The times. (Owosso, Mich.) 1882-1897, 1896-08-28

enuu no r. r-yC-; r-s7-J tie c-cV------ Il ,ne
person whose debt he wants to cut down.
And Mr.. Bryan makes an elaborate argu-
ment to show that when his system of coin
age shall have been completed, his stand
ard Of value shall have been changed, then
the debtor will have an option as to which
metal he will pay his debt in--that is to
say, he shall be permitted by the law &c
commi an act of dishonesty.
Part Of Money In Measuring Debts.
In order that you should understand
just how change in the standard Of value
enables men to cheat their creditors you
have to consider the function which money
plays in measuring debts. If l had paid
$40 for ten yards of cloth to be delivered
to me next week, and in the interim the
government should pass law declaring
chat hereafter the yard measure should
consist of Is inches and that all existing
contracts should be settled In that system
OF measure, would be cheated out of half
OF the cloth for which had paid. If, on
the other hand owed cloth merchant
for ten yards of cloth which he had deliv-
cred to me, and which was payable next
week, and in the meantime the govern
ment would change the standard Of value
and cut down the unit OF coinage one half,
then would settle that debt for So, and
the cloth merchant would have been cheat
cd.
That is just what this measure proposes
to do, and the important question that
arises to the workman of this country is
just who are the creditors and who are the
debtors in this land. Now, the Populist
loves to say that the creditor Is q person
who Expresses the western farmer. He loves
to paint him as loud of dress, coarse of
feature, gaudy Of ornament and with
cruel expression on his face. He loves to
declare that the money lender and the
creditor are always synonymous express
sions, but as a matter of fact the creditors
of this country are not the bankers; they
are not the so-called capitalists They are
the laborers, and it is at the expense of Ia
Dor that this change Is made.
The Banker Debtor. the Laborcr
Creditor.
remember in discussion in the house
of representatives l was advancing the
proposition that q banker, in the nature
Of things, was debtor, and l was inter-
rupted by Mr. Bryan, who put to me
question which contains exactly the same
statement as that which he made here in
his speech q week ago. He asked me, II
would like to ask the gentleman whether
1t is not true that every solvent bank has
for every dollar that it owes either some
body's note or the money in the vault and
Ats own capital besides9"
Now, my answer to that can give here.
The loans and resources OF a solvent bank
taken together must exceed its liabilities.
The excess represents the capital and prof
It. But as between their debts and their
credits all banks are debtors, which, my
friends, will be apparent to you in a mo-
ment If you consider that bank must
keep 25 per cent of its deposits in reserve;
that the very business of banking Is the
business of being in debt. 1t Is the business
of dealing with other peoples money, and
of course the money that it deals with is
the money that it owes to its depositors.
But the laborer is always creditor for
at least one days work. When any man
can show me laborer who has been paid
In advance for days work, will show
him laborer who is debtor. But every
laborer that have ever known In my ex-
perieDce, every laborer of whom l have
ever heard In my examination of tho con-
ditions of men, must by the very law of his
being be creditor for at least one days
idea of where the laborer will come in, or
rather of where he will go out. There Is
one paragraph in his speech which, wheth-
er 1t was the result of an unconscious
stumbling into candor or whether 1t was
q contribution made in the stress of logical
discussion 1 am utterly unable to say.
But 1t shakes flood Of light upon the
whole purpose underlying this Populist
agitation. Wage earners, Mr.. Bryan says,
know that while gold standard raises the
purchasing power of the dollar, 1t also
make it more difficult to obtain possession
of the dollar. They know that employ
Inent is less permanent, loss Of work more
probable and unemployment less certain.
If that means anything, 1t means that a
cheap dollar would give him more employ
ment, more frequent employment, more
work and a chance to get unemployment
after he was discharged. Well, now, If
that means anything in the world to sane
man, it means that if the laborer is willing
to have his wages cut down he will get
more work
High Wages and Prosperity Go Together.
There never was the boss of an estab.
lishment yet that meant to make q cut In
wages that did not say that. have never
yet heard of anybody who attempted to cut
down the rate of wages telling his men
that he did it because he liked to do 1t.
They would tell their men, "If you do not
stand such a cut in wages, l cannot en-
ploy you more than half the time -
And that Is what Mr. Bryan proposes
for the laboring masses Of this community
that they take a dollar of less purchasing
power so that employment will become
more certain and the chance of re-employ.
ment more frequent. If it were true that
q reduction in the rate of wages would in
crease the chance of employment, would
not blame Mr.. Bryan for telling the truth,
because, however unpalatable the truth
may be, 1 conceive it the duty of any man
who attempts to address his fellow citizens
never to shrink from q statement Of the
whole truth whatever may be the conse.
quences to himself.
But, as matter Of fact, diminution
in the rate of wages does not increase the
scope of employment. If this audience has
done me the honor to follow mo while
explained the principle on which wages
were fixed, it must be clear that the more
abundant the product the higher the
wages. There cannot be an abundant prod
uct unless labor is extensively employed.
You cannot have high wages unless
fhera IL an aytansive uroductioD In every