The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1896-09-22

Where can you find a stronger advocate
Here IS what Senator Stewart said June
| IL. 1874. Laboring men. listen While L
Sir, the laboring man and the producer
| IS entitled to have his product ana MS Ia
| Dor measured by the same standard of the
world that measures your national debt.
| Give him such a standard. Give him money
| as you require from him You require 1t
| from the producer. You require from the
| laboring man gold to pay the interest on
| your national debt which is right, which
the national homer; but then give him the
same money with which to pay that debt
The question will never be settled uh 7 Il
the laboT1ng man is entitled TO nave goid
dollar if he earns it. or whether you are
going TO cheat him with something else
That's what we think now. The question
viii never be settled until 1t Is settied ,n3t
the laboring man who earns a dollar shall
receive it in gold or it's equivalent, and
not be cheated with something else.
III In 1876 silver had still been golng down Nh
Give us free coinage, they said we
compromised with them and passed law
requiring the government to buy S2O?o ooo
we would do that silver would come up to
a parity with gold at the ratio Of sixteen
down 9f in p Drt ld 1Sa mof thew came gan and
asked for free coinage. We compromised
with them again and passed a law requdirroo
ing the government to purchase 400 200
ounces every month to be coined into dol
lars. They said if we would do that silver
would come up to a parity with gold at
They were mistaken then, is Mt it probable
that they are mistaken now? Very proba-
BILE indeed. Under these two laws we nave
coined over 49,, 600, coo silver dollars, every
dollar of which is as good as dollar in
the kind of money we make when Uncle
Sam coins it on his own account. We had
only coned under free eona q e, IN nao egRrg
coinage gave US less than s9000,OO0 in
eighty-one years. Without free coinage we
got $433 900 in nineteen years.
EFFECT OF FREE COINAGE.
What would be the effect if we would go
to the free coinage of silver? Gold would
Immediately go out of circulation. Our
paper money which is now held up to the
gold standard would Immediately drop to
the value of silver. With no gold, our sill
yer and our paper Nancy would be worth
dollar for dollar only what the bullion in
silver dollar was worth, thus decreasing
their purchasing power about one-half:
This would mean a great contraction of
the currency, which could not be relieved
even with cheap dollars until the mints
could coin the silver dollars. In the mean
time ruin and disaster would necessarily
come to the business and industrial inter
ests of the whole country What would the
silver dollar be worth? No one can tell for
it would vary as the price of silver varied
Mexico says about the effect of free coin
age in that country. 1 want to read it to
you because II teaches a new kind of pro-
tection-a protection by free coinage of sill
Yer. Here it is: What is the effect upon
wages or the depreclating SILVER standard!
have not increased perceptibly. The same
is true of Japan, where wages are very
low. For this reason Japan and Mexico
viii in a few years be able to compete sue
cessfully with England and the United
States because of the silver standard and
Are we coming to that kind of protection?
Are we to pass a law by which manufac-
turers to be protected by keeping down
the price of labor? That is not the old
fashioned, William Mckinley, Republican
Hcan protection protects the manufacturer
and at the same time protects the laboring
than in any other country under the sun.
(Applause.)
Listen again. The Minister was asked:
What is, the ruling rate of wages for agri-
cultural laborers in Mexico?" And he re-
piled: Twenty-Five cents day. Do you
want that kind of protection and that kind
of wages. to enable manufacturers to com
pete with foreigners; (Cries of No
MOI No; give US the old-fashioned kind
that will bring back prosperity to all the
people.
/ want to show you how free coinage of
Who cannot fix the price what they
have to sell-the laboring man and the
on his hogs or his cattle his wheat or his
corn, showing what he with sell them for
when he goes to market. He must take
just what he can get for them in the open
market Neither can he keep over this
years croP I'll next yfsFf he mSst . sell it
boring man must sell his labor day by
Gay and week by week: to-day's work he
Garnet keep owed until tomorrow; he must
set, or lose it forever. He cannot save this
week work over until next week, nor one
years work over until another year If
you could do that you would have about
three years saved now. (Applause) Nor
can you fix the price on your labor: you
nay increase it by unired effort, but all
the time it will be regulated by the demand
for labor. Then these two classes the
farmer and the laboring man, viii be most
injured DV a deDroCi2ted and tiuctuatlng
currency. Do you want a fluctuating dol
tomorrow? That is what you would get
under free coinage of silver. Let see
how it fiuctuates in value In 1876 silver
other time in the same year q cents. a
difference of 20 cents. In rs 1t changed
ticn. In 81, from 81 to 50 cents; in 1885,
cents; in 1882, from a to 81 cents; in 1888
from 65 to 81 cents. This shows a varia-
tion of from to 20 cents in single year
What is the effect? The factory man.
when he starts the factory. says: Il know
know what it will be worth when l get pay
for what ! make, so | must figure down
safe on the possible fiuctuation of our sill
yer currency, and he cuts down wages
to 20 per cent, and the Worklngman must
take it or the factory viii not start. The
laboring man loses this amount on his
wages. Then go to the store and the ner
chant says. when 1 bought these goods
and put them on shelf L knew what !
silver money was worth but / do not know
what it will be worth when | get pay for
my goods, SO | must put UP prices in order |
to make good a loss of 20 per cent. He |
does it. and you lose 20 per cent. your
labor and 20 per cent. again when you go
to buy. In the same way the farmer viii |
lose when he sells his grain. and lose
again when he goes to the merchant to buy |
what he needs. No: what the laboring |
man of Anderson wants and is entitled to
is honest days work and honest |
dollar in pay for it, (ApDlauSe.)
RIAINE'S ATTITUDE
Our Democratic friends have been quot |
ing garbled extracts from Blaine, but I |
want to read you what that grand old |
man said about the wrong of free coinage |
when the silver in a silver dollar was |
worth 81 cents. The question before Con-
gress,' said he sharply defined in the /
pending House bill. is, whether it is now
safe and expedient to offer free coinage |
to the silver dollar of 41212 grains, with the |
minis OF the Latin Union closed and Ger
many not permitting silver to be coined as
money. AT current rates of silver, the free
coinage OF the dollar containing 4l21a
grains, worth in gold about s2 cents, gives
an illegitimate profit to the owner of the |
bullion, enabling him to take 90 cents
as coin and force his neighbor to take it
for full dollar. This is an undue. an I'M
fair advantage which the government has |
no right to give to the owner of the silver |
bullion. and which defrauds the man who |
is forced to take the dollar. 1t assuredy |
follows that if we give free coinage to this /
dollar of inferior value, and put it in cir