The record-union., 1896-09-13

SITUATION this year, my fellOw-cltlZenS,
| is whether we shall have good money or
whether we shall have poor money.
| (Cries of I'VE want good money!'O Hon.
| est money is the only kind for honest
| people, and the United States Govern
| ment will have no other. Cheering and
| cries of 'Hurrah for McKinley!') There
are good people, doubtless, who believe
/ that the free coinage of silver at 16 to l
| will keep our dollar as good as it is
now, and result in giving us more
| money; but will it? (Cries of mo, no,
never!O All authority in our country
| and throughout the world is against it.
| Is 1t reasonable that the stamp of the
| Government can make % cents worth
| of silver worth dollar? (Cries Of mo,
| no'D We have the best money now, and
| that is what it has been since 1879. That
| is what it will continue to be if the Re-
publican party is given control of every
branch of the Government Great ap-
| plause, and cries of 1T will be given
| that right!")
IF we were starting out now, gentle
men, to originate a new financial sys-
| tenn, would we make a different one
| from that we now have? (Cries of 'No,
| no!O A metal whose market value is
| the same as it's coin value is surely a
safer standard than metal whose mar
| ket value is IS cents less than it's coin
value. Ii you were to have two stand
| ards they must be equal If we would
/ float both gold and silver freely, we
| must make the ratio based upon the
| commercialvalue of the two metals. This
was the view of the early statesmen of
| our history, irrespective of party. This
| was the view of both jefferson and
Hamilton, who differed widely on other
subjects. This has been the view of the
| wise men-DemOcrats and Republicans
| (applauSe)-from the beginning of the
| Government until now.
There are those who think there is
something sacred about the ratio of 16
| to because the fathers established it,
but the fathers did not establish 1t.
| They established the ratio of fifteen
/ ounces OF silver to one ounce of gold
and those who established that ratio
made it upon the commercial ratio be-
| tween gold and silver and they were
| not influenced by the fact that in 1892
/ the commercial and coinage ratio was
| ten and three-fourths ounces of silver to
! one ounce of gold. 1t was not until 1884
/ that the United States adopted the ratio
of IL to l. And why was it done? Be
cause that was believed to be the real
relative value, or nearly So between the
two metals at that time
! Major Mckinley then told how Pres
1 1dent jefferson ordered the discontin-
uance of the coinage of silver dollars,
/ because he believed he could keep gold
in the country and make it circulate at
a ratio of 10 to / by this action. He
added:
i There was no silver dollars coined
! in the United States from 1906 to 1884
/ Then Congress changed the ratio be-
tween the two metals from fifteen
1 ounces of silver to one ounce of gold,
and our whole history has demon
strated that whenever under any ratio
! the one metal was more valuable than
! the other the more valuable went out
Of circulation, and the less valuable re-
mained in. (Cries Of That's right .
In 1873, when the free coinage Of sill
Yer was stopped. we were not using
either gold or silver as money We were
using paper. We did not use a dollar
of silver then. We now have five hun
| dred and fifty millions. of which four
hundred and thirteen millions are full
4 .,
and behind every one Of them is the
| Government of the United States.
| Great cheering) The lack Of silver
surely could not have deprecated
| prices since 1873, for we have sixty
| times more of it now than we had then
The depression in the price Of
wheat" he said must be accounted for
4 in some way The Chief Of the United
4
the consumption Of wheat per capita in
1893 was % per cent. less than in 1892.
| Do you not think that this might be a
more reasonable accounting for some of
1 the depreciation in the price Of wheat
than to charge it to the monetary leg
| islation Of twenty-three years ago?
tCries Of Yes, yes.'0 1t was the de-
crease of consumption and the increase
| OF competitors, not the suspension of
! the free coinage of silver, that accounts
1 in part for the the low price of wheat
| to-day. We cannot make prices, but
| we can provide that all prices shall be
paid in full dollars, worth 100 cents.
! (Cries Of That's right" and great
cheering) We cannot reverse the laws
of trade. and we will not reverse the
laws Of common honesty" Great ap-
| plause and cries Of "Good.'o
HOMESTEAD TOILERS.
! The great delegation of workingmen
z, 800 in number, which arrived from
| Homestead Pa. about / o'clock on
three special trains, made an imposing
| appearance as it marched up the streets.
| The Homestead Glee Club sang several
| campaign songs, and j. M. McLathney,
! Superintendent of the Transportation
| Department at Homestead, made an
address. He stated that the men rep
resented 5000 workers, who turn out
now 10000 tons of finished material per
month, and added:
Under the Mckinley law we could
double that. 1t is too bad to see such
| men and such a plant lie idle all
| caused by a lot Of theorists
/ When Major Mckinley mounted a
chair to reply he was kept silent for
several minutes by the tumultuous out
| burst Of cheering. When he was able
TO speak he said in part:
Il am glad to give welcome to the
workingmen of Homestead, Pa. The
| Republican party has always believed
in homesteads. daughter and ap-
I plause) We are interested now in a
contest which involves not only the
| question of tariff, but involves the
| question of sound money, whether we
shall have the same good money we
row have, and have had for more than
sixteen years past, or try the hazard
Gus experiment of engaging in the free
coinage Of silver an experiment that
has worked disaster everywhere, and is
bound to work 1t here if ever tried