Alma record. (Alma, Mich.) 1878-1928, 1896-02-28
A LIE WELL NAILED.
TRUTH is ALWAYS ON THE SIDE
OF SILVER.
A sample of the Rot with Which the
Gold Standard Advocates are Try
ing To Mislead the People of the
West.

One of the clearest and strongest OF
recent writer's in the cause of silver res
! toraton is S. S. King of Kansas City,
| Kansas. He is the author of "A Few
| Financial Facts" Sample Silver
| Bricks" and other works on economic
| questions. He writes mainly from the
! standpoint Of the farmer. and shows IN
| the most impressive way how agricul-
ture, in nearly all its branches, has been
| crippled since 1873. Sample Silver
Bricks" is most admirable little
pamphlet, in which several lines of in
dustry are taken up singly and the
shrinkage in values presented in a most
vivid and striking way. The first Is
entitled "A Soft Brick and it deals
with the alleged prosperity that mas
blessed the American people since the
adoption of the gold standard. 1t is so
suggestive and instructive that IL is
well worthy of reproduction. Accord
ingly, it is given in full:
"Whep was silver demonetized? 1t
never was demoIetiZed. But when was
it deprived of its full legal tender
power? In 1873. What has happened
since then? The greatest prosperity
this country has ever seen. In 1873
Kansas had 2,100 miles of railroad, 3d.
GOO people, and an assessed valuation
of 1926, 6S4,17 Now she has S,Si4 miles
of railroad 800, 900 people, an assessed
valuation of 1897 ,5O1. 722. This is only
a sample brick. The whole country has
enjoyed unparalleled prosperity since
1873"
Mr.. Charles S. Gleed, of Topeka,
! prominent director of the Atchison,
! Topeka and Santa Fe railroad. recently
contributed an elaborate gold-standard
argument 10 the New York Bond Rec
ord, OF which the above is an extract
| The article, though applauded to the
echo by the gold standard folks, and
even admired by some of the silver men,
! is as false in its statement of fact. and
as faulty in its conclusions, as the above
extract will appear when examined. Mr..
/ Gleed should use a harder brick than
he uses Who owns the 600 miles OF
railroad that have been built? Not the
! people of Kansas do they? Not the
people generally of the United States,
do they? Who DO own them? If Mr..
| Gleed will investigate he will find, |
! apprehend that somewhere from 80 TO
100 per cent of the ownership of Kansas
railroads is in the money centers of
/ the east. The assessed values that he
/ tells us have grown from 125, 600. 900 to
! 337 900 900 have fallen far short of the
! growth which he gives the population.
! He should amend his figures at once.
/ Applying The simple rule of three. we
have this formula: As 3750 people
! (Kansas population in 1879 are to 800,
600 people kansas population in 1880
so are 1875, 600, 900 of assessed values
! Q873) 10 500 600 600 of assessed values
! Uhe required amount in 1880 AS Kan
sas has in 1895 337 900 900 of assessed
values. instead of the 500 ZOO 600, she
should have according TO Mr.. Gleed' s
own figures. il follows that she is short
/ 1863 900 900 of assessed values. But in
asmuch as Kansas Ia typical Western
state, in just the same condition as her
sistersO though distressingly short in
assessed values. is distressingly long on
the interest bearing debts which Mr.
! Gleeds friends hold against her, it is
not surprising that he is satisfied with
the peculiar prosperity which he has
discovered. If the reader will turn to
pages 293 and 294 of the Statistical Alb
stract of the United States for 1894,
published under the direction of the
secretary of the treasury, he will find.
in the figures pertaining 10 the several
classes of livestock and their values. an
interesting refutation of Mr.. Gleed' s
statement of fact
Farm Animals of the United States.