The Stark County Democrat. [volume] (Canton, Ohio) 1833-1912, 1896-09-03


the government in the first place, to send
abroad and buy gold with United States
bonds in the second place, or, in the third
place, to increase the coinage of silver.
In 1893, when Senator Sherman was
called upon to vote and speak for the re-
peal of the law which bore his name when
he was called upon to reverse his opinion
held three years ago, that silver purchases
by this government ought to be increased,
he admitted that more money was neces-
sary to this country, and In addressing the
senate on the 18th Of October, 1893, when
the repeal of the Sherman act was under
consideration, he used these words
"We should relieve the farmer and his
product for free transportation to foreign
countries now clogged for want Of money.
In the present condition of affairs there is
no money to buy cotton and wheat for
farm consumption"
That, mark you, Is his utterance of Oc-
tober, 1893, calling for more money with
which to revive the farming industries of
this country, upon which every other in
dustry depends. Instead of going back, as
he did In his speech, to the time Of Jeffer-
son and jackson, 1t would have been bet
ter for Senator Sherman to recall those
words and look somew hat into the history
of this country from October of 1898 down
to the present time
Since that date $3.50, 900, 900 in gold
have been exported from this country to
Europe, and not only that, but the gov
ernment of the United States has sold
s262, 900, 600 Of bonds in order to keep up
the gold reserve in the United States treas
ury. Having gone into debt for that pur-
pose, what Is the condition of the United
States treasury today
We have just $40, 900, 900 of gold which
belongs to the United States treasury.
There are S26, 900, 900 that have been lent
to the treasury by the syndicate of New
York and foreign bankers, to be with
drawn as soon as the defeat of william J.
Bryan may be compassed. OF its own gold
the United States treasury has but s79,
900, 900 today, and whom Senator Sherman
spoke of the want of money in the United
States there were SS4, 900, 900 of gold
In other words, to take Senator Sher-
man upon his own ground since he spoke
| those words, the government of the United
! States has sold bonds to the amount of
! S262, 900, 600 to furnish the United States
| treasury with gold, and 1t has IS, 900, 900
less of gold than it had in October 1898.
And do you, citizens, realize what that
transaction meansY That though you are
poorer In your national treasury by Sc, 900,
900 you have incurred a debt of $507, 900,
| 600, for the principal and the interest of
those bonds that you must be taxed to
pay in the next 30 years amount to S507,
| 600, 000Y Think of that enormous burden
of debt to get more money, when $3.50, 600,
| 900 has left the country and the treasury
is poorer than ever
The Burden of Bad System.
Now, that argument address fairly to
business men. Senator Sherman ought to
tell the business men of this country, who
are still suffering from that stringency in
the money market of which Senator Sher-
man complained in 1898, how he proposes
to get out of this difficulty. Every business
man is interested. Every one of them,
however, may not be as free to speak upon
this question as l am, because fortunately
l do not owe any money that ! am not
able to pay.
The business men of this country we
propose to relieve Of the burden of a bad
system. Aye, more, we propose to relieve
the banks of a bad system 1t is an error
to suppose that we are waging war upon
an honest banking system or upon honest
bankers. l believe that in the main the
bankers of New England are honest men,
and they are trying to d6an honest bust
ness. 1 cannot pass the same compliment
to some of the men who are handling money
and running banks on Wall street in New
York.
know perfectly well that the banking
system Of this country is controlled in the
city of New York. l know that the banks
Of Boston in all their policy follow meek
ly the dictates of the New York banks;
know that every country bank is at the
mercy of the banks in the reserve cities
that 1t cannot say yes or no to anything
In the line of monetary policy, and there
are many honest bankers in New England
today who see the evils of this system, but
yet do not venture to make their opinions
public.
Honest bankers want money enough
with which to do honest business. take
1t that the banks of Massachusetts are not
curtailing credit today because they want
to. i think no doubt it is their wish to fur
nish every honest business man with the
whole limit of credit to which he may bS
entitled, and If now honest business mer
are being refused credit to which they are
honestly entitled it is because of a falsC
monetary system that has contracted the
circulating medium and put it into the
control, the absolute control, we may say
of a syndicate of banks and bankers in tn,
city of New York.
Let us look for moment at the condi
tion Of our banks as 1t may be compared
with the banks of Europe Since 1894, tn,
1st of January, since Senator Sherman
told the people of this country that they
needed more money-and the people, o
course, included the banks-since that
time the banks of Europe, according u
statistics furnished from the United
States treasury, have added $40, 900. 0O(
20 their reserves They have taken the
$4,000 900 that we sent abroad to
strengthen their reserves.
Now, look at the condition of the Amer
lean banks On the lst of January, 1894
the reserve in gold in the banks Of the
United States was S204, 900, 900; in May
last 1t was -s1bS, 600, 900. In other words
there has been a loss Of bank reserve gold
Of 46,000,000, Forty-two millions have
been gained by the treasury of the United
States In that same time, but the bank re
serves have been depleted in order to make
up that difference, Now, apprehend that
1t Is not the desire of the bankers of New
England or of the United States at large
that their reserve of gold or any othel
standard money should be cut down by q
bad monetary system.
Senator Sherman has frequently had oc
casion to find himself wrong, just as al
of us have. The difference among men II
that some of them, when they find them
selves wrong, admit 1t, and some do not.
sherman's Inconsistency.
Now at the time Senator Sherman made
this speech, In October of 1898, he had NJ
doubt an honest confidence in this golt
gygtem of hia And LET ts geo IN what ex