Wheeling Sunday register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1882-1934, 1896-09-13

Al that time, for a period OF about
twenty-five years, there was a great
war between England and France, and
in order to carry On that war against
Napoleon, England had 10 have a great
many foreign allies-RusSia, Prussia,
Austria and others-and in order TO
enable those governments 10 carry on
the war, Great Britain loaned them
large sums of money. That war lasted
for nearly twenty-five years, and Eng
land loaned them a grea, deal Of money
in a deprecietsr currency, and when the
war was over Great Britain found that
nearly every other nation in Europe
was indebted to her in vast amounts.
In fac, nearly one-half the wealth of
of England was leaned abroad and the
English government saw that il would
be greatly 10 her Advantage if she could
have all those debts paid in one kind of
money. Therefore she monetized
silver, and declared that she would only
accept gold in paymen; of the debts due
her. The oth:r countries submitted.
and were willing to pay back in gold
what they had borrowed in silver or
paper, and things went on All the
other countries continued to coin silver,
and things went on in this way until
the close Of the great war between Ger
many and France, in 1871. Then Ger
many eXacied . thousand millions from
France, and Bismarck found that al
though they had abOU, one hundred
millions Of silver in Germany it would
be Of advantage TO Germany 10 demcne-
tie silver and use gold, using the one
enc hundred millions CT silver as sub
sidi2ry coin. There was also four or
five thousand millions owing to
Germany, and If she could get il
paid back in gold It would be
. good thing for her. so she struck down
silver. That eft silver demonetized. by
Great Britain and Germany. Then, in
1873. they looked over the water and
saw here a great naticl when owed
Europe Germany three or four thou
sand millions and Great Britain eight
or ten thousand millions. and it occur
red to The great LONDON bankers that if
they could get our people 10 demone.ize
silver We would have 10 pay our debts
in gold, which would become twice as
valuable Is when they leaned the mon
ey. So, in short time after Germany
had demonetizsd silver there was a great
3sSemblaga of bankers IN London. and
they sent man named Ernest Seyd
over here with $500. coo to be used in de-
mone,iZ.ng silver. What become of the
100000 no one knows. but as a result.
silver was stricken down in 1873.
Now, il is true that the bill was be-
o. i So. ~
ana was discussed in Congress for a
year or more. bUt Il was MOI known by
any body Wh2, was contemplated and
the newspapers Of the country never
heard of it. It is true that il was dis
cusSsd in the Senate and in the House.
but that bin contained nine thousand
words, and about ten words in the mid
de of it GemCnetized silver. The Bill
was talked about. but not a Senator told
the country that there was a clause in
IL demCnetzing silver. and no one ever
thought tina, /; would dem0net.ze silver,
and If my Republican friends think that
! m!srepresent the facts. I Will say that
there is a public library in Wheeling
where the Wheeling Intelligencer has
been on file for forty years. and any
man can 60 there and look al the
Wheeling InJelige2cer and the Register
for 1878 and he viii never find one line
in those papers telling anything about
ths bill demonetizing silyer-nOt one
Enc or one sentence in either one of
those papers.
Now, why was silver demonetized?
Why was one-half OF the money metal
Of this country withdrawn from circula-
tiOn? The people cidl', know anything
about it for years How many CT you
knew Of it? How many of you. indeed.
knew how we were indebted abroad?
How many Of you know that one-ffth
of our wealth is owned in England?
How many Of you know it to-day? How
many of YOU know that the Baltimore
and Ohio railroad is owned in England?
It is mortgaged to the banks in London
for more than il is worth to-day, and
you wiz notice that the Baltimore and
Ohio is fighting Bryan very strongly.
Henry NJ Russell. one OF its attorneys.
and Col Robert White. another Of its
attorneys, and John B3sse,l, OF Clarks-
burg, another Of It's attorneys, are fight
ing Bryan. They have received thei.
orders from the bondholders. They
have been tod to make your voters
stand by us. We have $40,000,000 loan
Cd on that road, and We want 1t back in
gold, and you, Mr.. Russell and you,
Col. White. and you. Mr. Basel, will
have to aid in defeating Bryan and aid
us" That is why there IS pressure on
the railroad men and / say 10 you men
g ba ho Sc o,f fr.fra
Of the Baltimore and Ohio road but il
is true of that little road which runs
from Wheeling to Huntington and on
to Kentucky, and of other railroads.
They are all mortgaged to London. and
their policy is dictated from London,
and you are under threats from LON
bard street From there the orders
have gone forth to the railroads; vote
your employees in our interests" But
If | know anything about the American
people and their courage and determin-
ation-as long as a particle of the spirit
of rs remains in them, the day will
never come when free born American
citizens will elect a President of the
United States at the command Of Great
Britain. (Applause)
Why did Great Britain want silver
demonetized? Why, We owed Great
Britain $4,000, 100000. She had mort
cages on our breweries, on our rail-
roads. on our large corporations, ana
we owed her one-ha,f our State and
municipal debt, much Of 1t loaned years
before silver was demone;ized, and
when silver and paper was your law
ful money. and they looked over the Sit
uation and saw that if the American
people were green enough TO strike
do,-n silver gold alone would b. lett.