The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1896-08-27

1 tOlPOAAtiOlc - ltltS COQIlIy anu EuIOIt.
Great aDDlause.)
Now. my friends. / quoted these words
so you would not think that l was using
extravaganza language. II the money grab
ters OF this country and Europe were exer-
cising Il heartiess domination then, / want
TO ask you in what language. we will de-
scribe the domination from which We sur
fer now. In this campaign. for the first
time In the history OF this government. a
OF self-government and invest in for
eign legislative bodies the power to
sseisiate l Tor the IN pe2plS Of md the nn, nnised
What does the Republican platform say?
Does it say that the gold standard is "A
good thing? No. No platform ever written
! ever said that the gold standard was a
good thing. Why don't they defend it?
Because they dare not defend 1t among
those who toll. Why do they not excuse
il? Because the wall of the distress would
drown any excuse which they could pre-
sent.
1T has well been said that gold. in it's
last analysis. is the sweat of the poor and
the blood of the brave. and you can well
admire the discretion of the gold-standard
advocates that they do not invite a contest
in an open field Applause) And when
they say that this Nation shall submit to
the evils OF the gold standard until relief
| comes from other nations. in our judgment
they do declare for "A gold standard per-
manentiy because we do not believe that
relief will come from other lands. Some
of them say that If We will just wait other
nations Will come TO our relief. We have
nedfd that preached IN every presidential
campaign, and the very ones who have
been so loud in their declarations in favor
OF international bimetallism during nation
al campaigns are the ones who. after the
| elections, have done all they could TO pre-
vent bimetallism. Independent or interna-
tional. The people will not longer be de-
! ceived.
A PEDAGOGICAL APPEAL.
IF you wanted to reduce the rate OF in
terest, would you wait until the people
who loan money petitioned legislatures to
reduce the rate of interest? tApplause ard
cries OF Mo- 'No!) You never appeal to
anybody to secure legislation which will
be hostile TO his private interests: then
why should we say that this Nation. u
great debtor nation, must wait until credi-
tor nations come TO US and help us TO stop
the appreciation of the dollar in which they
are paid. You live here in a community
which is both agricultural and manufacture
ing, and i appeal 10 you 10 examine this
money question and ascertain Tor yourself
whether the restoration of silver is not
good for you. IL you are farmers, 1 beg
you to remember tnat under thts apprecia-
Iion of gold your products have fallen in
value. while your debts and your taxes
have remained as high as they used to be.
Il notice one of the opponents of free
coinage said the other day That If the
farmer had suffered from falling prices
when he went TO sell he had gained in fau-
ing prices when he went TO buy. That may
ali be well enough for some one who is
not a farmer TO tell to a man who is a
farmer. tApplause.) 1t would never be told
by a farmer himself (applause), because
the farmer knows that while he sells at
wholesale he buys at retail. and that retail
prices do not fall as fast as wholesale
prices. and he knows that there are GER
tain hxed charges that do not fall at all.
Have your taxes fallen in the last twenty
years? My observation is that taxes are
as high or higher than they were twenty
years ago; but II ii requires twice as much
OF the products of the farm TO pay your
taxes they are in effect twice as high as
they were then. If il takes twice as much
of farm products TO pay the interest upon
your mortgage then That interest is in
effect twice as high as IL was twenty years
ago. II 1T takes twice as much of farm
products TO pay the principal OF your debt
as IL took twenty years ago then your debt
Is in effect twice as mucn as IL was then.
My friends. you can talk 10 the farmer
from now until election day. but you will
never convince him that the gold STANDARD
has brought anything but ruin and dis
treSS to the farmer.
How about the iaboring man? Well. my
friends, there is one good way 10 judge
whether these men who now appeal 10 TIE
laboring man to stand by a gold standard
because IL Is a benefit 10 the wage Garner
there is "A good way of knowing how much
faith you can put IN these protestations OF
friendship. Who are the men who are now
telling the laboring man that he must stand
by the gold standard if he wants to pros
per? Why, whenever one OF these Eastern
iinanciers is troubled with sieep4essness the
doctor does not ask any questions. lie just
says: just stop worrying about the labor
ing men and so to sleep. Are these the
men who have been leading the laboring
man up to higher ground 10. my fraends.
trying to make money out OF the apprecia-
ton of the dollar to spend those doiiars IN
ing the resources of this great country.
A BRYAN THEORY.
You cannot employ labor unless you can
sell the products OF labor at a profit. and
as money goes up the products OF labor
must go down. and the man finds it more
profitable to lock his money in the vault
and collect its increasing value than he does
TO invest IL in enterprises under Il prospect
of loss. To whom do you sell those things
which you produce? Do you send your
shoes TO the farmers of the West? How
can they buy shoes from you unless they
can get for their products more money
than enough TO pay their interest and
OF the people and you destroy the market
Tor your products. More than that. we
owe money abroad and we must pay that
debt either in products or money. III we
drive down the value OF our products IL
simply means we must send more money
abroad to make up the difference: 1t means
that when we send goods abroad we must
send them at lower prices, and have less
money TO spend among our people.
We are opposed TO the gold standard be-
cause 1t has never conferred one benefit
upon those who produce the wealth of the
world: Gold has been the prize of the man
WHO HOdIUS ilOIeN. SILVER mas been the
medium OF exchange among those upon
whom the greatness of every nation has
rested. tApplause.) You can rob this
world of gold and put enough silver in the
world TO make up for the loss of gold and
will move on. but rob this world
of its silver. If. you will. and try to fill it's
place with gold, and see how long your sys-
tenn will stand tGreat applause.) One of
our distinguished opponents has said that
every gold-standard nation in the world
uses silver as We'll as gold. but that no sill
ver-standard nation uses any sold. What
does this mean? 1t means that people can
get along without gold. but that even gold
out silver. (Applause.)
My friends. the conspiracy which we
have to meet is a conspiracy which has
for its ultimate object the striking down
OF silver as one of the standard moneys of
the world. And that can only mean a
gradual and continual increase in the pur-
chasing 9ower of the dollar. and that
means an indefinite season during which
the holders of fixed investments gather
more than they loan, and during which
those who owe debts will pay more than
they agreed to pay: IN indefinite season
during which IL will be more profitable to
hoard money or loan ii than TO invest il
in enterprise or property.
Il ask you 10 point If you can to a single
instance IN the history of the world where
the people have prospered by an apprc-
ciable standard. What we want Is a dollar
that will maintain its parity with the
property which that dollar Is to buy. which
will injure neither debtor nor creditor. but
give rs n standard that aDDrOximateS ms