, 1896-09-04

Tor ~ POUNDS OF sugar. l Will Jake IL
around 10 broker and get two silver
dollars Off 1t, and get the 20 pounds OF
sugar and have one silver dollar left.
So it is. my friends. We can OF our
selves, of our own wisdom, declare the
unit of value. We can coin silver e
ly, fJGE we ON MO. make 16 ounces Of
silver equal to l ounce of gold unless
it ia. And IL is not unless the mer-
chan 5 take it at that rate. That is
~hsqe all ilhfs thing comes in. 1t. is
u, de; it is the merchant; it is the man
WIN exchanges and deals in these
things that fixes their relative value,
and if you do not taxi the value he
fixes the geld dollar will go back to
the gold valut. and the gold will go out
of circulation.
ANOTHER CONSEQUENCE.
Wtn..l is another consequence? In
this connection these gentlemen say:
why did nc. we win the battle at
Bunker Hill? Did not We whip the
British at Yorktown, and do you mean
20 shy we can't do 1t again."
The logic of these gentlemen-if
nily use sudh a term in connection
with such baldeldash-is that a nation
that can do these great things and es-
tablioh its political independence can
| also be financially and commercially
free. 1t can moi be free of the laws of
tnuLle. They can say that 10 muskrat
skins are equal to n beaver skin, but
hat don't make 1T so: THE fur trader
fixes that question.
What is the mex suggestion? 1t is,
my friends, in the cast of free silver.
What is The financial and moral equiv
alent of a declaration that 50-cent
Pieces are dollars. They might just
as well pass a law that so cents is a
dollar. That would not make it so.
would bt? But it would be a legal dol
hr. But it would mot buy a dollars
worth of anything. What is THE eff
feet of that? The merchant would take
care of himself. A man keeps a store
down here on Broadway and the law
is gloing into operation tonight. He
summons all his clerks and buys rs
ceriss worJh of pencils, and before he
opens his store in the moring he has
marked up his goods to the new scale.
He CAN do all that.
There are great numbers of people.
numberless people, who enlist our in
tereSt and some OF whom enkindle our
sympa,jhies, who can not use the pen
cil. Take the 'workingman. He can
not go to the payroll with a pencil and
m,ark III up. He has got to consult
somebody. He has Ito enter into an
argument. He has got to get some
other mans consent before he can
mark up his wages.
Then, there is the pensioner, those
who are receiving pensions from this
government for gallant deeds done in
the war, and others for the loss OF be-
loved e He can not take his pen
sfon certificate, and when II reads So,
"a IL u Wv 1 u " Oh
appeal to congress. and a congress
that is populfstic in character Would
be ,lnsympathetic. He must make an
appeal to congress to have his pension
raised to twice what ut was before he
is made equal. What can the deposit
ors lin our savings banks, this great
company of widows and orphans, the
people of small means who are putting
by "a few pennies against a hard time
I'm .lt what can they do when this
chang comes? Can they take their
bank pass books. and where 1t says SO,
write $50? Not at all.
Take The men who have life inlsur
'ance. A man has p~rovidently taken
out "a policy that his widow and chill
dren might not come to want when
the bread win ming hand was stricken
in death. Can they, where the policy
reads 5000. make ut $40, 900? Can the
managers Of these Institutions make II
night with them? No. This policy
coerces integrity. However honest a
president OF a savings bank may be,
however 'full Of sympathy the presi-
dent OF "a life insurance association
may be. he fs compelled ito say:
"All Of the oans of this company are
scaled down TO 50-cent dollars. We
foaned dollars that were worth 100
CENTS, but we are NOW being paid In the
reduced dollar. Although the integrity
revols against 1t. our honesty is coerc-
ed and we must pay the widow half
My friends. these men surely do moi
contemplate the Unbelievable and ex-
'tensive character Of the disaster and
disturbance and disruption which they
are proposing for all OF us in all our
business affairs, great and simple. Take
nc .fafbortng man, how full OF sym
ptathy they are for him. My country
laTborinlg man in my life. l have never
sought Ito reach his vote or influence
by appeals Ito THAT part OF his nature
chat will poflute the intellect and the
conscience. I have believed, and / be-
lieve today, that any system that main
.uains the prices of labor IN this coun-
try. THAT brings hope tnyio the life OF
the laborHng man, thnat enables him to
put by, that gives him a share IN the
property Of the country. Il the policy
ttat should be our American policy.
htn M routuHoa L. pu>~r, ~~onn~~>t-~- Ahl-