The new dominion. [volume] (Morgantown, W. Va.) 1876-1904, 1896-08-22
"A Dollar As True As A BusheI

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workingmen at Canton on the 30lh
ult. Major Mckinley said:
A disordered currency is fatal to
industry, frugality, and economy. 1t
fosters the spirit of speculation and
lextravagance. 1t is the most effect
ual of inventions to fertilize the rich
mans fields with the sweat of the
poor mans brow.
That which we call money, my fell
low citizens, and with which values
are measured and settlements made,
must be as true as the bushel which
measures the grain Of the farmer and
as honest as the hours Of labor which
the man who tolls is required to give.
loud applause. The one must be
as full and complete and as honest
as the other. (Applause.) Our
currency Of today is good-all of it
as good as gold, and tits the unfalter-
ing determination Of the republican
party to so keep and maintain it for
ever. (Cheers) 1t is the duty of
the people of this country to stand
united against every effort to de
grade our currency or debase our
credit. (Cries of "They will"
twill be observed that he says IA
disordered currency is the most eff
fectual ofinventions to fertilize the
rich mans fields with the sweat of
the poor mans .brow."A little further
on he says that"our currency today is
good-all of it as gold.''
Our currency being good-as good
as gold (Which he seems to regard as
the infallible test) and it having
been as good as gold ever since the
first day of January, 1879, according
to his philosophy, the rich man has
had no advantage during that time.
and the poor mans lot has been hap
ply in the highest degree. But how
does that philosophy square with the
facts? When in all the history of
the nation has the wealth of the few
and the poverty of the many increas :
ed as during the last twenty years
1t is now strictly in order for Mr..
Mckinley to cast his eyes at the
multimillionaires in great money
centers, then take a glance at the
vast armies Of unemployed, ill-fed,
ill-clad and suffering who live in the
very shadow of the formers palatial
abodes, and having obtained a fair
appreciation of the difference in their
relative condition, tell us frankly
what's the matter Wehad high
protective tariff all the time until
August, 1894, and have not a very
low tariff now. From Jan. |, 1879,
until to-day our money has~all been
las good as gold" and yet, subject
to brief spasmodic revivals, shard
times" has been the cry, the burden
of debt has steadily increased, bust
ness has been sluggish, the country
has been foil of homeless tramps,
poverty has steadily increased, while
the rich man has grown fatter and
fatter as the years have gone by.
Again we ask him, what is the
matter? Is it to continuance of
this good money! feast that he iu-
vites us? Will he be kind enough
to lay aside just once his high flavor
rhetoric and show us specifically
how the gold standard is benefting
the country, and how free coinage
would make the poor mans condi-
ton worse than it is now? We de-
mand the specifications. We always
knew that Major Mckinley believed
in good money''-as he understands
the term-that is, money as good as
gold. 1t is quite astound ing, howev-
err to learn from his own lips that
he also wants money as true as the
bushel which measures the farmer S
grain" How the gold standard an
swers to that description it would
no doubt puzzle him to explain.
The bushel measure of to-day will
hold precisely the same quantity of
grain that it would in 1S73-not a
kernel more OF less. That is true
measure. No one will dispute it..
But how about the gold dollar?
Does Major Mckinley think that
it measures the same quantity of
wheat or anything else as it did in
1873? If he does think so, it simply
proves his ignorance, and he ought
to do little reading. If he does
not known that a gold dollar has
really twice the exchange value that
it had in 1873 he shonld never refer
to the monetary question again
until he learns it. If he does know
it, and still believes that the gold
dollar is as true a measure as the
bushel, we can only pray to the AL
mighty to brighten his intellect. It