The herald. [microfilm reel] (Los Angeles [Calif.]) 1893-1900, 1896-08-02
IN THE POLITICAL FIELD
The Campaign Opened in
Bryan's State
Mr.. MORTON SPEAKS ON f|AANCE
In Support Of the Gold
Standard
Decentralization OF SILVER
As Treated Prom the 0oldbug's Polnt
Of View
DENOMINATION OF SILVER
Civilization Said to Be the Only Cossplfatof
Against Silver
A San Francisco Attorney Blabefatss . Plan
for the Delivery Of CaIifornia's Eiec.
toral Vote to Bryan-Peli.
tica1 Notes
Associated Press Special wire.

Associated Press Special Wire.
NEBRASKA CITY. Neb., Aug. L.
Hon. J. Sterling Morton delivered an
address on finance tonight in the pres
ence Of a large audience. He drew COM
parisons between the money of the
country when no came to Nebraska in
pioneer days. and now. He said then
1t was something more substantial. such
as cattle, horses and hogs, and not until
the present was there an effort to create
value from something which had no
value as a commodity.
After explaining the origin Of money
and dwelling upon the object of sub
stituting coin values. Mr. Morton said:
1.-THE sole origin, source and cause Of
value is human desire; when there is q
demand for things they have value;
when the supply remains stationary the
demand increases and the value in
creases; when the demand ceases alto
gether the value is altogether gone"
This shows clearly that the currency
Of a people must be readily exchange
able for those thiDfs which the people
desire and derna ID. The currency IT.
self must be d. esirable and must be de-
manded by those who have things to
sell. The farmer who sells cattle, swine
and cereals for money finds that his
customers demand the highest possible
quality in each Of these things. The
buyer of the farmers products is seller
of money. The seller Of those products
is a buyer Of money. The purchaser de-
mands the highest known quality in
the things that he buys OF the farmer.
and an enlightened self-interest must
compel tho farmer to demand the high
est ana most unfluctuating and general
purchasing power in the money which
he buys. Never before in the history Of
civilization haye any number Of people
protested against being paid more than
q certain sum for commodities which
they have to sell. But today there are
many farmers ana laborers who de-
clare themselves in favor Of a system Of
coinage which shall pay them only six
teen ounces Of silver in heu of one ounce
of gold. Vehemently these people are
declaring everywhere that they will be
absolutely ruined II they be paid in more
than sixteen ounces Of silver instead Of
one ounce Of gold. The commercial ratio
of these two metals today isAhbout 80 to
/; that is, thirty-two ounces of silver
bullion will buy ono ounce Of gold bull
ion. The reason for declaring in favor Of
mint value for silver which Is twice its
bullion value Is inexplicable upon the
part Of those who have no silver bullion
to coin. The advocates of this system
of coinage of silver at double its COM
mercial value and gold on an equality
with its commercial value declare them
selves to be bimetallists. and assert that
they are in favor of two units Of value.
and while two units of value are to my
mind unthinkable, they in their state
ments show that they themselves have
only one unit of value and that is the
gold unit. Whoever says II am in IA
vor of the free and unlimited coinage
OF silver at 16 to 1" declares himself
gold monometallist. The sixteen ounces
OF silver he proposes to measure by one
ounce of gold.
We are told that there was a great
crime committed in 1873 in the secret
demonstration Of silver. The bill which
left the silver dollar out Of the coinage
provided for in the act Of 1873 was be-
fore the American people for more than
two years. The debate upon it's passage
in the house and in the senate occupies
several columns of the congressional
proceedings. Up to the time of this al
legged demonetization Of silver the gov
ernment had during it's entire existence
coined less than nine millions of silver
dollars. Under the Bland-Allison act
Of 1873 the government "authorized the
coinage Of standard silver and to restore
its legal tender character" This act
was to resuscitate the declining value
Of silver. 1t was to place 1t side by side
with gold as part of the redemption
money Of the United States. Let It be
remembered that silver had been demon
etized by the act Of 1873, and that the
legislation Of 1878 was was based upon
the fallacy that silver dollars of gold
value could be substituted for depre-
ciated paper. The silver dollars coined
before this enactment, amounting to be-
tween eight and nine millions of dollars
had long before disappeared from circu-
lation. The decline in the value of sill
yer was consequent upon its increased
production, which began to exceed the
demand for it's use. European nations
omitted 1t from their coinage laws. They
dropped it because they had already as
much silver as the people demanded.
They dropped 1t because they knew that
no amount of coming of this metal could
arrest its further decline If increased
production continued.
But It is impossible to cover the whole
ground In . single desultory speech. Let