Democratic messenger., 1896-09-05

l
what do the laboring men say? 1t is
only Il little more than year ago that
Il petition was sent to Congress asking
for the immediate restoration Of the
free and unlimited coinage of gold and
silver at the present legal ratio Of Is
to |, without waiting for the aid of or
consent of any other nation. and it
was signed by the leaders of every
prominent labor orgauization in the
United States. (Applause.) Who can
best be trusted? The men who have
led the labor organizations in the
fights in the past, or the men who in
the past have used their power to
defeat the only protection of the labor
ing man, namely, his organization.
(Great applanse)
Now why did these laboring men
demand the restoration of silver? Be-
cause they know that when the dollar
goes up property goes down, and they
know that when property is falling all
enterprise is retarded and stagnation
follows. They know the gold standard
encourages the boarding of money in
stead of the expanding Of it in the de-
velopment Of the resources of the
country, and know that this policy of
boarding is driving thousands, and
tens Of thousands, and hundreds of
thousands of workingmen out in the
streets where they beg for the privi-
lege of working for their daily bread.
(AppIause.) { These workingmen know
that they cannot seperate themselves
from the tiller of the soil These
laboring men know that there can be
no prosperity in business in this coun-
uN uuiS-s tit iuiIlcI is sciili1 NIlut
he produces for more than what it
costs him TO produce it. (Applaus..) }
They know that dollar that decreases
the number of home owners and in
creases the number OF tenants impover-
ishes not only the farmer. but every
man who earns his bread by the sweat
of his brow, and they know that the
great toiling masses have 90, TO stand
together, and il may use one of the
early jokes. they have got to hang to-
gether or they will hang separately
applause
If a man says that he is opposed to
gold standard and is in favor of
bimetallism, hut SAYS that foreign aid
is necessary to support this govern
ment, Won tell him that there were
lots OF good citizens who thought the
same thing in l776, but they have
no monument. No monuments have
ever been erected by which 10 remem-
her them. (Applause.) If they tell
you that they don't want 53 3-cent
dollar, ask them ifthey ever got any of
those dollars, and if they have any to
sell now for 53 cents? You tell them
that under the free coinage the dol.
lar will be the same size that it is now,
the same weight, will have the same
tineness. 1t will be legal-tender,
better than il is to-day, because, while
the silver dollar to-day is legal.te
der unless somebody contracts against
it, the new silver dollar will be OF
legal altcnder, no matter whether man
hereafter tries To dcmonetize bv law
what the government calls money.
| You tell him that ii Il dollar is worth
lOO cents To day, because you can pay
your taxes with it and pay debts with
it, how he knows il is going to be less
when you make il better than it is
to day. (Applause.) If he says that
when you melt that silver dollar down
it is worth but 53 cents, you tell him
it is because the law says that if the
dollar melts you cannot have it coined
again, but must use it to make spoons
out of, but you intend by law to say
he can take it to the mint and have
it restamped again just as he can take
a gold dollar to-day and have it re-
stamped ii it melts. (Applause.)
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