The Maryville times. (Maryville, Tenn.) 1884-1944, 1896-08-20
s4sNpRlx's WITTY SPEECH.
He Makesia Humorous Speech on Money
to Morocco Manufacturers


The Shoe and Leather Reporter pub
fishes the following speech made by
Hon. Joseph &C. Hendrix at the dinner
of the National Morocco Manufacture
ers' association of the United States at
Manhattan Beach early this month:
Mr.. President and Gentlemen: / am
glad to see yoM, "men of small brains
and large capital" am glad always
to face successful men in an American
industry. You represent trade which
years ago furnished material for the
money instrument. There was leather
money once and plenty of it. You have
never set up any cry because of the de-
monetization of leather, never asked
redress for the "crime' of the abandon
ment of the use of heather as money.
You do not now ask for it's remonetiza-
fion.
Mr.. Stein-Nor for free tannage.
Mr.. Hendrix-No! Therefore, have
great respect for two people, the North
American Indian and the morocco man.
ufacturer. Along these sand dunes from
Manhattan to Montauk point the anti
quarian can point to great heaps of
shells where the old squaws used to sit
and practice the free coinage of wam-
pun After awhile a smart Yankee in
vented turning lathe which trans
formed the clam shells into money too
fast. This led to the demone citation of
the Long Island clam. Naughter.) The
poor Indian has passed off to the plains
and we hear no more of the free coinage
of CLAIMS.
These are simply evolutionary steps.
You look back to the beginnings of
your industry and marvel at the
changes. The world advances. Civil
zaton refnes. Commerce requires ex-
act terms and measures. It insists upon
certainty, fixity in the standard of val
ues. 1t must have something upon
which it can depend. 1t has found out
that it must depend upon some one
thing That is why it has veered to the
single standard. It has quit stepping
from one standard to the other. 1t
makes its election. 1t votes for gold be-
cause of its great value in small compass
and because of the fXity of that value.
So it is that one great nation after an
other, under the command of its best in
telligence. has come to the gold stand
ard. It is because they have found it the
cheapest best and most effective stand
ard by which 20 measure all values.
<, What does standard meun? What Is
its primary significance? It comes from
an old Latin word meaning something
TO turn to. When you are in doubt you
go to the standard, ! don't care what
line Of business you are in or what
Course in life you pursue, standard
governs it somehow or other. You ride
on a railway on standard gauge, you
sit at table of standard height, and
so on through the list, The standard
must he the thing it stands for. II you
have a standard Of weight, it may be Of
diamonds or precious stones, but it has
bot 10 have weight that is the first
thing. Ifyou have a standard of length
it must have length. And when yor
cornc to the question of the standard o.
value. whatever it is made of it has go
to have value.
You can talk about the whole ques
ton of finance in 100 different lights
Rut this is the main point-you mus
have a standard of value. That stand
ard must have value We choose for thu
standard the metal which fluctuates thu
least in value. That is the whole stor.
Of the gold standard. Cheers.
Our friends out in Chicago claim tina
the gold standard is a British polio.
which we are seeking to enforce in thi
country. Did you ever hear anything
about British policy in connection witt
the law of gravitation or British pol
lev of good health against bad health
good clothes against shoddy? Their
are other countries in the world beside
Great Britain. We do not have to loo
10 Great Britain to know what is goo
thing. rGreatr applause We are oil
enough and big enough to know goo
thing when we see it. Ours is a cour
try that for GO years has been under tn
gold standard. You have never know
anything else. All you have was bui
upon the gold standard. The greatnes
and development of this country hay
been attained under that standard. Ho
is the world lining up on this question
China. Japan and Mexico are for fire
silver. Great Britain, Germany, Franc
and the great empires of Europe are ft
gold. Where do we belong? There
only one answer. Can anyone fant
that our great population, made up
7O.OOO.OO0 of the best examples of ii
Anglo-Saxon race, mixed with Irish wi
Scotch cunning, German thrift, is G
ing to step from the high plane whe
we stand to the lower one beneath
What strange madness has come in
the American people to make it see
possible that they could do thing
that kind? Applause
we can live on a silver basis aft
we get there. Our great rivers will IL
low their courses to the sea. Gods 81
will kiss the earth. THE crops W
spring forth. Children will be born al
grow up. Enterprises will go forwal
Tut are we going to take the leap in t
dark and try an experiment fraug
with such risk and panicP A gre
French economist once said that VIII
he was 40 he thought he understo
something about finance. When he W