Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1896-05-15

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sure you, in no iippant way. that tina
can easily be done" OsaughterJ
The speaker took Mr. Royal TO tasl
on his statement as TO the cost OF pro
ducts Of labor asking how II was. y
MIR ROYALS theory was correct. ina
cotton last year brought cents. while
this year IL brings 8. 1t surely cost M
more labor this year TO produce cottoT
| than II did last. he said. IL was alb
solutely impossible 10 tell how much II
cost to produce the gold OF this world
or the silver OF this world Mr.. Bailey
said Mr.. Royals theory was entirely
wrong. IT reminded him OF a fellow
who took a road going west. In order &c
reach point In the east. What Mr.
| ROYAL needed was for some good. old
1 fashioned Democrat to catch hold of him
and take him back TO the forks OF the
] road And this is what / have come
| all the way down here to do" declared
| Mr. Bailey. He ridiculed Mr.. Royall $
! credit policy, and said that mans ex-
] tremity was credit With all the politi-
/ cal economists the first principle affirmed
/ Is that point at which man should
stop bartering and go TO buying and sell
| ing. Credit and barter was Mr.. Royal S
solution. instead OF cash. bargain. and
sale. II would take longer to go around
and find somebody who had something
you wanted. and who wanted something
that you had than It would take yoY
to 90 to work ard make money enough
to buy what you wanted under a fair
money policy. Gaughter)
THE SHERMAN ACT.
Mr.. Bailey spoke OF the repeal OF
the Sherman law, which act the Presi-
dent said would relieve the situation.
"All Congress fell into line with Presi-
dent Cleveland. and they did tear out
from history the pages containing that
act; but / did not repeal it, l had
sense enough TO know that we were
not going TO have better times by
making money scarcer." daughter. and
applause) Explaining the impoverished
condition Of the people. the speaker said
that IL was almost impossible for the
owner Of piece of real estate to-day TO
sell. unless he put 1t up at a bargain.
Money could only be gotten out OF IT by
a proposition which would satisfy the
greed Of the purchaser.
Mr.. Bailey explained from his stand
point the varied advantages Of free sill
yer TO not only the farmers and the
workingmen generally, but also TO the
merchants. the latter of whom. strange
to him. appeared TO be largely in favor
Of the gold standard The merchant
suffered "A constant fall in the value OF
his goods. He carried about the same
amount of goods. The merchant who
supposed that he escaped the losses
caused by these falls in prices was
greatly mistaken. A fall Of per cent.
per annum meant a fall Of 50 per cent
in ten years. A fall Of 30 per cent. in
twenty-four hours was almost the same
as a fall Of 30 per cent I'm twenty-four
years. The only difference was that
op lra m Ina ~ VI
and the other does it in twenty-four
years. Naughter)
THE MEXICAN DOLLAR.
In answer to Mr. Royals argument
to the effect that twenty years ago
the Mexican gold and silver dollars were
worth about the same, while now the
gold dollar was worth twice as much
as the silver, Mr.. Bailey said 1t was
not that silver there had deprecated,
but that gold had gone up. The Texan
orator declared that the Mexican dol
lar would buy just as much in Mexico
and in this country to-day as it would
in Mexico and in this country twenty
years ago.
Mr.. Bailey paid some attention to the
wealthy classes. He said he honored a
man who had made money enough 10
retire from this Freat system OF indus
given his place TO some one else; but
he had no regard for one of these fell
lows with his hair parted in the middle,
without sense enough TO keep his head
from topping over from the one side
to the other, and who had nothing to
do but have a great train of attendants
TO wait upon his whms. The latter
class of people were in many respects
the men who were benefited by this
changing value in the gold dollar. be-
cause they held the bonds. the bonds
(Applause)
WHAT is AN HONEST DOLLAR?
Mr. Bailey submitted to Mr.. Royal the
question. What is an honest dollar?"
The Texan asked If It were not a dol
lar Of unchanging value.
Il would call that a pretty honest dol
lar, Mr.. Bailey" replied Mr.. Royal.
Mr. Bailey then stated that he would
prove that the purchasing-powe of gold
had doubled itself in the past twenty
years. If he could not do this, he de-
clared, he would admit that he was
wrong. If Mr.. Royal would admit that |
he RoyalD was wrong If he did.
'You Will have TO discuss that with my |
colleague Mr. Meredith" said Mr.. Royal !
in reply.
Mr.. Bailey said he did not blame the |
bankers for wanting a gold standard, |
because It meant Mr.. Royals credit sys-
TEN. lie said the difference between the |
merchant and the banker was that the /
value of the bankers money doubled It. |
self, while the money that the merchant |
put into his business was eaten up by |
the increasing value Of that money which |
he borrowed. The speaker then made an |
effort to demonstrate that the value of |
the gold dollar had appreciated. The |
value of money, he said, was its pur- |
chasing power; the true definition of an /
honest dollar was a dollar Of unchanging |
value. Twenty years ago, asserted Mr.. /
Bailey. the price of cotton was 20 cents /
pound; now il is about cents. There was
proof that in the purchase Of cotton the
value OF the gold dollar had increased !
more than double. Applause) Then"
said the speaker IF the purchasing value
of the gold dollar has gone up. Is IL an
honest dollar?" Qaughter) Mr.. Bailey |
to show by statistics Chat the
purchasing value Of the silver dollar had
remained unchanged; and that Il was,
therefore. the only honest dollar.
Mr.. Bailey. in closing. said the Demo
cratic States were laundering out for free
silver one by one, and that at the Chicago
there would be the greatest
tidal wave for free silver the world lad
ever seen. The speaker urged all Demo
Gratis TO stand together for the party
Of Thomas Jefferson, no matter what their
views on the currency question might
be- saying that the people could hope for
Improvement in their present situation
at the hands Of no other party.
MIR. MEREDITH'S FINE ARGUMENT.
The closing speech OF the evening was
made by MIR. Charles " Meredith, Who
was received with prolonged applause.
lie began his splendid argument in favor
of the gold standard by saying that had
he Texas member OF Congress paid more
attention TO facts bearing upon mis- sreat
problem instead of 10 curls and flights