The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1896-10-07
QUESTION FOR MR.. BRYAN

have since then made 2O7 speeches. some Of
them able, many of them eloquent, nearly
all of them adroit. You have SHOWN really
! extraordinary energy, courage and versatility
as a stump orator. You have displayed rare
talent if not actual genius in the making OF
phrases sure TO be effective with the unthink-
strengthened your position by your out
! spoken attacks upon the law.defying trusts
| and monopoles. But you have not al TEN pied
10 answer The Worlds questions. Two or
! three of them you have touched upon, but
! If you will pardon as for saying it-not Win
the definiteness and directness which their I'M
portance to the voters requires, We have
waited before pressing them further In the
hope that you would so discuss them in your
| last speech 10 the people of New YORK. In
this we have been disappointed,
again TO the three questions which have the
largest interest for Il majority OF the voters OF
New York? We have selected them because
Of their singular simplicity. They are neither
derstood by the least intelligent voters: ana
they are the questions OF largest erect upon
workingmens Is immediate welfare ana luture
condition.
1.-THE QUESTION OF SAVINGS.
The Worlds question to you on this subject
was rs follows:
You may be aware that there was last year
on deposit in the savings banks of this State
alone S7l5 ,032 s99. This enormous sum be-
longed TO l,7323s2 depositors, giving an aver.
the small savings OF the thrifty poor. Nearly
all Of IL has been deposited since the present
standard of value was adopted by the Govern.
ment. Do you think 1t fair or just to impair
by Al per cent, or by even / per cent. the
value of the money In which these deposits
were earned and in which to-day they would
be paid?
In your speech of acceptance you said in re-
ference to this:
. Much solicitude has been expressed by our
opponents for the depositors In savings
banks. They constantly parade before tnese S
depositors the advantages OF IA gold standard,
but these appeals will be in vain. because
savings bank depostors know that under the
gold standard there is increasing danger tnat
they will lose their deposits because OF tne
inability Of the banks to collect their assets
and they still further know that II the gold
standard Is to continue indefinitely they may
be compelled 10 withdraw their oeposlls 10
order TO pay living expenses.
Are YOU aware, Mr.. Bryan. that the saw
ings. .ba nix deposits in this State alone have IN.
creased s5s5S2Go since ne RESUMPTION Tns psndss o
were S299, ,074 ,6639 on Jan. l, lST9 They were
Sis. .O32, 500 on July l, 1896. You do know. be-
cause The World has published the fact, that
the savings-bank depositors in this State
more than the voters in 1892. You have
also been Informed that the number OF de-
positors In the savings banks of this State In
creased II ,955 in the past year, In spite of the
business depression. and that the amount due
depositors Increased SIS. .766,SS3 In that time.
This does not look, II you will excuse the
borrowed metaphor, as II SOUND, money ne
standard for the past seventeen years had
"cruci1ed labor on cross Of gold."
But that is not all.
Your words convey an intimation-we will
not say q threat-that II the savipgs-bank de-
positors object to receiving 5O.cent dollars
for the lO0.cent dollars which they earned aud
deposited they may get nothing. The I'm.
ability Of the banks to collect m theaF db,ass
stay laws passed by the States to prevent the
collection.
Is this fair9 Is 1t honest? There Is not
a mortgage held by savings bank 10 this
sumption OF gold payments In 1917. The
average life OF a mortgage Is only five years:
This means that every man who has borrowed
the only capital OF the poor except their Ia
bor-has received gold or it's equivalent. Is
1t dishonest, Is 1t oppressive, Is IT. unfair, ior
the prudent poor TO ask that they G De p paid IN
as good money as they lent? This ls what
they ask. II Is all they ask.
Have you really considered, MIR. Bryan,
what Is likely to be the effect IN state nav
Ing half a million more savings. bank depoSi.
tors than voterS-not to men tion the SS,IO9
pensioners, and the million and more share
holders in building and loan associations and.
benetciaries under life insurance policies. all
pay them IN deprecated dollars? is il rea-
sonable to suppose that thrifty workingmen
will vote to reduce by one-half the actual
value and the purchasing power Of their saw
ings and Investments?
The savings banks can only pay depositors
In such money as the Government compels
them to take from their debtors. You pro-
pose to have the Government compel credi.
tors to receive at par silver dollars now worth
but 81 cents, and to make q o provisions for
the 100cent dollars that were earned and de-
posted by the working people, as the law
now provides.
Really, MIR. Bryan, is II surprising that your
campaign managers have abandoned all hope
of carrying New York or any other Eastern
State?
1.-THE QUESTION OF WAGES AND THEIR
PURCHASING POWER.
On this subject our inquiry was:
The "rise In prices which you predlct as q
result Of free silver coinage would, OF course.
mean an increase in the cost of living to all
the people wage-earners, salaried men and
the whole body OF consumers. Do you know
of any case in which q rise In wages and Sala-
Is there any way to render 1t certain, or even
probable, that the wage-earners will be COM
pensated for the increased cost OF living?
The whole tenor Of your appeals 10 voters
at the West and in our own farming districts
is that the gold-standard dollar is too vau-
able-that 1t buys too much-that 1t makes
Qe0t-paylng 100 nard.
But II q cheaper dollar increases prices,
must 1t not also increase in like ratio the
cost OF living? If 1t makes debt-paying
easier, must 1t not chaat the creditor? The
two claims involve contradiction. Which
will you choose?
1t Is the burden Of your cry that under the
gold standard the prices of all commodities,
and especially the necessaries of life, are too
low. You insist that the purchasing power
OF this dollar is too great. Why did you not
last night tell the workingmen OF New Yrok
that their baskets Of provisions are really too
heavy on Saturday nights-that the bundles
OF warm clothing they may be able to buy as
cold weather comes on are actually too big?
II this is not what you mean, please explain
what you do mean? You surely cannot ex-
pect wage and salary earners 10 vote for
lighter market-baskets and smaller bundles
Of clothing on the chance that Liverpool will
consent ostensibly to raise the price OF farm
products, though in reality paying for them
in 50-cent dollars?
AS to the wages. you have wisely abandoned
the idea that they can be fixed by the same
fiat OF Congress which undertakes to make
81 cents worth of silver equal to a l0O-cent
dollar. You know that the Constitution
stands In the way, If there were no other OBJ.
stacles. In your speech at Manchester you
admitted the hard fact that 1.-The employer
never pays any more than he has to pay"
What he "has to pay'' is regulated by other
than statute laws. What he has paid under
an imitation of prices caused by cheap money
history records. From 1860 to 1866 prices ad-