The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1896-08-07

States could not lift silver dollar when
ii was worth only 2 cents less than the
gold dollar. can she now lift 5O-cent dol
lar the height OF 100 cents?
And if she can. why should we want 10
| do il? Suppose you have got house; is IL
worth any more is IL any different house,
whether it is worth 1000 silver dollars or
! 1000 gold dollars. II you want to coent
! your house at more dollars. why not cut
the gold dollar in two and measure it by
| gold?
Are there any more potatoes i'm 4.ooe
pecks than there are in thousand bush
els? If 1 remember my arithmetic right.
and perhaps i don't; your house is the
same. your farm is the same. and it pro-
duces the same result.
"Oh, but you say our prices have gore
down. and we have gone on losing
count of the appreciation of gold, AMI,
therefore. we want to change il into 81 -.
so that it will go up again. Whether gold
mas appreciated or not. do not oapo-e
that any man knows; but, whatever IS ~
probation has been. it has been 3. !.
time doing it. and its effect on prices. In
my judgment, has been nothing"
CAUSE OF LOW PRICES
The Democrats talk about the fal, in
has appreciated in value. My friends.
every one in this country. even the farmers.
are liable 10 meet with some trouble in
their business. More people go into sae
business and the profits of the business de-
crease because there are so many 10 81
vide them. Why has wheat gone down?
Not because the silver has been denone-
tized, but because Russia and Arge ntiue
Republic are raising millions of bushels of
wheat and they can sell it here as clvap
as our farmers can. Now, we will always
have money even if we demonetize every
dollar of gold and silver in the world And
we may have silver money. perhaps, but
are you any better off If you have your
property reckoned in half dollars as IL
will be on silver basis. rather than I'm
dollars as it is at present No; We don't
want silver, because the road is a thorny
one to travel, and after you travel it, il
will be still more thorny and rougher.
Credit plays a great part in the silver
question. If your merchant buys goods
from England you will find that credit
amounts 10 a great deal and on a silver
basis we will pay a big sum for this credit
This is why merchants do not want a sill
yer basis They say on a silver basis you
will scale down our debt one-half. Would
you do il and deprive the man you owe
OF one-half OF what you owe him? Shall
the Nation do it? i say no. and not from
sentiment do j make this statement, but
| from selfish reason. We must preserve
our credit in the world and if we adopt
| silver basis we will ruin 1t the world over
| We want no silver basis to help us out of
these hard times because the silver basis
| is dishonorable. DistrIst brought on these
hard times in 1898 and hard times will last
until we turn down these silverites, and
| when we settle this thing for good and all
in November, we will hear no more OF hard
times"
| Following Mr.. Reeds speech the commit
! tee on resolutions reported and the con-
| ventien adopted a strong Endorsement OF
the action of the st. Louis convention,
pledged loyal support to Mckinley and Ho-
bart and to the candidate for Governor.
Llewellyn Powers, and closed by pledging
the First district to make Mr.. Reeds cleo
| ton nearly unanimous as possible.
RREDS FIRST NOMINATION.
Mr.. Reed was first nominated for Con-
| gress twenty years ago. in July, 1876. In
that year Congressman Burleigh, who had
been in Congress two terms from the First
| Maine district, was his opponent. Both
| sides went into the convention claiming
victory, but the Reed men had no con-
| fidence. Mr.. Reed had been Attorney-gen-
eral Of Maine and was recognized one of
! the ablest lawyers in the State at the time
| in spite of his years. then barely thirty
| seven. Mr.. Reed had not personally or
| ganized his campaign. but he had indicated
| his desire TO go to Congress and his friends
volunteered 10 send him. BurIeigh. while
| being able and a representative
citizen, was not lawyer. but big man.
| ufacturer and was not regarded as exactly
the proper man to represent the district.
| Mr.. Reed did not believe he would receive
| the nomination. A serious detection. how
ever. in Mr. Burleigh's faction. owing to an
| enemy he had made. resulted in "a break
in his forces, and when the split faction
| came up and voted for the young lawyer
the scales were turned in Reeds favor
| There only one ballot. Reed winning
by eight votes. Burleigh's forces were so
badly disappointed that it vas considered
not wise TO attempt to make the nomlna-
| ton unanimous.
Mr.. Reed was called for, and in his speech
said he had been waiting in the hotel op-
posite not expecting to be nominated He
had been expecting 70 be called in to make
a motion to make the nomination of his
\ opponent unanimous.
The subsequent canvass was very ugly
| Burleigh became an independent candidate
| but the Democrats refused to indorse him.
! He was rich and had the backing of all the
| officeholders and made a strong fight
For time Mr.. Reeds election was in doubt
| but he pulled through by about 500 votes
| The big fight against Reed made by his
enemies in that campaign was that he was
| an atheist. Reed was forced to allude to
| this charge in his speeches. and always
| said that a man who had come TO the age
| of discretion and had read the history of
| the world must admit that there was an
| overruling providence in the affairs Of men.
| He had been educated for the ministry by
| his parents. who were members OF the
| Congregational Church. the great orthodox
| church in Maine.
AFTER INSURANCE COMPANIES.