The Roanoke daily times. (Roanoke, Va.) 1895-1897, 1896-09-18

thu world. (Applause.)
81 understand some of your merchants
have brought Mexican dollars into your
community to teach the evil of free sill |
yer. "a voice: That's rightly No. it !
is wrong. Qaughter.) 1t is peculiar |
campaign upon which we are entering.
Heretofore the merchant has been satisfied
to act as the merchant and sell his wares
to anybody who would buy; but in this
campaign the merchant has turned
school teacher, and is attempting to use
his business to teach object lessons in
finance and insult the intelligence and
patriotism of those who pay money for
his goods. They tell you If we have free
silver we will go to the Mexican stand
ard and our dollar will be worth no more
than the Mexican dollar. When man
tells you that, ask him whether the Mex
lean dollar is good to pay taxes, aud he
will tell you no. You tell him our silver
dollar is good enough to pay taxes now,
and will be good enough to pay taxes
undep the free coinage of silver. Gap
plause.) Ask him if the Mexican dollar
is good enough to pay debts with, and he
will say no. You tell him our silver
dollar is now good enough to pay debts
with in the United States unless it is
contracted against, and under free coin
age it will be as good as 1t is now-and
better, because we expect to prevent the
making of contracts hereafter that will
demonetize by contract what the govern
ment does not demonetize by law. (Ap-
plause.)
"And let me pause to say that while it
seems that great many bankers deem
1t their duty to support Il gold standard,
yet that is no reason why the Western
and Southern bankers in the West and
South should not think for them selves in
stead of taking their opinions ready made
from bankers in New York, who import
them from London. We would have more
free silver bankers. Applause.) If the
bankers would stop to think for q mo-
ment, they would know if the farmers
could get better prices for their produce
they would have more money to deposit
in the banks, and the money of this
country would not be drained year after
year into the laps of those abroad who
hold their notes while we pay them in de-
preciated products (Applause.)
II am reminded of something I heard
this morning. y gentleman in town
not far from here was reading to an
audience statement made in e goldbug
| catechism. 1t was that the farmers Of
this country were never more prosperous
than they are to-day, and the speaker
said to the audience: ANY farmer here
they ever were in the United States. let
him hold upshis hand, and two hands in
the audience went up. He, surprising
that they were persons who had inherited
their wealth, said: Perhaps you got
your wealth from your parents, and they
said: We are kept by the State and it
turned out they were two harmless per-
sons from the insane asylum. N.auph-
ter.)
Our opponents tell lis that we have
plenty OF money in this country, and vet
they are the people who rejoice whenever
any money comes from abroad If we
nave money enough in this country now,
why do we want any money to come from
abroad? Nobody wants too much. and if
we had enough now we will have too
much II any more comes here from
abroad. But when our opponents sny it
IS good to have money come from abroad
they admit we have not enough now.
And If we have not enough now in this
country to do business with, is it better
to bring that money out of our noun
talns and put it into circulation and let
1t be our money instead of going abroad
and borrowing money to use, which we
have to pay back and pay interest on it
while we use it? (Applause)
81 am not acquainted with local mat
tiers in your State. You have differences
among you over those issues. But beg
OF you that you will let nothing prevent
the consolidation of those who believe in
the money of the constitution. (Ap-
plause.) l trust that you will allow no
personal differences or local matters to
prevent you casting the solid and united
vote, not only for Presidential electors.
but for members of Congress who will
give a President chance to vote for n
free coinage law. (Applause.)
II know not what position you may
take on other subjects, but if you are op-
posed to European domination in orr
financial affairs, if you are opposed to
syndlcates running this government for
private gain, if you are in favor of the
Immediate restoration of free and unlim-
tied coinage OF both silver and gold Mt
the ratio of 16 to 1 without the aid or
consent of any other nation, then let
your ballots express what you think, and
let no one have your suffrage who does not
stand squarely on that PLATFORM ZAP
plause.
SHORT SPEECH AT DURHAM.
Durham, n. c., Sept. 17.-After leav-
ing Greensboro there were short stops at
Burlington and Hillsboro, where Mr..
Bryan spoke briefly to the several hun.
dred people gathered about the depot.
At Durham, the next STOP Mr.. Bryan
spoke from platform at the depot, and
said in part:
The price of silver depends on supply
and demand and no matter how much The
production falls, if the supply does not
increase as rapidly ms the demand for it
the price of it will rise. They tell you
that you cannot legislate the two metals
together because of their varying produc-
tion, but they forget that when the Gov
eminent stands ready to take all the gold
for certain price and all the silver Mt
HArfAiQ Ilrina nd L.,