The true northerner., 1897-10-27
THE IOWA CAMPAIGN.
CANDIDATE SHAW REFuTEs SOME
eRYANlSMS.


Evils Of . Dishonest Policy.
The Republican campaign in Iowa
has fairly begun. The candidate for
governor, Leslie M. Shaw, has taken
the stump. There will be an exceeding.
ly lively canvass from now on until
November. Bryan has left the state to
do some talking in his own state Of Ne
braska, where there Is also to be an
election this fall. He may return to
Iowa, but whether he does or does not
he has dinned into the ears of those
who have attended the meetings he has
held variety Of falsehoods which Mr.
Shaw must devote much of his time to
exposing.
In the speech at Red Oak, with which
Mr.. Shaw opened his campaign, he de-
scribed forcibly some Of the immediate
consequences Of the enactment of law
for the free coinage of silver at the
ratio Of 10 to 1. Bryan has been assur-
ing the Iowans that the passage of such
a law would increase the volume of
money in the country" Mr.. Shaw's an.
swer is that free coinage would put gold
at a premium and thus decrease the
''volume of money" For
Let 1t be posted on the bulletin boards Of
this city that gold is selling at a premium on
Wall street and there is not man. woman OF
child so patriotic as to pay out gold without q
premium. don't care whether the 5000, 900 00C
Of gold now circulating shall be thereafter
boarded In the banks, or in teapots stock.
ings, sunk in the 1t circulates nc
more except at a premium.
Something else will happen which
Mr.. Shaw does not mention. It is that
the 81, 140, 900, 900 of silver and paper
money-the national bank notes includ-
ed, each dollar of which has at this
moment the purchasing power of gold
dollar-will be worth only 43 l-3 cents
on the dollar.
There is not much gold passing from
hand to hand in Iowa When the farm
ers of Iowa are told that free coinage
will drive gold out Of circulation, they
sometimes answer unrefiectingly, 1T
is not in circulation now as far as we
are concerned. But when it is explain
ed to them that under free coinage ev-
cry silver dollar, silver certificate,
greenback, Sherman note or national
bank note they have in their pockets,
have deposited in bank or have loaned
will buy less than half the groceries or
farm implements or building materials
that it will now they will begin to un-
derstand the situation.
Bryan asserts that free coinage means
more money and greater prosperity. Mr..
Shaw declares that it means less money
and a panic, which is the antipodes of
prosperity. He describes the immediate
effect of free coinage law as follows:
Let gold go to premium and what will be
the result9 Foreign holders of our bonds be-
come frightened. They think the sooner they
sell the less they will lose, and they flood our
markets with bonds and stocks and ruthlessly
sacrifice them. Every holder OF a bond OF
mortgage in this country becomes also fright
ened. They literally run over each other to
dispose of their securities; no money for in
vestment, no money for commerce. no money
for loans. Defaulted interest means foreclo.
sure. Foreclosure means forced sale. Forced
sale means loss Of property.
This is not all. The productive indus
tries of the country would come to a
sudden standstill. Millions of wage
workers would be left with nothing to
do because of the closing of the mills
and factories where they had been earn
ing their living. Those wageworkers
would cease to be the consumers Of the
products of the farmers that they are
now, and the farmers would share in
the evils of destructive, dishonest
monetary policy.
In future speeches Mr.. Shaw will un-
doubtedly answer other false statements
Bryan has made. But he must not fail
to pay special attention to one point
concerning which Bryan has remained
persistently silent That is the rank,
villainous dishonesty of retroactive free
coinage which will allow debtor
whether private individual, bank,
a corporation or a municipality-to re-
pay his debt in money worth less than
half as much as that which was borrow
ed, thus cheating the creditor out of
more than half what is due him.
Bryan advocates policy which would
result in a scaling down of indebtedness
of all kinds over 56 per cent, but thus
far it has been impossible to get him to
discuss and defend the morality of that
method Of dealing with credits. Mr..
Shaw must expose its gross immortality.
He must ring the changes on this colos-
sal fraud which Bryan desires to see
committed, but which he has not the
hardihood to explain and defend. Chi
'ago Tribune.