Birmingham state herald. (Birmingham, Ala.) 1895-1897, 1896-10-04

of corruption in high places" of which
Mr.. Lincoln prophesied, and 1t is to be
hoped that the bond sale of the present
treasurer, by which the government was
f1eeced out of millions, will be the end,
If we succeed, would not be surprised
to see some very high officials wearing
the stripes of the prison garb.
Motive Not so Cents Dollars.
Now, what was the motive of the
money power for demonetiZing silver in
1873? Why the necessity for the secrecy
that shrouded that act. What was their
motive for doing away with half the me-
tallic money of the country? 1t was not
because of the so-called SO cent. dollar,
because at that time, silver was at a
premium over gold of 3 per cent Their
motive was to decrease the amount OF
money IN the country, so as to make the
balance, held and controlled by them,
scarcer and more valuable.
Does not the same motive exist today
for not wanting silver restored as money?
Is not their motive still to keep money
scarce? Is there any sincerity in their
talk about the so cent dollar?
They say that 1t is not right to legis-
late value in silver. Was 1t right for
them to leglslate value out Of silver in
1873? We simply want to restore things
as they existed before 1873.
The free coinage of both gold and sill :
yer at the ratio of 16 to l. is not an expeA
thing, and has proven failure in every
country in which it has been adopted.
Gold and silver has been the money of
the people from the beginning of civiliza-
ton. The Bible ratio was exactly Is to
]. Turn to the table of weights and
measures in your Bible, and you will see
that a talent or kikar (the Hebrew for
talenD of gold is exactly sixteen times
the value of talent or kikar Of silver.
OF course, ingenious men can urge
~ III IL 10 nf
money, but money composed of gold
and silver, which has stood the test of
ages, the supply of which Is regulated
by nature, is better than any system, the
supply CT which is controlled by man.
The plan of our opponents is to have
only gold as primary money, to be sup
plemented by paper money of the ma
| tional bank, which it can issue and draw
in at will.
1t is too great power to put in the
hands of a few men to regulate the sup
ply of the money of the country. Be
cause the amount of money in the coun-
try regulates the price of all else, and
therefore 1t is dangerous to put it in the
power of any set of men to put up or put
down the value of other mems property.
That class is very certain to use that
power in their own selfish interests.
Which is better-gold and silver, which
comes from two sources so that If one
fails, the other can supply the demand,
which. If one is cornered. the other can
he used in paying debts-which is better,
this gold and silver, supplied by nature,
or the money of the bank, that can be
withdrawn at will?
Gold Alone Not Adequate.
Now, 1t Is conceded that gold alone is
not adequate for the money supply of the
country. It's production and coinage Is
not keeping, and cannot keep pace with
the increasing population Statistics is
sued by Mr. Carlisle himself, demonstrate
this.
The treasury reports show that there
is more than 100 millions less money in
this country today than there was one
year ago. In other words, that there has
been a currency contraction, of more
than per cent
Now, why is this? Because gold and
silver are no longer admitted to coinage
at the mints but only gold, and the coin
age of gold is not keeping up with our in
creasing population and business.
What is the result? 1t is continuous
falling prices. Why? Because all prop
cry, being mea sured by the money in tn
country, decreases in value in the sam
proportion that money decreases In vol
ume. The scarcer money becomes, thf
dearer and more valuabl 1t becomes, anc
the less valuable all property, which is
measured by 1t, becomes. No intelligent
man can deny this proposition.
That gold has appreciated and Is APP
denied. The Encyclopedia Britannica,
written more than ten years ago. gold
standard authority, says that gold had
appreciated up to that time rs per cent.
Masses Will Get Poorer and Poorer.
Under the existing state of things,
therefore. the masses, who are the hold
ers of property, are becoming poorer and
poorer every day, while the holders Of
money are getting richer and richer
every day. You have the property; they
the money. Yours is growing less valu-
able; theirs more valuable, and day after
day you are becoming less able to support
your families, pay your taxes and your
debts.
The people are realizing this, and they
are not mistaking the cause, notwith-
standing the representations daily sent
out by wholesale from the money centers.
Nor is the laboring man being fooled by
their pretended solcitude for his welfare.
I AS they see this state of things the peo-
pie are becoming wrought UP to de-
gree not realized by the multi-millionaires
who sit in their gilded palaces, utterly re-
CARELESS of the want and misery OF the
land. where plenty should abound.
You often hear this class say regarding
those who have fallen by the wayside:
1.-THE lazy devils will not work" / say
that This is not true. OF course there are
many instances of distress attributable
to trifiingness, but where there Is one
such case there are thousands caused by
depreciation of property of those in debt.
brought about by falling prices result-
ing from currency contraction.
Many of this class from the ranks OF
business have come under my own per-
sonal observat ion. where, by shrnkage OF
their property, they have become utterly
unable to pay mortgages in appreciated
money and have lost everything, and
some are IN most destitute circumstances.
The wife has had to give up her home for
Ill and 4 he mot he n
children suffer even for the necessaries Of