The Dalles daily chronicle. [volume] (The Dalles, Or.) 1890-1948, 1896-09-17
Ex-MlNIsTER PHELPS

i the Nation@A Disturbed Currency Makes
Prosperity Impossible.
Hon. Edward J. Phelps, ex-minister
to England has written the following
letter, in which he urges all true Demo-
Gratis to.join in defeating the. candidates
who stand on the un-Democratio plat
form adopted at Chicago: :
I Iregard the pending presidential cleo
tion as presenting the most dangerous
crisis that this country has ever encoun-
tered. 1t does not in my judgment, in
volve any political controversy nor any
| question of the supremacy of party for
such considerations are lost sight of in
the far greater gravity of the situation.
The real issue is one upon which all
! patriotic men and all who are interested.
| in the prosperity and welfare of the
| country should find themselves upon
one side and opposed to common en-
emy. The attack that we have to resist
! is not upon the policy but upon the life
! of the nation, for they would take its
| life who destroy the means by which it
hves-the business of many thousands
and the industry of millions. On these
we are all, whether rich or poor, high
or low, alike dependent Those who are
independently rich are very few in pro-
portion to the 20, 600, 600 of American
people, the vast majority of whom gain
their living by some form or other of
useful employment. That there should
be prosperity in some of these employ
ments and not in others, or among one
class of people and not among others, is
impossible, for they all rest upon a
common foundation and are affected by
the same considerations. Business is
a generic term and comprehends all
lawful industries. When it is stimulat-
ed, all profit; when it is depressed, all
suffer. No part of the body can escape
the effect of general paralysis or fail
to get the benefit of general good
health. When business hourishes, the
laborer is in demand; when it declines,
he stands idle in the market place.
Business of whatever sort in coun-
try like ours, rich in resources, full of
energy and vitality. with all harvests
everywhere ready for the sickle, rests
chiefly upon two factors-publ1c conf
dence and sound and stable currency.
When either is-and much more when !
both are-impaired or even gravely |
threatened, business suffers, general de-
preston comes, labor declines, and the
wolf approaches many door. Without |
confidence there can be no credit, no |
enterprise. Capital is boarded, sent !
abroad or lies idle, and all industries
diminish or cease, and the surest way (,
the world has ever seen to destroy conf
dence is to debase the currency and to !
make it uncertain from day to day how
much dollar is worth and how much |
it is going to count for in the near fu- |
ture-to take away, as is now proposed, |
one-half its value to begin with and to
set the other half to fuctzating to an
indefinite extent, with the rising and /
the setting of the sun and the approach |
of every storm.
There is, therefore, in my Judgment, /
no man more criminal OF who is q worse
public enemy than he who engages in /
or countenances that infamous and de- /
Etructive attempt, because the less a |!
necessary it is to him that the vaIue OF
that little should be maintained and /
made sure, and that the few dollars In !
his pocket should be as good dollars as /
there are. AS well might the steerage /
passengers in vessel in nlidOeean, I
weary of their privations, be melted by /
some mischief maker to scuttEe the ship !
in order to drown the inmates of the |
more luxurious cabins, unconscious that !
they themselves must be equally tine VIC I
Tins of the common calamity
The party is already hopelesSH dis
rupted on the issue presented We CAM
not follow both its divisions at the Same
time, however desirable it might be,
since they are moving in opposite direc-
tions. On the one side are the old time
honored principles of the party, under
which all its great traditions have been
generated, and which all it's i1lustrious
leaders have advocated Chief and fore
most among these principles always in
times past has been the maintenance Of
sound and honest money, of dollars that
are dollars, of national stamp upon
them that does not lie.
On the same side are it's most trusted
present statesmen and leaders, and
very large proportion at the least of its
| better and most instructed element.
Which way shall we go, then, since we
cannot go both ways? With its states
men or with its camp followers? With
| its principles or with its organi zation
stampeded and graded by its enemies?
] In which direction lies the future of the
party if it is to have any future? And
4 who are they who will control it here
after, nwhen this tyranny shall be over
past?'' Let no man be afraid to be right
ON this question, for it is the right that
will triumph in the end, whether it re-