The representative. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1893-1901, 1896-02-26
NELSON'S SPEECH.
Correct ane Incorrect Statistics logically An
allied, and Almost Wholly Misapplied.

allied, and Almost Wholly Misapplied.
Editor Representative:
Senator Knute Nelson, several years
ago, was a member of the house. Then
he favored free coinage of silver and was
a free trader. These sentiments coupled
with the fact that he was always kicker
passing for reforms in the Republican
party, as we'll as in the state at large,
made him the candidate of his party for
Governor on two transcendent points of
vOidability-that he was in sentiment
nearer populist than any other Repub-
can, and the other, that he was Nor
wegian He was successful, and used his
office as stepping stone to reach the
United States senate. On Jan. 9th we
heard from him on the silver question,
and here is what this hired man of the
Plutocrats has to say:
THE free and unlimited coinage of sill
yer, at a ratio of 16 to 1, by the United
States alone at this time and under ex-
listing conditions will destroy the last
vestige and last hope of genuine bimetal-
lism, and will reduce us to pure state
of silver monometallism with Mexico,
China and Japan as our chief metallic
money associates. Complete bimetallism
implies not only equal mint privileges,
but also equal facilities of circulation"
II so, why don't you tell us? OF course
the only answer to this is, that god will
go to premium and hence won't circu-
late, and that we shall be just like Mex
leo, China and Japan. Of course China
is so anomalous in it's variety and do,
nestle condition, as to be incompatible
with this or any other country. The
condition of Mexico and Japan he leaves
unstated, but one would infer that those
countries were now in the throes of ex-
piring agony, on account of bimetallism,
which is wholly untrue.
Since 1891, Mexico has more than
doubled her miles of railway, increased
her mining products 33 per cent, doubled
her power to manufacture -four, and
nearly or quite doubled her exports of
products. President Diaz said in his last
message: Mexico now enjoys her great
est season Of prosperity"
Let Knute prove DiaZ liar before you
begin to shudder at her awful condition.
FIGURING mills are either now in full OBJ
GRAFTON or will be soon. in every coast
city of Importance from Pasadena to
Salinas Cruz, and are now absorbing the
entire crop of California wheat. This
will soon be followed by the Mexican
wheat buyer in Kansas, and probably
Minnesota.
Japan, too. Notwithstanding her de-
structive war. is not by any means in a
deplorable domestic condition. Wages
are low there,-very low-but yet higher
than ever known before. One million
spindles are spinning cotton, largely
American, in Osatus, while she is run
ming knitting machines in such numbers
as to place her goods in all the Eastern
markets. She is now selling first class
bicycle in San Francisco for $40, and has
also tackled the type writer. Her matches
are underselling the protected matches
in our own markets. She floats $50, O0O,-
GOO OF gold as money side by side with
$751;, 100000 of silver, and on a parity: but
when~she wants foreign exchange, she
uses gold because it buys twice as much
as silver.
1t is seldom man has made a more
unfortunate mastake as Knute in allud-
ing to these countries, for they are inst
now the most prosperous on earth. He
is equally unfortunate as to "also eoua,
faculties of circulation" The power to
circulate is inherent in the coin and not
in the metal; hence bimetallism has
nothing to do with its circulating facul-
ties This can be made plain at a glance
The average coin value of our gold coins
now in circulation is fully $14 each, and
is full legal tender. This coin value
equals 1,400 pennies, legal tender, for
only twenty-five cents or less. Even
knute must admit that 1,4OO cents have
vastly larger faculty of circulation
than $14 of gold. The gold dollar, when
coined, never had high faculty of cir
culation, as it was too small, and too cas-
lily abraded. There is no coin but has a
more potent faculty of circulation than
any gold coin ever minted.
Senator Nelson next touches on the
coinage of 1892, and alludes to it as a
failure of bimetallism. This question
has been reviewed by me so many times
that l will now allude to one view he
takes which is new in congressional too
much gold was put into the eagle of those
days and also the dollar. If this is the
fact how can it be used as an argument
against bimetallism? It is true that the
law of 1892 valued gold equivalent of a
| dollar ten cents less than did Europe,
and silver over 3 per cent less than Eu-