The Hocking sentinel. [volume] (Logan, Ohio) 1871-1906, 1896-10-29

ard pretend to Gcplore every suggestion that
has the slightest tendency to array class
against class, their stock arguments are
literally nothing else.
Almost every contention on the gold
side of this issue is either a play upon
prejudice or passionate appeal to the
selfish instincts of particular classes.
Creditors, in general, savings bank de-
dositors, holders of insurance policies,
pensioners, and those workingmen who
happen TO be now employed and drawing
regular wages, are fraDtically besought
to protect themselves against the machin-
atoms of the scheming silver miners of
the Rocky mountains and the 'unprin-
cipled,' "swindling," "jaw-working'
farmers of the South and West. What
is worse, these appeals are, in the great
majority of cases, false and deceptive in
character, being simply intended to OBJ
scure the issue and m:slead the very
classes to which they are addressed.
A few great creditors are actually bene-
flied by the maintenance of the gold
standard, because under it money which
they have loaned is constantly rising in
value. But many other large creditors,
all the smaller ones, the bolders of in
surance policies, and nearly all of the
pensioners have other interests of much
greater Importance than the ones to which
their minds are thus directed.
In business money is the counterbal-
ance of everything that is bought and
sold. When money rises in value the
other things necessarily fall.
AS the other forms of property eX-
h., n~
40 fold. it follows that every gain which
comes from an appreciation of money
involves loss of so or 10 times as much
by the depreciation of other property.
The more money appreciates the harder
it is for the holder of an insurance policy
to pay the premiums and keep the policy
alive. The higher money rises the lower
the pensioners farm, if he has one, sinks
in value and the more difficult it is for
him to find remunerative employment
The greater the enhancement of the value
of money. the more likely the savings
bank depositor is to find the mill or the
mine or the shop in which he labors closed
and he be obliged to encrOach upon or per-
haps exhaust his little savings in order
to live. The interests of all these class
es are bound up III the general welfare
of the country, and, except in rare cases,
they cannot prosper with the nation in
distress.
But the most delusive and ill-founded
of all their special pleas is that address
ed to the wage-earner. The man who
works for wages is told that under free
coinage the dollar will at once shrink to
30 cents. and that he will get no more of
these '50-cent dollars" than he now gets
of ''1OO-cent dollars" This is followed
by the claim that the mills and factories
will be forced to close tncir doors, throw
ing vast numbers of wOrkingmen out of
employment and leaving them with no
wages at all. There are so many con-
tradictions and absurdities involved in
this special pleading that to point out all
of them. with even the briefest comment,
would exceed the space at my disposal.
[ feel constrained, however, to suggest a
few.
1t assumes that the opening of the
American mints to silver, thereby enor-
mously increasing the demand for it for
money use, will add nothing to its value,
completely ignoring the great law of sup
ply and demand
1t assumes that an ounce of silver in
the form of money, invested with full
legal tender functions, will be worth no
more than an ounce of crude silver now is
as mere commodity, for which there is
but a limited demand, although at the
same time it is strenuously insisted that
free coinage will greatly enrich the silver
miner by increasing the ralue of his prod
uct.
1t assumes that the wage-earner will
be ruined by being compelled to pay high
er prices for what he buys, while the
manufacturers and other producers are
also going to be ruined by getting higher
prices for what they sell.
1t is assumed, nay, it is positively de-
clared that the best dollar for the work
lngrnan is that which will buy the most.
In other words, the cheaper things are
the better it is for the wage-earner.
If the workingmal held his position by
q life tenure and his pay were immutably
fixed" the latter wOui1 be true. But
these conditions do not exist, and, as n
general rule, they may be pronounced
conditions. All wages are ul-
timately drawn from prices obtained from
the products of labor. Those prices in
the aggregate constitute the fund to be
divided between capital and labor, and
wages constitute the lahorer:s share of
the fund. A fall OF prices Tor cheapen-
ing) is in effect n destruction of portion
of the fund. This, according to the gold
advocate. is an advantage to the lahcr2r.
So it would be safe if the employer were
able and willing to bear all the loss Un-
fortunately though, as rule, he is not
willing to bear any of it. Whenever pos
sible he shifts it TO the shoulders of the
workmen. This will be exemplified in the