The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1896-10-25
REED AND LONG HONORED
Continued from First Page.)


Continued from First Page.)
cents on the dollar. Now, want to ar
que that question right straight home
to you. take il for granted that every
farmer here would desire to be at least
E1iddling honest. One of the judges in
the state of Maine years ago, when he
saw the attorneys in front Of him steal
ing the papers and otherwise misbehav-
| ing. said to them very solemnly: Cen
tlemen, in the experience Of long life
1 have found that ii was best to be mid
ding honest Gaughterl I suppose
that ii you farmers want 10 pay off your
debts at half price you want still TO
be middling honest. daughter) What
is the ground on which they tell you it
will be honest for they do not dare to
come to you and propose to you that
you shall be scoundrels. They only try
to make you think that you will be hon
est when you do 1t.
THE CRIME.
"And what is the basis? Why, they
say that gold has appreciated ever since
lS73-that it was appreciated 100 cents on
the dollar. Right at once? Oh, no,
gradually; it has gone up slowly and IL
has taken twenty-three years 10 do it
Now, il one Of you run in debt in 1873
you would be entitled to that entire ac-
erection, according to their arguments,
would you not? But Is there any man
in this audience who has a debt that is
twenty-three years old? If he has. 1
would Ike to have him stand up, for
want TO see man who has got the con-
fidence of the community so great that
he can continue the same debt for TWEEN
tythree years. daughter and applause.)
The truth about it is that there is not
one Of you that owes a debt that is more
than four years old, ana you are going
to pay the whole 80 per cent instead of
your little one-sixth Of it Well, now,
that is not being middling honest.
Naughter.)
THE GROUNDS OF HONESTY.
"Now let me tell you another thing;
Honesty has been established not only
by religion but by the experience of the
world That Is. men call things honest
which by experience have been proved to
be profitable; that is in addition 10 the
Lords sanction. Uaughter.) Now you
propose TO engage in transaction which
is not honest, and how do you suppose
you are going to come out Of il? AS
said to the people of Springfield, Mo-,
you'd better be careful how you dabbie
with dishonesty. for whoever sups with
the devil had better have a very long
spoon. Uaughter.3 Let me tell you
what win shorten the handle OF your
spoon in that transaction. You scale
down your debt one-half; you have got
the other half to pay. Now how do you
get most out Of your farm? You get the
most out of it whenever the whole nation
of the United States is at work. When
business is brisk your income is the best.
WET BLANKET POLICY.
NOW, what would be the effect of
repudiating one-half your debt? Why,
it would be wet blanket upon the en-
tire business Of the country, and there
would be many times when you would
wish you had the whole debt to pay,
and prosperous country to help you
pay it. (Appiause) Don't be short
sighted. 1t pays to he honest. Not only
because it is religion, but because it is
money in your pocket, besides. Why a
western man should want to repudiate
1 can't comprehend. The power to bor-
row is worth more to you than ten times
the debt you owe. You have a country
that needs developing. You have to
have men and you have to have money.
You can't get either If you do that.
MAKING 1T PERSONAL
LET us put this down to plain ques-
ton of common sense. Let us make it
are q great many men in this audience
who have either ten dollars in their
pockets, or could get it if they made a
strike for it. I want to ask any man in
this audience If he has ten dollars and
man should come to him and say: L
want to borrow that ten dollars but /
am going to be honest with you to this
extent: / am going to try my best-I
and my Populist friends-we are going TO
try our best to pay that ten dollars with
a five dollar bill. Would you lend it
to him? Let any man THAI would lend it
under those circumstances get UP and
let us see him. Not a man. Now, if
you with ten dollars have that amount
Of sense, what would you think of a man
with a hundred? Don't you think he has
more sense than you have? Suppose he
has a thouSand-but 1 don't dare i'm
agine what man with thousand dol
lars would think, because 1 don't under
stand it. II he is your countryman he
will do the same thing.
Suppose he is a foreigner and has
not come all this distance and looked you
All Tue idCS. w sOU tull4h Ac VIII iciu yOu
any money? And il you can't borrow
any money how are you going to get on?
Mind you, this thing of borrowing money
applies 10 money in the United States
just as much as it does elsewhere. Why,
these fellows have frightened them 10
such an extent that money has gone up
the rate of interest has gone UP, to a
tremendous extent, because people are
hiding money.
WEST WOULD BE FOOLISH.
81 said TO you that it seemed to me thai
the western men were more distraugh
that anybody else if they went into u q
business. Let me tell you why. The
United States is a great magnificent
country; but it is not the 1.-THE OF what
It will be. Your children and mine viii
see this country so great that they will
marvel at our poverty. How is the
wealth of 6 country TO be brought out ?
By marrying labor and capital; by
setting ali the money and the capital at
work; by setting all the men ard women
at work. And we want more than our
capital We want everybody's capital.