The progressive farmer. [volume] (Winston, N.C.) 1886-1904, 1896-06-30

Of that duty. Parties may outlive
their usefulness; that truth never be-
comes obsolete. Every generation of
freemen has a right to affirm the truths
of past knowledge and present a
uuirem9nts; and if the enforcement of
these truths shall make necessary a de-
! parture from party organization, the
people have this right and will exercise
| it until old parties shall return to the
truth or new parties shall be created to
! eff ct it into law.
If the voices which have sounded to
us from every State in this union are
an indication of the real feelings, this
year is the appointed time for the PEG
| pie to assert themselves, through such
mediums as may give the best promise
of the achievements of justice. But
whether we are mistaken or not con-
corning the general sentiment in the
| United States, we have not mistaken
our own duty in Withdrawing from
the Republican convention, feeling
that it is better to be right and with
the minority in apparent defeat than
to be wrong with the majority in ap
parent triumph. We hold that in the
great work of social evolution in this
country, monetary reform stands as
the first requisite. No policy however
promising of good results can take it's
place. Continuation during the next
four years upon the present fioancial
system will bringdown upon the Amer
lean people that cloud Of impending
evil to avert which should be the
thought of statesmen and the first
prayer Of patriots. Oar very institu
tions are at stake. To day with the
rapidly increasing population, with
widely swelling demands, the basis of
our money is relatively contracting;
and the people are passing into a ser
vitude all the more dangerous because
it is not physically apparent. The ma
ton itself, as to other nations, is losing
the sturdy courage which makes it de-
iant in the face of injustice and inter
nal wrong.
From the farmer and the tradesman
to the government there Is apparent
the same shrinkage from giving Of
tense, lest the vengeance of some Of
Tended financial power should descend.
The business man submits some por,
ton of his judgment and his will, and
the nation submits some portion of its
international right lest some mighty
foreign creditor sh l make destructive
demands. When will all this end if
the people shall decline to assert them
selves? Where will it end if the older
parties in their determination t o main
tain themselves in power for powers
sake alone shall refuse to recognize
the right and the hope of humanity ?
This country cannot much longer exist
free and independent against all the
rest Of the world, nor can it's people
much longer be free in the noblest
sense of the term il the United States,
a debtor nation, shall follow a policy
dictated by creditor nations. We pro
duce all the necessaries of life. O.her
nations consume our product. In the
race for existence it is a constant strug
gle between producer and consumer
Our present system of money deliber
ately submits to the desire and the
profit Of creditor nations, leaving US in
the mass, and as individuals, a prev to
the money gathering and the deadly
cheepening of the old world. As the
debt to creditors abroad increases on
the masses Of the nation, the price of
human production on the farm and in
the workshop is decreased with appal-
ling rapidity, exactiDg more and more
to it from our citizens to meet the given
demand and holding over their heads
a threat Of the day when c~onfiscation
to meet their obligations will leave
them bare and d~efenseless. The only
remedy is to stop falling prices-the
deadiiest curse of national life.
Prices never will cease falling under
the single gold standard.
Tue restoration of b'm9tallism bv
this country will double the basis of
our money system. In time it will
double the stock OF primary money of
the world-will step falling prices and
steadily elevate them until they will
regain their normal relation to the
volume of debts and credits of the
world. Bimetallism will help to bring
about the great hope of every social
retOrmer, every believer in the ad-
vancement of the race who realizes
Z that the instability of prices has been
the deadly foe of our tilIers and the