Birmingham state herald., 1896-07-25
AN OBJECT LESSON FOR LABORINd
 AND BUSINESS MEN.

Of James & John DobSOn in Manayunk, Pa, employing 5000 hands, were partially shut down, and in a few days the last of
 the employees will be lt off and the great plant shut down indefinitely-until times improve and business becomes more prosperous. The products of the mills include woolen blankets, cloths, doeskin, plush velvet, women's dress goods, carpets, etc.
 Strong efforts have been made by the gold standard advocates in and about Philadelphia to make political capital out of this misfortune to both labor and capi- tai, by ascrbing the temporary shut down" of that immense industrial plant to the agitation for free silver, and espe cialy to the action of the Chicago con vention. In this instance, as usual, the gold shriekers have been hoisted on their own petard, for in explaining and stating the cause of the suspension MT Dobson said:
 We have been running for months without an order, in expectation of be- ing able to find an improvement in the market. All these goods are awaiting buyers, and until they turn up our mills cannot continue in opera tion. It is not a story of today or yesterday, but the de- pression has continued to grow worse for several years. The dullness in trade can be attributed to a lack of purchasing power on the part of the general public. When every working man and every working woman is employed at good wages they have in their hands the power to make others prosperous by pur- chases.
 "The Chicago convention has had noth- ing to do with the stoppage of our mills. Things have been getting steadily worse for several years"
 There you have it--a statement of the whole matter in a nutshell A great in- dustrial institution indefinitely shut down, thousands of wives and children on the high road to starvation and naked ness-and why? Because of "a lack of purchasing power on the part of the gen. eral public" And we have but to read the next sentence in MT. Dobson's state- ment to find the cause of this lack of purchasing power on the part Of the general public. And why is not every working man and working woman em- ployed al good wages? Simply and solely because there has been for years, under the operation and influence of the repub- lican British gold standard, severe and constant depreciation of the exchange able values of all commodities and prod ucts-or what is the same, an ever en- hancing value of gold, the measure Of value of all commodities and products so that careful business men have been unwilling to invest their money in trade or enterprise of any kind with the cer- tainty that the products and manufac- lures of today will not bring their cost thirty or sixty days hence; therefore, a curtailment of output, necessitating re- duction in the number of employed wage earners, a greater competition of labor for employment and consequent reduc- ton of wages, either in time or dollars, and oftentimes both.
 It is conceded, even by the advocates of the gold standard, that an increase in the
 volume of money will increase the price
 of all agricultural products, in raising
 which nearly one-half our population is
 engaged. If this be true, and no one
 doubts it, the inevitable result would be benefit to all classes, trades, industries, enterprises, callings and professions-ex- cept the pawnbrokers money gamblers and mortgage and bond steerers-for to put 1t in the forceful and truthful lam guage of an intelligent laboring man: "If our farmers are prosperous, all branches of industry will prosper. Pep
  tories will run six days in a week instead of four as at present. Men will not walk the streets from early morning until
 night looking for work. Farmers could
 then afford to pay laborers wages and
 not overwork themselves as they now do to keep from debt and ruin. With them the wages of all worangmen will increase and all will be benefited. We can pay better prices for our flour and meat if times are good and money plen- Nx.f.. Nf Phi rgf ucts increase in value here, they will also advance abroad. The value of silver fixes the price of wheat and cotton, and we will receive yearly many millions of dollars more for what we export and be able to build railroads, open mines, start factories and give work and steady em- ployment to thousands now, per force, idle and in distress. This country can absorb all the silver we can mine for years to come, and workmen will have steady work, good pay and be good citi- zens and happy.
 Looking upon this true picture of the effect of a return to the monetary sys- tenn which prevailed Tn this country prior to 1873, and knowing, as every intelli- gent and unprejudiced person will ad- | init. that the single gold standard has brought nothing but national bank ruptcy and ruin, poverty, distress and misery to the people or lnlS natloIl, eS- pecially during the last three years, it would seem that nothing short of fatu- ous blindness or irredeemable reprobacy of heart could prevent every patriotic American voter from repudiat- ing the party, its platform and candi- date that commits itself to this most iniquitous of financial systems and would bind American manhood and independ- ence and honor to the juggernaut car of | international gold conspirators and | blood-sucking tariff barons. combines, | trusts and monopolies of this country | and Europe.
 | RICH BOODLERS VS. HONEST TOIL- | FRS.
 T. N. Jamieson, chairman of the repub- | lican state central committee of Illinois,