 1883, when
wages hud risen Ion per cent, average prices
were 80 per cent higher; in 1864 wages had
risen 2j5z per cent and prices COB: in 1865
wages had advanced % per cent and prices III
above what wages and prices had been in gold
in 1861 In other words, the laboring mans
wages had lost in purchasing power more than
~ cents in every dollar. Every country la
boring under similar conditions tells the same
story. What reason in the world Il there TO
assume that this universal rule Will not oper-
ate In the case of free coinage9
And what have the apostles Of free silver
coinage to say 10 thisY Hear Mr.. Bryan him
self in his famous New York grafton. "While
Il gold standard raises the purchasing power
Of the dollar II also makes 1t more difficult 20
obtain possession Of the dollar-cmploymcn
Is less permanent, loss of work more probable
Yes, all. Does not MIR. Bryan know that un-
der what was practically the gold standard
we had in the tfties one OF tho most active
| and prosperous periods this country has ever
SEEM Does be not know that more recently.
at the time OF the return TO specie payments,
we had under the gold standard years of sig
I ual prosperity with all hands at work. And
does he wish To learn what has been the
trouble since and what Ii the trouble now2
Let him ask the employers OF labor, and with
almost one voice they Will toll him that not
the existing gold standard, but the growing
Danger OF it's overthrow, that the growing az
gressiveness OF the free coinage movement,
filing the minds of men with anxious appre-
tensions as 10 dark future uncertainties has
served 10 paralyze that spirit OF enterprise
which sets the labOring man to work. Let him
study toe history of the crisis of 1893. Not the
gold standard, but distrust of silver destroy
ed the confidence that employs labor. This
Is the truth, and Mr.. Bryan Will in vain try to
deny II.
Debtor and Creditor.
| The free coinage mon profess especial solici
! tude for those whom they call 1.-THE debtor
! class VINO are the debtor class? our silver
! friends speak a. n, rule, the rich people
were creditors and the poor were debtors Is
this correctf In my household / am the debtor