The herald., 1897-07-06


honesty in the purchasing power of
dollar? Yet the melting-pot test does
not mention purchasing power as a
part of the definition of an honest dol
lar. What is possible under that DELI
milton? Let me show you. Suppose
the nations of the world should get
together and agree upon the gold
standard, and agree upon our dollar as
the unit. and should then decide that
we had too much money in the world.
A QUEER RESULT.
Then suppose that they should decide
to give up ninety-nine one-hundredths
of all the money in the world and
sink it in the ocean. What would be the
result? Where we now have a hun
dred dollars we would then have but
one. 1t would be honest money be-
cause you could melt a dollar without
loss. [Laughter.] Suppose that instead
of contracting the currency, it We're
expanded. Suppose that after all the
nations had agreed upon a gold stand
ard and the dollar as the unit, some
body should find gold enough to make
a hundred times as much money as we
have now. What would be the result?
Why, where we now have a dollar
we would then have a hundred. but it
would all be honest money because If
you melted it it would not lose any
thing. I have only multiplied and
divided by hundred. 1 might multi
ply and divide by a thousand or a mill
lion, or a billion, because, according
to the melting-pot test, it does not
matter whether you have one dollar
in circulation or a million or billion.
just so it can be melted without loss
it is honest money.
THE RIGHT DEFINITION.
1 say my friends, that the definition
is absurd, ridiculous. 1 give you in
1,n N1nn of 4 fnff h oh h os
back of it the authority of every writer
on political economy who wrote prior to
1873.
1 fix that limit because since 1873, the
political economists have not been re-
sponsble for their writings. [Applause.1
Since 1878, it has been necessary to
prove that black was white in order to
prove that wrong was right. But L
give you a defilition chat has the sup
port of writer's upon political economy.
My definition OF an honest dollar is
this: A dollar whose average purchas-
ing power is the same yesterday, today
and forever. And that is the only hon.
est dollar there ever was or ever can
be. [Great applause. The dollar which
rises in purchasing power is just as
dishonest as the dollar which falls. The
only difference is that a different per-
son is hurt by it. If a dollar rises in
purchasing power it helps the creditor,
If a dollar falls in purchasing power
it hurts the creditor. Why has the
gold dollar been called an honest dol
lar? Because the financial classes and
the creditor classes have coined our
definitions and they have declared that
to be honest which grows fat, while
the people grow lean.
Now, I am aware that my definition
makes it difficult to secure an abso
lutely honest dollar. You tell me that
you do not know of any way in which
the purchasing power of the dollar can
be maintained year after year at ex-
actly the same position. 1 admit it.
do not know of any way either but my
friends, am also aware that the works
of human hands are never perfect; and
the dollar is the work of human hands
and if we cannot reach perfection, we
are not any the less required to ap-
proach it as nearly as possible. And
when I tell you that I know of no
way of securing dollar absolutely
honest, I also tell you that it is our
duty to reach as nearly to absolute
honesty as human intelligence can do
is the noblest work of God, and I add
to it the declaration that an honest
dollar will be the noblest work of
man, if we get it. GApplause.]
A LITTLE STORY
I have sometimes been criticised be-
cause 1 admitted that I did not expect
to see an absolutely honest dollar, but
I feel about it as the man down in Mis-
sissippi did. He was a candidate for
office. or rather a friend of his was;
and this friend prepared a petition,
took it around for his friends to sign,
describing his good qualities, and urg-
ing him to become candidate for a
certain office. His friends generally
signed it, but finally he came to one
man more cautious than the rest, and
this man read the petition over and
told him he would sign it if he would
allow him to change one word. Well
changer" His reply was: You de-
scribe yourself as strictly honest. If
you will let me scratch out Strictly
and put in 'tolerably,' I will sign it >"
Now that is the way I feel about it,
I would like to have a strictly honest
dollar, but If we could get a. tolerably
honest dollar, it would be so much bet
ter than the one we have been having
that we could be content with it for
q while. How can you get the nearest
approach to absolute stability? BY
having money which increases in vol
ume as nearly as possible in proportion
to the demand for money If dollars in
crease more rapidly than the demand,
the purchasing power of the dollar
will fall. If the demand increases more
rapidly than the dollars, the purchas-
ing power of the dollar will rise. How
can you get a dollar that approaches
honesty by getting enough of the dol
lars to keep pace with the demand for
money?
WHAT BIMETALLISM MEANS.
The defense of bimetallism is there
fore two fold, theoretically and practi-
cally. When 1 speak of bimetallism I
want to be sure that everybody knows
just what bimetallism means. 1t looks
like everybody ought to, and yet
have known people who did not One
man said to me one day: II am in IA
vor of bimetallism. I think the gov
ernment should buy whatever metal it
needs" [Laughter.1 That was his
definition of bimetallism Well, there
are several kinds of bimetallists who
are not really bimetallists at all. There
is the buy metallist who wants to
buy the metal, and then there is the
by and by metallists, who is never ready
to have bimetallism, and then there is
the other bimetallist who does not want
any metallic money at ALL But the
bimetallist is the man who believes in
two metallsms. Monometallism means
one metalliSm. Bimetallism means two
metallisms. If there is any difference
between one and two there is a diff
ference between monometallism and BIZ
metallism. And yet have heard peo-
pie say that they were in favor of hav-
ing bimetallism so far as it was con-
cic -fo nj rd l.