The Stark County Democrat. [volume] (Canton, Ohio) 1833-1912, 1896-10-29
SOME ECONOMICS.


"The only way to get wealth is by
labor and anybody who teaches any
other doctrine is false teacher and not
the friend of American citizenship or OF
our American homes"
Thus said Major Mckinley from his
front porch to delegation from Creston
on Thursday. 1t was good doctrine in
the dave Of Jefferson, Jackson, and
Lincoln But are such statements borne
out by the facts today? Who owns
the wealth Of America and how did they
obtain itP How did Andrew Carnegie,
John d. Rockefeller, Jay Gould's sons,
Chauncey Depew, Sage, the Wander
bilt's, John Sherman, Russell A. Alger,
Grover Cleveland and about 5000 other
uni and multi.millionaires besides the
trusts and syndicates, native and foreign
obtain their wealth? BY the labor OF
their own hands and the sweat If their
own faces. To say they did is to teach
false doctrine.
Can it be said that the American far
mer who constitutes nearly fifty per
cent of the population and owns less
less than ten per cent of the wealth, has
secured the wealth that he himself has
created, especially when for twenty
years he he's been toiling against con-
stantly falling market and at yearly
loss. 1t is not labor that gets the
the wealth. They produce it but the
drones of society appropriate it. In the
same speech the Major said:
"If YOU are farmer what you want
first is good crops. Legislation cannot
help vou to them. You know in order
to get good crops you have to SOW. and
then you must have Gods sunshine and
rain, and cheap dollar will never help
your crops any,"
Dear dollars mean cheap men and
cheap products. Will dear dollar help
the crops? Let the Major answer for
himself. In a speech in congress on
May Z, 1890, he said "When merchan-
disc is the cheapest, men are the poorest,
and the mt st distressing experiences in
the history of our country-ay in
human history-have been when every
thing was the lowest and cheapest meas
ured by gold, for everything was the
highest and dearest measured by mbor. y
He seemed to know what dear dollar
was then. 1t was the opposite of what
he now says. Cheap dollars may be Of
silver, gold, copper, nickel or paper II
is the number of dollars in circulation
as compared with the amount OF things
for which they are to be exchanged that
makes dollars cheap or dear. 1t is the
legislation that provides for sufficient
number of dollars by which to make ar
equitable exchange which gives impetus
to the crops.
But further along the Major says:
"Well, now, the best thing for thu
farmer after his good crops and his gooc
markets, is his good money, and wher
you give full four pecks for bushel anC
sell your wheat by the full bushel yo'
want to be paid in dollars that are wortl
fully one hundred cents each, not onl.
today, but every day and everywhere
The Major knows that the good dollar
about which he talks and which hav
been in use for number of years past
and about which he speaks so enthu
siastically are dollars that have require'
more and more of the products Of labo
to buy them each year. They have be
come so valuable that they have re
quired more bust els of wheat, oats, cor
and potatoes, and more pounds of col
ton, wool and tobacco yearly to buy
single dollar.
In their advance in price, the labor G
the farmer and wage-earner has CHEAP
ened so that it takes two days labor t
buy one of these sound and good do
lars. Under the gold standard the ur
stable quality of the gold dollar and il
appreciation in purchasing power ha
made it 80 dear that everything measul
ed by it, is now the highest and deares
when measured by labor.
lila LII xrur CONN A n1rn rInnI