The Black Hills union. [volume] (Rapid City, Pennington County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1889-1904, 1897-05-21

~ Nts "oo / II
Boston by a grand banquet given by
the Massachusetts Democratic Club,
the free silver offshoot of the Young
Mems Democratic Club of Massachu-
sets. Over 500 members sat down TO
the banquet. Philip Doherty presid-
ed, and after a speech introduced Con-
gresham Charles a. Towne Of Mime
sofa as the guest of honor. Mr.. ToWne
Strength of Possession.
spoke in part as follows: The strength
OF the gold standard to-day in the
United States rests on the fact that it
is IN possession. Every presumption is
INDUCED in its favor, and those who
are benefited by it, Or who have been
persuaded by those that they are bene-
Hted by 1t, nave shreWuly possessed
themselves OF a strong weapon in the
rldlcule which they hurl upon their as
sallants. 1t has come to be taken for
granted that the supporter of bimetal-
llsm is an enemy to the good order of
society; that in religion he must be an
atheist; in philosophy, an imbecile; in
politics, a traitor, no wonder there
fore that it has Deer the
custom in the East to have
nothing to do with such a fellow. When
all the misunderstanding and misrepre-
%sentation have been swept away, the
truth will appear that it is not we who
propose an experiment, but that the
gold standard is itself on trial; that we
40 not bring forward a novel PROPOSE
ton born of discomfort and appealing
to nothing but brute members and pre-
JUDGE, but that we ground our con-
tentlOn upon accepted doctrines of po-
lltlcal economy, many Of them 1000
years old. We who to-day appeal to
your reason are the true friends of
peace and progress. We are the real
conservatives. We invoke the judg-
ment and the patriotism of the Ameri-
can people, and we say that this grand
republic is great enough and rich
enough, has a sufficiently diversified
n extensive commerce to attempt and
achieve the restoration of bimetallism
in the world. When we are speaking of
tariffs, We declare that We will regu-
late our own concerns in spite of all
other nations and are most bold and
confident in ourselves; but when we
come to a consideration Of the money
question the same men who before
n their cOuntry's prowess seem
to consider the United States as a weak
and puny and inconsequent state. Let
us once assert our independence and we
shall have help enough. The advan-
tage of commerce with the sil~ver-using
nations, for which the peoples of Eu-
rope are now competing, would instant
ly become SO largely ours that our
rivals would not stand upon the order
OF their coming, but would hasten to
put themselves on the same plane of
competition with ourselves.
Policy of Creditor Nations.
The great creditor nations of the
world, who to-day are holding up the
gold standard for the very reason that
we, who have products, are compelled
to give to them, who have money, more
and more of what We raise in payment
of the same nominal amount of indebt-
edness, would instantly take occasion
to negative and falsify the assertion,
now currently made, that our debts
were to be paid in discredited dollars.
They would have every motive for ioin-
ing us in maintaining the absolute par
ity of every kind of dollars. We ought
speedily to reform a money system
which, by constantly taking from the
avalls OF the enterprise of the middle
or producing classes and adding to the
already swollen boards of the hoard
ers, is slowly and with absolute GER
tainty tending to destroy the yeomanry
and the free burghers of our country
and to stratify our society into the verv
rich above and the very poor below.
And then we must, by legitimate dis
c%ussion, inquiry, investigation, and all
those methods which when used by the
gold standard advocates are denomi-
mated enlightenment, and when used
by us are denounced as "%agitation,"
educate not what are called the poorer
classes, not what are called the middle
classes, but what are called the upper
classes. Educate them to a comprehen-
sion of the principles of this science.
Educate them to al understanding of
the significance of this question as
bearing upon the very life of the ma
ton and the endurance of it's institu-
lions. Even from a selfish standpoint,
this system If urged too far will react
in destruction upon it's operator, either
by killing the capacity of his victim to
respond to his exactions, or by goading