The news & observer. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1894-current, 1896-09-19

do not know what ought t0 3D.. done.
or, If they know, are detefm ned not
to let anybody else know what thew
know. (Applause). They set them
selves up as leaders. Do they know
what Kind of legislation we ought to
have? If not, then they are blind
leaders of the blind, and whenever
that experiment is tried, both fall into
the ditch. There is no grounds upon
which the opposition is willing to fight
this battle. They dare not declare in
favor of the gold standard, because all
history teaches that nothing but suf-
fering has followed the experiment of
a gold standard. We are sometimes
accused Of using extravagant language,
but we do not have to use extravagant
language. Whenever we want to be very
emphatic we turn back to the utter
ances of men like Carlisle, who are now
worshipping the golden calf, and use
their language to show what emphasis
was before the hearts were turned from
the people to Wall street. (Applause).
They tell US the silver question onlv
affects the mine owner, and the only
men who will prosper by it are the men
who own silver bullion They have no
conception of the magnitude of this
question. When they confine the silver
question to the mine owner. the few
people who produce the silver and
overlook the tremendous Importance
to all the rest, they are like the man
who stands upon tie banks of little
frog pond and wonders at its mapni-
tude, when he has never seen the broad
ocean, whose waves wash the shores
of every land. These people know
nothing of money, if they think it only
concerns the producer of silver. They
do not understand there can be no
money for the people until the laws
provide for some material being trans
formed into money. If we have the
universal gold standard, it means that
the annual supply of money given to
all the people of the world must be
drawn from the gold mines each wear,
and not all of that can go to the mints,
because the great bulk of it is used in
the arts. The gold used in the arts is
increasing every year, and we shall
reach time-in fact some insist that
that time has already been reached
when the total amount of gold pro-
duced each year will be needed for the
arts, and leave no product to keep up
with the demand for money.
Our opponents talk as if we could
get along with less money as the years
go by. Some of them have such conf
dence in the substitutes for money that
they believe the time viii soon come
when we will need no money at ALL
They remind me of a man who thought
fish could be made to live without
water. He took herring and put it
in pail of salt water, and gradually
took out the salt water and put in
fresh water until the water was almost
entirely fresh. But the change was
made so gradual that the fish didn't
notice it and kept on living. And sue
ceeding that far, he began to take out
the fresh water a little each day, and
did it 50 gradually that finally it was
all gone, yet the fish had not been able
TO detect the decrease. Then he took
the fish out of the jar and put it in
a bird cage and fed it like bird, but
one day when he was gone his attend
ant thought the fish was not doing
well, and he put a saucer of water in
the cage that the fish might moisten
its food. When the man came back be-
hold the fish had got his head in the
water and drowned, because it was not
used ito it. Great laughter). My OPP
pOutIItS lniIIh YOU Ndu SIduudIly SUI
stftute something else for money, and
do it so gradually that after a while
the people won't know what to do with
money if they had it. But, my friends,
it won't work.
"The law requires that National
banks shall keep on hand twenty-five,
per cent. of the funds left with them.
That proportion shall be left in the
banks all the time as security for those
who have deposits there. If a bank
has 100000 deposited with it, it must
keep $4,000 there all the time. That
money cannot be kept there unless it
is in existence first. Now, if population
and business and prosperity increase,
don't you suppose bank deposits viii
increase also? If bank deposits in
crease, then the reserve must increase.
What are you going to do if your mon
ey does not KEEP pace with population.
industry and prosperity? How are
you going to have money to act as Sc
curity for depositOrs? Yet our oppo-
nents in charge of the financial system
ia the last two years have decreased
the circulating medium more than one
hundred and fifty million dollars In
stead of giving us an increase, we have
a decrease of more than $150,000,000 in
two years. That means there must be
less prosperity, less bank deposits, or
else that the reserve fund win not be
sufficient to keep pace with the depos-
its. Are you going to furnish enough
money ITO make banking safe? How
are you going to decrease your circula-
tion and make banking secure? Are
you going to lessen the deposits of the
people? These questions must be met,
and our opponents are not proposing
any increase in the volume of money
of this country, bid you good morn
ing" (Applause).