The Portland daily press., 1896-09-02

Suppose the silver orators who are now
speaking in this State should appear be-
fore their audiences some evening and
address them thus:
Cheapnegs of the necessaries of life is
curse to the human race People will
never be prosperous and conterted until
hour is doubled in price, until corn has
gone up one half, until it costs twice
as muon for suit of clothes. Prosperi-
ty depends upon the making of it harder
Tor the masses to get good food and raj
ment and comfortable homes.
Suppose the free silver orator should
make this kind of speech to the working
people who had gathered to hear him !;
does any one think his sentiments would
be applaudedP Yet the great majority
of the silver orators are making speech
es which. stripped Of their disguises,
mean this and this only. What is the
fundamental complaint against the dol
lar as it exists todayP That it buys too
much; that when the workingn,an takes
his wages and goes into the market to
buy food and clothing for himself and
his family he gets too much for his
money. Now there are two ways to
make it buy less. One is to destroy all
the labor saving machines that have
been Invented for the past fifty years.
If the reaper and binder which now
reaps the wheat in the field and collects it
into bundles could be blotted out -four
would undoubtedly go up, the lahoring
mans dollar would buy less of it and
according to these silver orators the
wage Garner would be on the high road
to prosperity. To tsar up the railroad
tracks and go back to the old method of
transportation by means of horses would
also tend to promote the general prosper
ity, since it undoubtedly would ad
vance tie price of Western produce to
the Eastern consumer. Then that the pros
perity of the people of the Western
States might not be less as compared
with those of the East from the fact that
they could get -four cheaper on account
ct being nearer the wheat fields, the cot
ton and wooden factories of this section
might be torn down and the price of
clothing increased to the West as oompen-
sation for it's disadvantage of cheaper
food. The destruction of machinery
would by all odds be the most effective
means of increasing prices, and thus
putting US on tho road to prosperity.
The silver orator has not yet, however,
proposed this method of raising prices,
because, perhaps. he fears the public has
not been educated up to the virtues of
dear food and clothing sufficiently to per-
nit it to be done. Perhaps later he will
recommend this process. His first meth
cd is to cut the dollar in two. He is
going to get the laboring man to call fifty
cents dollar, while the storekeeper con-
times to call it fifty cents. Thus the
laboring man will get only half as much
-four or clothing as he did before-in
other words, prices will go up and pros
perity will be with us once more. II
may strike the wage Garner that there ism
process, but he must bear In mind that
the capitalists and bankers are opposed
to the splitting Of the dollar, which OF
course they would not be unless it were
in some way beneficial to the masses,
for all bankers and capitalists are inter-
ested in the greatest destruction Of pros
perity possible, and hence though his
reason rebels he must go in for high prices
on the strength Of his prejudices against
gold bugs and bankers.
This method of promoting prosper
ity appears somewhat absurd when
stripped Of the decorations with which
the silver orator embellishes 1t, too alb
surd for any body to seriously offer, yet
it is really the dish which is set be-
fore the wage Garner and of which he is
invited to partake.