The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1896-07-08
THE SALT LAKE HERALD WEDNESDAY, July 8. 1895

ton by advocates of the gold stand
ard that has caused and now continues
the financial depression.
Do they not know that when their
demands upon Democracy were COM
piled with in 1899, and the Sherman
law repealed without a substitute, the
very states of the east that demanded
it turned against the Democracy who
granted it and swept away their ma
joritieS in a torrent of ballots? If the
silver men had had their way then
instead of the gold monometallists
what storms of abuse would here to-
day be- eInptied upon their heads; but
the people, applying the power OF mem
DRY and analysis alike to discover the
causes of their arrested prosperity,
need not go far to find them. Then
do not forget when Democracy came
into power in 1893 it inherited from its
Republican predecessor a tax system
and currency system of which the
| Mckinley and Sherman laws were
ELIMINATING ATROCITIES.
1t came to power amidst a panic which
fifty followed upon their enactment
with strikes, lockouts, riots and civic
| connections, while scenes of peaceful
industry in Pennsylvania had become
military camps. Besides its mani
fold oppressive features, the Mckinley
law had thrown away fifty millions of
revenue derived from sugar under the
special plea of a free breakfast table
and substituted bounties to sugar
planters, thus decreasing the revenue
and increa sing expenditure, thus burn
ing the candle at both ends, and max
ing the people pay at last for an al
legged free breakfast.
From the joint operation of the Nc
Kinley law and the Sherman law, the
adverse balance of trade was forced
against us in 1898. A surplus of $780,,
! 100000 in the treasury was converted
into a deficit of 100000 600 in 1894 and
| the engraved bonds prepared by the
Republican secretary to borrow money
| to support the government were i'll
omens of programmed ruin that await
! ed the incoming Democracy and a de-
! pleted treasury.
More significant still, the very au-
| thorities of the ill-starred
SHERMAN LAW MAKESHIF'T
were already at the confessional, upon
the stool of penitence and were begin
ging the Democrats to help them put
out the confia grafton of disaster that
| they had themselves kindled.
SO far as revenue to support the gov
| eminent is concerned, the Democratic
party, with but a slender majority in
! the senate, provided it, and had not
the supreme court of the United States
reversed it's settled doctrine of one
hundred years, the income tax incorpo-
rated in the tariff bill would long since
have abundantly supplied it.
Respecting finance, Republicans,
| PopuISts and Democrats, while differ
ing upon all other subjects, almost had
united in 1892 for restoring our system
of bimetallism. By Republican and
Democratic efforts the Sherman bill
was swept from the statute books, the
eagerness to rid the country of that
Republican incubus being SO great that
| no prudent effort was made to provide
a substitute In the very act of the
Sherman law repeal it was declared
to be the policy of the United States
of America to continue to use both
gold and silver as standard money
and coin them into dollars of equal in
trinsic and interchangeable value.
The Republican party has now
RENOWNED THE CREED OF ITS
PLATFORM
and presented to the country the issue
of higher taxes, more bonds and less
money. 1t has proclaimed, at last
throwing away DISCUSSES of British
gold standard.
The money question is the paramount
issue before the American people, and
it involves true Americanism more
than any economic issue that ever was
presented at a presidential election.
We are not upon any gold standard,
but we have a disordered and mis-
cellaneous currency of nine varieties
three metals and six paper-a product
for the most part of Republican leg1s-
lation rendered worse by treasury
practices begun by Republican secre-
t2rieS and unfortunately copied by
their Democratic successor. applause }
Then consider facts, gentlemen. The
federal, state and municipal taxes of
this country are assessed and paid by
standard of the whole mass of money
( in circula ton. No authority has ever
been conferred by congress for the is
sue of any bonds payable in gold, but
it has been distinctly refused. The
provision made by the Bland-Allison
act of 1876 added TO our circulation
some $350,000,000 of standard silver
money, or paper based upon it, and
ALL THAT MASS OF SILVER
MONEY
is sustained at a parity with gold by
nothing whatever On earth but the sill
yer in it and the legal tender func-
ton impaired tc it by law. (Applause.)
We have no outstanding obligation
of the United States except the sum
of $4,000, 600 gold certificates, which
are specifically payable in gold, and
they, of course, should be SO paid. AL
our specie obligations are payable in
coin, which means silver or gold at
the governments option, or in silver
specifically and only. There is more
silver and paper based upon silver in
circulation today than there is of gold
or paper based on gold, and that the
gold dollar is not a unit of value is
demonstrated by the fact that no gold
dollar pieces can under our laws be
minted. If we should go upon the
gold standard, we must change the ex-
listing bimetallic standard of payment
of all public debts, taxes and appro-
priations, saving alone those specifi-
cally payable in gold. AS we have
twenty billions of public and private
debt, it would take more than three
times all the gold in this country tt
pay even one years interest upon it
We should be compelled hereafter tc
contract the currency by paying of
$500 GOO, 600 greenbacks and Sherman
notes in gold, which would nearly ex
haust the entire American stock in anC
out of the treasury, and the same pol
icy would require that three hundred
and forty-four millions of silver certifi
Gates should be
PAID IN GOLD ALSO,
as foreshadowed by the present draft
upon the country's stock of gold. This
means an Increase of the public DEBT
by $500, 100000, with a prospect of 1914,
900 more.
The disastrous consequences of sucf
a policy are appa1lingly contemplated
and the only alternative suggested is
the free coinage of silver at the ratio
of 16 to 1 (applausel and the complete