The Clarksburg telegram. [volume] (Clarksburg, W. Va.) 1874-1926, 1896-08-21

its foremost apostle. The people nomt.
mated him: tho plain people Of THU
country made that nomination at 81
| Louis.
minds III the people from the tarlff e
tho silver question. with sixteen u
one" as their battle cry. They kpow
they would be defeated 0n the issues OF
'92, and the Republicans will be COM
1 PEELED to oppose them on the money
question. but the Republicans Will not
forget that they are voting to place the
party nj protection In power.
/ He had been member OF Congress
twenty years ago when specie payments
| were resumed. and spoke OF the events
OF the seventies. The coinage act OF
| 1878 WINS not passed In the dark as has
| been claimed Tho truth about tho
coinage act OF '73 Is that It WAS dis-
cuEsed In two Congresses. the Forty
first and Forty-sccond. More than 100
pages NJ the records of Congress prove
this statement No act was considered
more carefully. Senator Stewart him
self voted In favor Of the Crime OF 1873. "
Senator John Sherman voted against
that bill: the man who Is held UP aB the
author of that Crime" 1t was pub
lie net that was dcliberatcd upon. The
story that English capital had demon
etized silver wns pronounced false. The
act UI I'd It1huc no cIlhHtSe III Our COlilubS.
When was the 4i25s grain dollar In cir
culation? 1t had gone out Of circulation
prior tn 1853. because Its bullion value
was greater than its face value.
Where are we with relation to money?
When the resumption net OF 1875 was
passed a provision was made for n re-
demptioh fund OF $lD0.000.000. There
was then 34G0O0.000 of grcenbacks and
Sherman thought $i00.00O.000 was sutll-
Rrn.l Ns. n. NrN1n AVNNg
man having greenbacks could go to the
treasury and get gold. The reserve.
however, was intact; the people had
confidence and did not want the gold.
There was no trouble until In a mos
ment 0e weakness. in 1900, We compro-
missed with the silveritcs and passed tho
Sherman purchasing act. There Is now
AS7. 00o.0 900 In silver notes outstanding.
but this could have been upheld, but
we have coined 300000,0o0 of silver doll
lars and there is also over 5000, 100000 of
silver certificates outstanding. against
800, 100000 In gold. Such superstruo-
ture Will topple about our feet. and we
will soon pile up on our gold reserve
until we reach silver recommendation, IL
we follow the lead OF the Chicago COM
vention OF next week. Then we will be-
come u nation that has laid aside its in
teGrity.
We have had no free coinage OF silver
In this country since 1853. Free coin
age of silver means that any owner OF
silver bullion, no matter whether he be
an American, Mexican. u Peruvian,
may take his silver to the mints OF the
United States and have 1t coined into
silver dollars, receiving his bullion in
the shape of silver dollars with the
stamp OF the government upon 1t; and he
Gun take these silver dollars and deposit
them with the treasury OF the United
States and take In their stead certlh-
Gates. The government would soon be
loaded down with these promises to
pay.
Free silver E.posed.
The great argument of the champions
OF silver assumes that silver was deinon-
etized in 1873. Some of them ray that
one half 0f the money Of the world was
destroyed In 10 and they say since thnt
time prices have been dropping, drop
ping. dropping, while silver has been
dropping. These gentlemen who pro-
vide this silver literature that Ia read
here and elsewhere begin with 1873; that
point Is the beginning OF the world with
them. Now. let me say to you, be hon
est about this business; Investigate for
yourselves. sec whether the act of 1873
was the occasion of the dropping OF
prices: and for that purpose ask you
TO so back to the year of 1866. From
1866 to 1873 the drop was more rapid and
greater by far than 1t has been since
1873. Prices began to fall In 1866 and
continued to run rapidly down until
they were knocked into smithereens by
the tariff legislation of the last Demo-
cratic Congress. Take up this question
for yourselves; so into the accounts of
the sale OF your commodities, and you
VIII md that prices began to drop In
1856 and not In 1873. They stick to 1873
and say that prices arc lower now than
ut any time. This is true, but they be-
gan to drop In 1866. We have had eras
of abnormal prices in this country. We
had one at the beginning of the centu-
~ during the Napoleonic wars, ending
with 1914, when prices went down, caus-
Ing between 1914 and 1850 a period OF low
prices. Then came the great European
wars that sent prices up, and aftr these
wars closed in 1857 prices went down,
our banks went to pieces and We had
disaster. Then our great civil war gave
another period OF high prices. and since
the close of the war prices have been go-
Ing down ngain. The dropping OF the
silver dollar from the coinage, II you
viii investigate 1t fairly. you will find
had nothing to do with the lowering OF
the prices from 1873 to this time. IL
came from other things. 1t began long
eNAytS ioAos kIO5G SllNNE
tors when they speak of the crime OF
1873 that prices of wool and other pro-
duets began in 1866 to fall, anu contln-
ued 10 fall.
After as much careful thought us ]
ever gave to any public question l am
unable to see how anyone is to be helped
by the free coinage of silver. 1t il q
most interesting subject. 1t is sub
1ect that even with the intellect OF Ham.
ilton. according to his report, he l,at
doubts about the double standard unE
about many things. but my opponent:
think that this question. with all It's In,
tricacies, is as plain to them as a child;
primer. 1t Is n matter that should b,
carefully considered, and you are capa
bic OF considering 1t for yourselves. ID,
| not take the literature from the silyr,
mining camps OF the west.
| u Is Il great argument of those VIII,
advocate free silver that 1t will brin;
UP prices and that the demonstration o
silver caused the great drop in prices
deny 1t from the fact that we had no
coined silver since 1853. and how coul,
the demonstration OF something we ha,
not had for twenty years affect tn
prices? Prices began 10 fail eigh
| years before the decentralization of sill
YER and continued, and that act ha,
nothing to do with the falling prices.
believe that what we want to-day i
to pass a protective tariff law, to rsturl
TO the policy OF protection that we aban
doned as a people in 1899 by our votes
We want to cover these hills with flock
and start up the mills with "a McKinle
tariff. and then we will have such time.
as we had In lS02-and we never had an,
all-around times than in 1892.
The speaker knew of no one who vii
be benefited by free silver. The me
In the mills want an honest dollar Gap
plause). Just as good as the Englisi,
mans dollar or the the Germans dollar
who viii be benefited? The plain peo
100000 In banks. 1t might benefit Ia
banks who could pay their depositot
with tlfty-cent dollar Capnlalt,.l In,