Little Falls weekly transcript. (Little Falls, Morrison Co., Minn.) 1894-19??, 1896-09-25
A CONVINCING TALK.
Senator Nelson Makes very
PLAN the Dangers Of Free
Silver. ,..f.a ~
= .
The Opera House Crowded 10
Hear the Political Issues
Discussed.


Senator >Knute Nelson's speech Ut
the opera house Saturday evening
was a most convincing statement o1
the false claims ana absurd prom
ises Of the free silverites. He demon
strated that the foundation Of the
campaign for free silver coinage at 10
to l was based on false statements
as, to our present and past financial
condition, and from these statements
they made promises that itwOuld be
absolutely impossible for them to
fulfill. A point he insisted on
throughout his speech was that the
decrease In protective duties. and the
threat to still further reduce them
hac caused:depression In many lines 81
manufacturing, withdrawn employ
nent from workingmen and aided In
making hard times. That tariff
laws that would bring revenue
enough to pay the expenses "f the
government and reduce the national
debt were necessary to bring back to
the people of the United States the
greatest prosperity. He devoted
most OF his attent ton to the money
question, as the opponents OF the
Republican party werenow attempt
ing to deceive the voters into sup
porting free silver, as they had de-
celved them with false promises re-
garding free trade four years ago.
Among the statements and argu-
ments advanced by the senator were
these: The money question Is IL
great issue in this campaign. A
radical change in our money system
is proposed. What blood is to the
human system, money is to the bust
ness affairs of the nation. II Il de-
based currency is used, all the people
suffer, and all business is injured.
If deprecated and f1uctuating
currency is used the poor people
| suffer worst; the blow is heaviest ON
the men who work for wages and
the small producers who depend for
an income on the sale of their prod
ucts.
The Democracy had fooled the
people in 1892 with promised dose
of free trade and now a portion OF
the Democracy were prescribing as a
remedy for all our ills a remedy O1
free silver. The money plank of the
Chicago convention demands two
things-the free and unlimited coin
age of silver. and that the silver
dollars be made legal tender for all
purposes. In the last proposition
they were guilty OF fraud, for silver
was legal tender for everything ex'
cept those debts we had obligated
ourselves to pay in gold. He ex-
planned the technical meaning OF the
ratio. The silverites say that prices
are low because nf the scarcity of
money, and that the money Is too
dear. They want cheaper money
and Il grea ter volume of money. He
then took up the question OF
measuring values. and said it was
wrong for the reason that in war
time we did business when we really
had no money-that is, no gold or
silver in circulation. He traced the
history of money and said that as
soon as certain metals wero finally
fixed upon as money came the ratio.
He brought his hearers down to
credit money-the money OF ex-
change-and said that 80 per cent OF
the commercial dealings Of the
world were in this medium. How
can they then say that the mere
value of money measures values OF
commodities. They want free coin
age they say to increase the circu-
lation. Mere free coinage cannot
make them circulate side by side. In
| the markets of the world today one
ounce of gold is worth 81 ounces of
silver, and when this government
says that it will make all the silver
brought to the mint a coin that
shall be in value to gold as 16 to l. it
will undertake an impossibility
PEOPLE will not use gold money to
pay or purchase when by law money
of half the bullion value can be OBJ