The daily morning journal and courier., 1896-10-17
DEBASED CURRENCY IN 1747
PRESIDENT ELIOT OF HARVARD
 TRACES OUR FINANCIAL CHILLs.

Promise of a Potent Drug Being Admin
 istered-M assachusetts Mugwumps Now Under the Republican Banner-Speeches by Hon. Charles c. Fairchild and Hon.
 Samuel W. Mccall
 Boston, Oct 16.-There was held at Young's this evening a sound money dinner of the most pronounced type. It was the dinner of the Massachusetts Reform club, and there was throughout the proceedings and the speeches not note with the slightest silver ring in it. The gathering of perhaps as many as 160 gentlemen was so pronounced for a single gold standard that itwould hard ly listen to even so much of leaning toward silver as a discussion of inter- national bimetallism The meeting was notable in that it had for speakers the Hon. c. s, Fairchild, ex-secretary of the treasury, and President c. W. Eliot of Harvard. MT. Fairchilds views on the financial question have been heard before during this campaign, but this evening was the first time President Eliot had contributed to any extent to campaign literature. Therefore his re- marks on "The Present Crisis took on double present. There were also present Congressman Samuel w. Me- Call and Collector Winslow Warren.
 Hon. G. s. Hale, president of the club, presided at the after dinner exercises, and in his opening remarks came at once the question which was set down for discussion. He said that the duties of the present hour impose a direct re- sponsibility upon every citizen. There must be- he argued, a victory over the blind leading the blind, over the vicious and over those whose motives for lead ing a wrong and dangerous cause are not of the best But there was one phase of the present crisis which the speaker regarded with joy-that was the bringing together of those who heretofore have been opposed to each other in a common cause for the honor of the country. The speaker facetious- ly referred to bimetallism as devil on two sticks, one shorter than the other" and to MT. George Fred Will Hams as the "silver-plated candidate for governor"
 MT. Fairchild remarked upon the large number of addresses which he has made in the campaign and lament ed the fact that he had been unable to prepare a new one for this occasion. He said that to one who takes calm and comprehensive view of the history of this country for the last three years the reason why we are In our present predicament is plain. We have erred, he said, 'in connection with British gold, until people have come to think there is such a spectre and they think that it is part of American patriotism to resist 1t.
 There are people-the masses-who feel that the government Is not with them as it should be. Can we wonder that a convention should declare in fa- vor of packing the supreme court when that thing has been done? Can we wonder at 1t? And are we not all fa- miliar with the time when that thing danger that came to all of us by that act?" The speaker then cited the his torical case of the packing of the Unit ed States supreme court in 1869.
 These were dragons teeth, my friends" said MT. Farchild, land we are reaping the results in 1896. It comes from the desire to create some thing out of nothing through the power of the government People have been taught to believe that their wrongs could be cured by legislation. They are not dishonest. They wish to re- move their supposed wrong in their way They are proposing to do some thing which would be dishonest. I do not say this by way of excuse It would indeed be black day for this country If any large part of our citiZens-whole states-had such motives. I would al- most despair of the republic. But I do not despair of it"
 MT Fairchild predicted that the No- vember election and the victory of sound money would not settle the diffi- culties of politics. There are in sight many other questions-the relation of man to man and of wealth to man which will be brought up by disturb CTS "The old kind of politics has ended" he said MT. Fairchild's re- marks were greatly applauded.
 President Eliot when he arose to speak was unable to do SO for some minutes because of the applause. He. in the opening, read an extract from a sermon preached by Rev. MT. Aprle- ton in Cambridge so far back as l747, in which the preacher lamentad the dis turbed condition of the American peo- pie on account of depreciated values. Tt was deprecfated currency then" said President Eliot. and the people looked to for relief. The merchants and traders were said 10 have been at fault then; now it is the banker, the broker and the various trusts. This disease is. in the blood, gentlemen. The only question is, now often will the American people have a chill?
 'In 1887 we had a chill from wildcat banking Texas gave us another little chill. We've had a chill once in about thirty years and here is a proposition to have another and a worse one. We may in this coming election be able to administer pretty potent drug. The disease will not be mortal. We have 1t for a while if we learn by past ex- perience Great men of both of our great parties have sown the seeds by preaching the most vicious doctrines on this currency question. One party is as guilty as the other We have en- acted wrong legislation for fear some body else would exact worse"