Birmingham state herald. (Birmingham, Ala.) 1895-1897, 1896-08-11
THE SINGLE GOLD STANDARD
TIE 0INdLE ZULU 0IANDAhU
Answer of Two Wall Street Pa
pers to Inquiring Goldbugs.
INTERESTING INDICTMENT
Real Danger It Has Brought About Must Be
Faced-The Free Coinage of Silver
Is the Remedy.

The Daily Financial News and Finan-
cial Record are two well-known Wall
| street newspapers, being devoted to
| financial matters, and having large cir
| culations among the business men in New
| York.
Harvey Fisk e. Sons are well-known
| brokers of New York, and they have been
| unusually active in behalf of the single
| gold standard. The firm is mailing.ci
| lars and documents to all parts of the
| country, painting in glowing terms the
| beauties of the single gold standard; and
these circulars are sent regularly every
| week to hundreds of newspapers
| throughout the country. A short while
| ago this firm of brokers sent circular
| letter to newspapers evidently address,
| ing the letter indiscriminately to adj
| dresses obtained from newspaper direc-
| tories
| This circular letter was sent to the
| Daily Financial News and the Financial
| Record, and the reply sent to MeSsrS.
| Harvey Fisk & Sons is well worth read
| ing. The letter appears below, and fol-
| lowing it Is the answer of the two news
| papers:
New York, July &c.
'sDear Sir: Will you be good enough to
| advise us, in view of the platforms
| adopted by the ST.. Louis and Chicago
| conventions, what position your paper
| mas decided to take in regard to national
| politics for this campaign?
I'VE are led to make this inquiry on ac-
| count of the changed attitude of many of
| our leading newspapers. an example of
| which will be found in the New York Sun
| in their leading editorial of July 10,
| copy of which we inclose.
| I'VE would be obliged, also, If you
| would send us copy of any recent issue
| of your paper in which you have an
| nounced the position you will take We
| inclose stamps in payment for paper re-
| quested, also stamped and directed en-
| velope.
| "An early reply will be greatly appre-
| ciated by Enclosure. Yours truly,
| HARVEY FISK & SONS.
"P. S.-Will you also be good enough
| to give US your estimate of the probable
outcome of the November election in
| your state, so far as the national tickets
| are concerned?"
| New York, July Is.
| "Messrs Harvey Fisk & Sons, "a Nassau
| Gentlemen: Your esteemed favor of
| the 18th instant asking us, in view of the
| platforms adopted by the ST. Louis and
| Chicago conventions, what position our
| papers will take in regard to national
| politics, is at hand.
| Replying to your inquiry:
| Both the Daily Financial News and
| the Financial Record are Wall street pa
pers. They have no politics and take no
| side, except in so far as politics directly
| affect finances, and particularly the
| value and safety of securities based upon
| debts of the country, public and private,
| incurred in developing our energies of
| production and exchange of commodities.
| For seven years past both of our pa
| pers have steadily advocated the full re-
| monetization of silver by restoring it to
| free and unlimited coinage at the existing
| ratio with gold. Such policy has
| seemed to us so clearly and absolutely
| essential to restoration of general pros
| perity, to return to surplus earnings for
| production upon which the safety of all
| securities depends, that we have held to
our course, though standing alone in this
| city and though encountering opposition
| often unpleasant and always injurious
| to our bank account. Now that the cause
| of bimetallism Is rapidly growing
| throughout the country, we, of course,
feel hopeful and encouraged to persevere.
| mot to infiict upon you any large
amount of reading matter. In response
| to your request for something from our
recent papers to show their course we
| cut paragraph from yesterdays paper
| from the discussion of the preceding
| days market by the Daily Financial
| News, in which we said:
| wall street deals in debts The phi
| losophy of debt Is very simple. When the
debtor is making money and can pay in
/ ltI6St IcuceHl PftuCipdl DIT
| investment in the labor of other men is
easy and reniunerative But when a man
/ or an Institution in debt ceases to earn
a surplus over actual and necessary liv-
| ing or running expenses there is nothing
/ left for the creditor, and the value of the
| debt vanishes. The man lives somehow
| The railroad runs just the same whether
meeting dividends on stock or interest on
/ bonds or only earning operating ex-
| penses. The roadbed, motive power and
| rolling stock go on with their work even
| If the securities become worthless. Wall
| street has had that lesson Illustrated a
| good many times. But there is deeper
| and broader lesson now enforcing itself
| upon Wall streets attention. and that Is
| that for nearly a generation the power to
! earn surplus by the country generally
| has been steadily running down and di-
/ minishing. That while this process of
| slowing down has been in progress there
| has been steady and accelerated growth
| In debt What Wall street needs to real
| ize is, not that the safety of this debt de-
] ponds upon a 200-cent dollar, or any other
| dollar above par-and this country will
| never have any below par--but upon the
| power of our 900 of people, with all
| their appliances OF every kind for produce
| ton and exchange, TO earn surplus
| enough--enough beyond the cost of living
| for man and of running expenses for ma
| chinery-to pay interest and meet prin-
cipal Power 10 earn the dollars, not the
! dollar itself, is at the bottom of the prnb-
| lem. Wall street Is beginning to feel the
| effect of the lost earning power of the
country. The man and the railroad sur
viyu, loss of power to earn surplus. but