The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1896-09-03

that those same influences will be
/ turned against weaker nations and ma
/ ton after nation will be driven from
| the use of silver as standard money to
| the use Of gold alone and every nation
! that joins in the demand for gold may
/ help to increase the purchasing power
/ of an ounce of gold; and every time
/ the purchasing power of an ounce of
/ gold shall rise, the prices of the prod
/ ucts of human labor will fall, zap
! pIause,) because a dear dollar is sim
/ ply another definition of cheap proper
] ty. A dollar cannot buy more unless
property sells for less. If you think
you have hard times what would it be
( If these same influences succeeded in
| driving India to a gold standard, if
I they should succeed in suspending the
| free coinage of silver in India2 Wait
until they make gold the standard of
/ India, wait until those 0,000, go Of
/ people there reach out for their share
Of the worlds supply of gold
Where Will they get 1t? They will
/ get IT from nations which now have it,
I and they will have less. Wait until
/ these influences have driven China to
/ a gold standard and her $50, 900 900 of
/ people demand their share Of the
worlds supply of gold Where Will
I they get it? From the nations which
( now have it, and they will have less
| than they have now Wait until they
E nave driven Japan ana SOuUn America
and all the other silver using nations
TO a gold standard, and then you have
a little chunk Of gold twenty-five feet
each way, when melted into a cube,
and that little chunk Of gold will meas
ure all of the property of the globe.
(ApplaUse) You viii then have some
thing like 81, 000. 600, 600 Of standard
money instead of eight billions, and
those four billions viii be in shape
where the money can be cOrnered by
the great money owners of the world
and doled out to mankind at such
prices as the owners shall determine.
(Applause.) That, my friends, is what
the gold standard means.
Suppose the people Of this city
should derive their water supply from
one great spring, and suppose that one
spring which furnishes water for all the
people was controlled by one person
or a few persons who acted in concert
What would be the result? No matter
how hard times might be for all the
rest Of the people those who own that
spring and furnish that water at what
price they would, would always get
along tolerably well in this world. ZAP
plauSe) believe that illustrates just
what will go on if the crusade in favor
of gold continues to its legitimate, its
natural, its logical conclusion. It will
mean that those who are able to con-
troll the supply of gold OF the world
will be able to dictate terms to the rest.
1t will simply mean that While the peO-
pie are nOminally free they will simply
De nEWEIS OL WOOQ ana drawers OI
water for those who control the money
supply of the world. (ApplauSe.) Do
you say that this is remote contin-
gency2 No, my friends, it is not a re-
mote contingency. It is the natural
result of the triumph of the gold stand
ard in the United Safes. If anybody
had told you twenty-five years ago, (
when we had bimetalliSm, a system in
dorsed by every great statesman that
this country ever knew up to 1ST3-if !
anybody had told you that in the year
of our Lord 1896 there would be a party /
declaring in favor of the maintenance
of the gold standard until foreign ma
tions broke the shackles that fastened |
the American people, you would have
considered it improbable. Yet the pic |
ture 1 present to you is not near as I'M !
probable as would have been that !
prophecy twenty-five years ago, a /
prophecy which describes the position /
of the Republicans in this campaign
Can we afford to throw the influence !
of the United States on the side of gold /
alone unless we are prepared to accept |
a universal gold standard, with all that |
it means2 If you think we cannot; If !
you think we should not, II you think /
we must not then I want you to con |
slider your part in this transaction The |
policy OF the United States is deter |
mined by congress and by the presi- |
dent 1t may be determined by one |
vote in the house and in the senate and |
the vote of the president The vote of |
one state may determine the election of |
l.
zen may determine the election of the /
member of ngress which casts the de- |
Gliding vote on that question IN con-
gress.
The day on which you cast your bal /
lot may determine for a few years or |
forever the financial policy OF the Uni |
ted States.
the great financial magnate says he |
must leave his party because his party |
has declared for the restoration OF BIZ |
metallism I want you to recognize that
his interest in the money question IS no /
greater than yours. If that man is viii /
ling to desert that party of a lifetime in !
order to maintain gold standard from 1
which he derives profit 1 want to ask /
if throughout the land the tens of thou /
sands and the millions of small home |
owners will not be independent enough !
to break party ties and march in solid 4
phalanx for the protection of their COM /
mon country. Great applause) If a |
foreign fleet should cast anchor upon |
your shores and announce that they in |
tended not to take all your property |
but simply to take One-half of all your |
property, what person here would be |
willing to allow that fleet to proceed !
without his protest. And yet the peO- /
pie who intend to strike down one-half |
of all the standard money of the world |
simply mean to do with you and your |
property what the fleets of the world /
and the armies of the world would do /
if they came to destroy one-half of al |
your possessions.
Il simply quote what has been said /
by thousands before me when I tell you
that the establishment of gold as the /
standard for the world means a de-
crease Of all your property and in the /
value of all your obligations.
They may gloss it over and call it
sound money but it is sound money
that means the sound Of the wall of dis
tress. Great applause) They may call
it sound money if they like, but they
cannot make dishonest honest by try
ing to change its name
Continuing Mr.. Bryan entered into
comparison Of the Republican and
Democratic platforms.
He continued: