The Somerset reporter. [volume] (Skowhegan, Me.) 1868-1909, 1896-09-10
McMinley's Letter of Acceptance
Continued from Third Page.

McMinley's Letter of Acceptance
Continued from Third Page.
ious to loan, and those engaged in legit-
innate business are surprised to find that
the securities they offer for loans, though
heretofore satisfactory, are no longer &c
cepted. Values supposed tn be fixed are
fast becoming conjcctural. and loss and
failure have invaded every branch Of bust
ness
What Caused the Change.
What startling and sudden change
within the short period Of eight months,
from December. ls92, t. August, 1898
What had occurred A change of admins
tration All branches of the government
had been intrusted 10 the Democratic party,
which was committed against the protect
i've policy that Lad prevailed uninterrupt-
edly for more than 81 years and brought
uncxamplcd prosperity to the country and
firmly pledged To its complete overthrow
and the substitution of tariff for revenue
only. The change having been decreed by
the elections in November, its effects were
at once anticipated and felt We cannot
close our eyes to these altered conditions,
nor would II I've wise to exclude from con
temptation and investigation the causes
which produced them. They are facts
which we cannot, as a people, disregard
and we can only hope TO iirprove our pres
ent condition by study OF their causes
In December, 1892, we had the same cur
rcncy and practically the same volume Of
currency that we have now. 1t aggregat-
ed in 1892 81, 372, $50. 5Ol; in s93, 81, 1928. %
900, O00 in 1891, 81, 323, Il2, 362, and in
December, 1895, 81 1874, 900, 23O. The per
capita OF money, too, has been practically
the same during this whole period. The
quality of the money has been identical,
all kept equal to gold. There is nothing
connected with our money, therefore. to
account for this sudden and agRra yated in
dustrial change Whatever is 10 be depre-
Gated in our financial system it must ev-
erywherc be admitted that our money has
been absolutely good ana has brought nci-
Their loss nor inconvenience To its holders.
A deprecated currency has not existed to
further yex the troubled business situation.
On IA Gold Basis.
1t is mere prctensc To attribute the
hard times to the fact that all our cur
rency is on gold basis. Good money new
er made times hard. Those who assert that
our present industrial and financial de-
preston Is the result of the gold standard
have not read American history Alright or
been careful students of the events Of re
cent years. We never had greater prosper
ity in this country in every field of en-
ployment and industry than in The busy
years from l8s0 To lSg2, during all Of
which time this country was on IA gold
basis and employed more gold money in
its fiscal and business operations than ever
before. We had, too, Il protective tariff,
under which ample revenues were collected
for the government and an accommodating
surplus which was constantly applied to
the payment of the public debt. Let us
hold fast to that which we know Is good.
1t is not more money We want. What we
want is to put the money we already have
at work When money is employed, men
are employed. Both have always been
steadily and remunerativcly engaged dur
ing all the years Of protective tariff legis
latiOn. When those who have money lack
confidence In the stability of values and in
vestmcnts they will not part with their
money. Business is staRnated. The life
blood of trade is checked and congcstcd.
We cannot restore public confidence by an
act which would reyolutionize all values or
an net which entails deficiency in the
public revenues We cannot inspire con
fldence by advocating population or prao-
ticing dishonesty We cannot restore con
fdence either TO the treasury or to the PEG
pie without a change In our present tariff
legislation.
The Tariff of 1894
The only measure of general nature
that affected the treasury and the employ
ment of our people passed by the Fifty
third congress was the general tariff act,
which did not receive the approval II the
president. Whatever virtues may be claim
cd for that net, there is confessedly one
which it does not posSess 1t lacks the
essential virtue of It's crcation-thc raising
of revenue sufficient to supply the needs Of
the government 1t has at no time pro
vided enough revenue for such needs, but
1t has caused IA constant deficiency in the
treasury and steady depletion in the
earnings of labor and land. Ii has con
tributcd to swell our national debt more
than $2G2, COG, 900, n sum nearly rs great rs
the debt of the government from Wash
jngton to Lincoln including all our for
eign wars from the Revolution to the re
belion Since its passage work Mt home
has been diminished, prices of agricul-
been arrested and general business de
mOraliZatinn is seen on every hand.
The total receipts under the tariff act of
1894 for the first - months Of its enforce
ment from September, 1894, to June, 1896,
were $557, 6lb, 1928 and the expenditures
500, AS, 1858, or deficiency of $50, S03,
035. The decrease in our exports of Ameri
can products and manufactures during the
first . months of the present tariff rs con
trasted with the exports of the first 15
months of the tariff OF 1890 was 1920,
1858, 800. The excess of exports over i'm
ports during the first , months of the
tariff of 1890 WAS 1918, 972, 96s, but only
$56 75S, 623 under the first II months of
the tariff of 1894, loss under the latter of
1857, 2l4, 345. The net loss in the trade
balance of the United States has been
$196, 9S3, 607 during the first ID months
operation Of the tariff of 1894 as compared
with the first 10 months of the tariff of
1890
The loss has been large, constant and
steady at the rate of $13, 1870, 600 per month,
or 5000, 900 for every business day of the
year.
We have either been sending too much
money out of the country or getting too
little in, or both We have lost steadily in
both directions Our foreign trade has
been diminished, and our domestic trade
has suffered incalculable loss Does not
this suggest tho cause of our present de-
preston and indicate it's remedy Conf
dence in home enterprises has almost
wholly disappeared Our shops are closed
u