The Redwood gazette. [volume] (Redwood Falls, Minn.) 1873-1940, 1896-10-15
AN EDUCATIONAL WORK
The People Must Learn that Gov
eminent Fiat Cannot
Make Money.
MEANING OF THIS CAMPAIGN,
With Nations as With individuals,
Honesty is Always the Best
Policy.

moral courage, a higher sense of respOn-
sibility, Il truer appreciation of the ire
mendOuS gravity of this crisis. We
want more real and lasting enthusiasm
a deeper and grander consecration to the
high mission which is before us. II
we have Il just conception of this ma
hOnal CXigency and of our opportunity,
we shall prosecute our work with in
creased fervor and power. Let US dedi-
cate ourselves with renewed zeal to this
campaign of education.
We must educate the people in ele-
mental principles. We must educate
them to understand that we cannot have
two standards of value any more than
two standards of weight or length. In
our modern civilization the function of
money as a measure of value is even
more important than its function as a
medium of exchange. Our exchanges
aggregate sixty thousand millions year,
but our money in circulation is only fiji
teen hundred millions. The bulk of the
exchanges is effected with checks and
other instruments of credit. But though
money itself is not exchanged all eN-
changes are measured in the dollar unit
of value. and the security and safety of
the whole volume depend on the integri-
ty OF that dollar unit, just as the safety
of every sale of cloth depends on the in
tegrity of the yard unit. You can make
a yardstick of wood or of ivory, but they
must have the same length. You can
y
must have the same value. You sell
cloth and measure the amount in dollars:
and whether you measure i'll half-yardS
| called yards or in 0O-Cent dollars called
| 1O0-ccnt dollars. the transaction is equal
ly fraudulent and dishonest. Our exist
| ing standard of value is the 1OO-ccnt gold
| dollar: free silver coinage would make
| our standard the 5O-cent silver dollar.
| and that is the reason why it would be
| crime of reputation, dishonor and dis
aSter.
We must educate the people that
government fiat cannot make money.
| The government stamp weighs ana GER
| titles. but does not create. Money is Of
| two kinds. real money and representa-
tive money. Real money has intrinsic
| value equal to its face. Representative
| money is Il promise to redeem in real
| money. The gold dollar is real money
| because it is worth 100 cents whether
coined or melted. The paper dollar is
| representative money because it Is sim
| ply a promise to redeem i'll real dollar.
| It's value is not in the stamp but i'll the
| fact that the stamps pledges 4 real
| dollar behind it. The present silver
| dollar is Dartly real and partly repre-
sentative. 1t has tifty-twO cents worth
of value and forthy EIGHT cents worth
of faith-faith that the government Will
fulfill its pledge of keeping it at parity
| with gold The proposed silver dollar
| under free coinage would be neither
real nor representative 1t could not
say even with the paper dollar. Il know
! that my redeemer liveth,' for there
| would be no redemption; and without re-
demptiOn its value would SINK 10 Us
| bullion value of tifty-twO cents. We
want neither cheap dollars nor cheap
men nor cheap presidents.
| We must educate the people that po-
litical independence is one thing and in
| dependence of the laws of trade and ma
iln r,,l
| ture is another. The most puerlle anu
yrotesque idea even in the boy orator
is his repeated and pet notion that be
cause this country declared political in
/ denpudpnce of Europe i'll 1II6 1t ought
II to declare an independent monetary
I standard in 1896. He seems to think
| that we ought to have Il distinct Amcfl-
| can measure of value because we nave
| y distinct American measure of liberty.
| We'll we can have American geography
| hecausp orr rivers and mountains ana
glorious fields with their rich harvests
| are our own: but we cannot nave an
| American arithmetic because ana
| do NOT make ; and 80 does not make 100
| in the Tinted States any more than in
| Europe. We can have an American po-
| liticaI economy because political econ
| omy is partly Il matter OF condltlohS anu
! our conditions are different from those
| of EurODe: but we cannot nave an
| American algebra because algebra IS
|
| encp. In algebra represents the I'M
known quantity, and thus it represents
I Rrvan after the election and not even the
Y RAYS will be able to disclose his seat
tered and shadOwy remains: A dlstlhct
| American. measure of value! Why not
have a distinct American measure OF
| length? Why not not have an American
| ward stick different in length from the
| English vard-stick? This talk OF an IN
| dependent measure shows calloW ana
| shallow mind. Do we not want COM
mercial relations with Europe: 20 we
! not seek to extend our trade! linen
| why do we not want Il colhlloh iledi"h'
| of exchange?
Above all and beyond all we must edu-
! te the peOple that national honesty and
| individual honesty are the best policy.
| Nations and individuals cannot close out
| ouit, They must keep up the account.
AVID for every act of fraud they will pay
| double the next time. We must educate
the people that there is Il legitimate
Amaricanism under which we DEFEND
what we have that is sound and fortend
| what we have not and don't want. We
are against the emigration OF good gold
and the immigration of bad blood. We
! are against the outflow of good circulation
| and the inflow of bad citizenship.
| We find communism. revolution and an
| srchy no more attractive and no less dan
l
| Rryan than when enforced by the bomb
| of Altgeld or the pitchfOrk of Tillman:
| We must tes>Sa the increasing lesson OF
patriotism and zidicule, and must educate
| the people to maintain the national honor
| as sacredly as they maintained the ma
| tiOnal life and to be no more ready IN
| 1896 TO cut in two the standard OF value
| which is the basis and measure of all
| business security than they were i'll 1861
| to cut in two the Union which is the ba-
| sis and measure of our national greatness
and glory.
We are met at the home of the great
! Datriot and statesman. the boy soldier
| and the man orator and leader, who by
| an unerring choice is fifty made the
| standard-bearer in this second mighty
| battle for national safety and welfare.
| Let us 90 from his enkindlng presence
and his glowing words with fresh inspira-
| ton and renewed strength for the cam
| paign of education.-Speech of Charles
| Emory Smith before the Ohio Editorial
! association at Canton, September 8, 1896.
! The business men as rule ~ the towns
I; of Nebraska are for Mckinley and sound
| money The business men of Iowa are
for Mckinley and sound money. The
| business men of Kansas are for Mckin-
| lev and sound money. The business men
| of the entire nation are so nearly unanl-
| nous for Mckinley, that the pOpocrat
candidate constantly appeals to what he
| calls 1.-The Masses" and tries to unite
them against the business man. Now,
| why are the business men of the United