The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1896-10-28
1T is MISREPRESENTATION,

| 1T is SELF-PREsERVATIO
Jones killed man, was arrested and
put upon trial for his life. He pleaded
! that he killed the man in self-defense.
His proof was that the dead man had
threatened to shoot him on sight. and
when he met him the latter attempted
to pull his gun. Thereupon, to pre-
serve his own life, he shot him. And
| the law held him justified.
When the United States opens its
| minis to the free coinage of silver at
the ratio of sixteen to one the price Of
silver bullion will rise to $129 an ounce
all over the world, measured in gold.
So says Mr.. Bryan.
When the United States opens it's
minis to the free coinage Of silver at
the ratio of sixteen to one, silver bull
lion will be worth $129 an ounce. meas
ured in silver, and worth the market
price, measured in gold So says the
economist. SO says history. So says
experience.
The connection between Jones and
Bryan and the, economist may not ap-
pear at first sight, but because Jones
was justified in the law for killing his
| neighbor it is that the economist is
right and Bryan is wrong.
|. The instinct Of seIf-preservation is
the law of human action, and it runs
into and controls the minutest details
of the life Of man. Law not only holds
him blameless when he takes life to
preserve his own, but it sustains him
when he attempts to preserve that
winch ne has made. The same court
that directed the acquittal Of Jones
directed verdicts or judgments decree
| ing the restitution Of property or the
| payment Of debts in. suits by which
men sought to preserve their own. The
man who works for wage. as well as
the man who employs him, is obey-
Ing the law Of self preservation in one
OF its minor phases. The man who
takes out fire insurance policy obeys
the same instinct. THE desire to make
gain in tradeHrather than loss sources
in the same imperious motive. At the
base of. the unwillingness of men to
exchange what they have produced for
less than what they esteem is its value
lies the same NitaIimpulse Men know
that life ITSELF in the last analysis. de-
ponds upon this equality Of value in
exchanges, for hetwho gives always. q
greater for a less value soon reaches
a point where starvation looks in at
his door.
When one exchanges wheat for a
horse, the value Of his wheat. in his
Judgment is in the horse. When he
exchanges the horse for the epromissory
note Of another man, he knows that
the value Is not In the note, but in the
ability Of the man, in his Judgment, to
pay it. If he err in Judgment. he must
suffer the loss. for governments do not
exist to relieve against such mistakes
II the wheat owner thinks the value is
not in the horse he either gives a less
quantity of wheat or he refuses the ex-
change. If he doubts the so1vency of
the maker of the note he refuses to
accept it. He is only obeyings the in
stinct of self-preservation in doing this
And it makes no difference whether it
is wheat or horses or promissory notes
or. gold or silver, the man who parts
with that which he possesses, instinc-
lively, obeying a, law of his nature,
wants to get in the thing he receives
the actual, real value Of that with
which he parts. He will take no assur-
ance of man for dit, NOR will he take
that Of any aggregation Of men, if he
doubt the assurance. ar
So men accept the gold coin because
they know 1t has value They accept
the promissory notes of the government
because they believe the government is
solvent. They accept the silver dollar
because they know its lacking half
value is made up by the pledge of the
government to make 1t whole value.
They know that the wanting value is
represented by bullion in the treasury
or in the taxing power Of government
But when Mr.. Bryan's proposition be-
comes fiat he knows that the half value
is in the pockets of the man who dug
the silver out of the mine. He knows
that there is back Of the half-vaIue no
pledge Of government to make it full
value. He knows then, that he is not