The herald-advance. (Milbank, S.D.) 1890-1922, 1896-05-15
SILVER JOE.

travelling for his "health" and Tor the
purpose OF educating voters on financial
matters, held forth at the court house
last Saturday evening 10 sized
audience. Joe personally is nice atia-
bic fellow and claims 10 be non partisan
in his "lectures." but as to this we
simply as k our readers who listened TO
his discourse Saturday evening to com
pare it with that to be given by the
several poplllst speakers who VIII be
here during the coming season, and if
they can discover any difference III the
lines of argument we will be glad TO
hear it. Joe is undoubtedly ashamed to
acknowledge populism as his political
creed and hides his political convictions
under the cover of mon -partlsanshlp, a
mark Of good sense tor which he has onr
commendation, but his entire speech
was founded and built upon the errors of
populism. In his opening lie named
France as one Of the prosperous nations
because it had blmetalism, but III tEls
the speaker presumed upon the ignor-
ance OF his hearers if he intended TO con-
vey the impre sson that France was
free silver country and implied an un
truth, as France is upon the single gold
standard basis the same as this country
is, and France and The nations OF the
| Latin union nave been on this basis
since 1876 1t France is prosperous it is
not because she is on u silver basis, as
she suspended free coinage of silver over
90 years ago, and ii her prosperity is be
cause of her monetary system, then the
cause we have practically the same
SYSTEM with the exception that France
has no government paper money. lMs
is one Of the things Joe did not explain.
Another OF the things he tailed to eA-
plain was that there is not single ma
tion on the face of the globe that is in an
advanced state Of civilization that is on
the silver basis or has free coinage OF
silver, and We defy any OF our populist
friends to name one. England, Ger
many, France, and every othes European
nation has long ago discarded free com
age of silver But Joe says it is treason
J for the United States TO make none
tary system like these nations. Let us
J see the nations Joe would have us pattern
J after. What are the the principal free
. silver countries Of the world. Here
they are: China, Japan, Mexico and
some OF the smaller South American
countries. Russia is on deprecated
paper basis with the free coinage Of sill
yer suspended. If it would be treason
to adopt the monetary system OF Ger
( many, France or Eng land, what would j
: be to adopt thu; Of China, japan and
Mexico? The first named is the most de
, graded and benighted nation on thu
/ earth, the second just struggling 4
, emerge from heathendom and bnrbarism
and the last named more than hun
dred years behind the advanced civiliza
8 ton that We enjoy. Yet Joe had tht
. effrontery to say that the silver nations
were the prosperous nations, but he wal
ashamed to name them. Do the Ameri
! can people want the .prosperity" O
China? Do they want the prosperity
OF Japan or Mexico? II they do the fre'
coinage Of silver may be the route 10 at
taia it.
q The prosperity" Of Mexico, of which
Joe SPOKE about without aLy persona
: knowledge, can be more fully ascertain
ed by inquiry OF two of our citizens wh'
have recently visited that country, th'
sheriff OF the county and Mr.. j. G
9 Wood. II their reports OF the ignor
5 ance, superstition, and squalid poverty Q
: the great mass Of the population are in
!. . dications OF prosperity resulting iron
a free silver, may kind providence an
: the good sense OF the American peopl
b long preserve us from such prosperity
l And Mexico is the best our free sllve
= friends can do for us, as conditions il
: China and Japan are still worse.
Joe SCOTS at the idea that the foreign
q in silver instead OF gold when the Amer
g lean ratio is 16 to and the European i
t but Isl to /, and his argument woul
: hold good if the bullion value of the tw
: : metals was indeed 16 to l, but he for
q got TO state that while this is tn
legal ratio. the commercial value OF til
metals is about 80 to l, and men are nc
in the habit OF canceling their debts wit
y q metal worth Il hundred cents Whe