The Princeton union., 1896-10-29
HON. JOHN DAY SMITH.

luRtn tnan as Lhe chief aim OF its policy.
Il II Pioneer Press. ....-- .@s
# HON. JOHN DAY SMITH.
He Talked to Large and Appreciative
l. Audience on Monday Evening.
t The opera house was comfortably
filled last Monday evening when Hon.
81 H. Chadbourne introduced Hon.
John Day Smith to the audience. On
the platform were seated Messrs. A.
", Woodcock, W. B. Carter, John
Ksaaliher, R. D. Byers, NJ. G. Sausser
apd several other prominent local free
silver men. Mr.. Smith commenced
his speech by stating that he was an
Old soldier, and that he considered
himself a lawabiding citizen and not
an anarchist or repudiationist. He
criticised the five to four decision of the
United States supreme court which de-
chred the income tax uncon-
sttutional. He was frank enough to
say that there were some things in the
Chicago platform that he did not en-
d0rse. He read the currency planks of
beth political parties and contrasted
them. Hepaid his respects to Messrs.
Palmer and Buckner, the nominees of
the national Democratic party, whom
he styled ''decoy ducks" and as
serted that they could not carry
county in the United States.
Gre eenbacks, he said, were good
enough for the soldiers, but not good
enough for the Wall street magnates.
He referred to the credit strengthen
ing act and the Stanley Matthews con-
current resolution. His assertion that
Harrison was wrong most of the time but
that Grover Cleveland was wrong all
the time brought down the house, for
every Intelligent man in the audience
realized that he spoke the truth. His
reference to the 2O0-cent dollar was
unfortunate. He said he could go into
any store in Minneapolis and purchase
double the quantity of commodities
with that Scent dollar displaying be-
tween his thumb and forefnger sill
yer dollar) that he could in 1873. If
his theory is correct, and we do not
dispute him, the dollar and a quarter
paid the common laborer to-day is
equal to So. SO in 1878, and the 70 cents
paid a farmer for his bushel of wheat
to-day is as good as $1.4O in 1878. At
the close of the meeting he candidly
admitted to the writer that the 2OO-cent
dollar argument cuts both ways. He
was equally unfortunate in attempting
to prove that the value of agricultural
lands had deprecated so per cent since
1878. AS a matter of fact the records
of the State land office prove by the
land sales held in over 40 counties of
the State for the fiscal year ending
July 81, 1896, that the average price
paid was 60 cents per acre higher than
at any time in the past 25 years. The
average price paid for over 1000 acres
Of school lands at the sale in Mile Lacs
county last June was more than $1,000
per acre. Mr.. Smith was undoubtedly
correct when he said the Sherman law.
which provided for the purchase of
4, SOC, 900 ounces of silver bullion per
month, was not the cause of hard times
in 1898. He said that it was not fair to
compare this country with Mexico
and he was right. But he did not state
that Mexico was now and always had
been on a silver basis. He ridiculed
the idea of foreign countries dumping
their silver coin into this country, but
said nothing about virgin silver. Some
of his hearers understood him to say
that this country produced three
fourths of the silver bullion. What he
said was that, this continent in
cludes the United States, Canada, Mex
leo and all South America produced |
three-fourths of the silver. The |
United States produces about one-third |
Of all the silver in the world. He also
said that England did not produce
enough silver to gild the brass on her
brazen face, but omitted to state that
colony, Australia, produced
immense quantities of silver. He said
that IS per cent Of the trade of this
country was transacted within the
boundaries Of this country, and later
on he declared that the price of wheat
was fixed by the Liverpool market.
He did not tell his audience that it
made no difference whether we had
the silver or gold standard. the