The Topeka state journal., 1897-11-20
J.P. ST. JOHN IN DENVER.
Strong Opinions of the Dingley Bill
Deficit and Admin istration.

Deficit and Admin istration-
Denver, Nov. 2O.-'This money ques-
ton will never down until settled right
and it will never be settled right until
every dollar issued by the government
is just as good for all purposes and no
better than any other dollar bearing
the stamp of Uncle Sam"
The remark was made by eX-GOv
John T. St. John of Kansas, while
speaking of the financial issue at the
Albany hotel last evening. Governor
st. John, during the recent campaign
in Ohio, attracted great audiences and
cOnfOunded gold orators by his mas
terry of the financial question.
The passage of a free coinage law"
said he last evening, would do more
to restore good times in this country
than any other one law congress could
enact. 1t would not be a panacea for
all of our ills, but good times can never
come to the people of the United States
under our present infamous financial
system
What is the sentiment in Ohio?"
"Ohio is a free coinage state today
was the prompt reply. THE state could
have been carried for silver at the
last election had the campaign been
run on the free silver issue, instead of
being run in the interest OF a single in
dividuaI
"On a fair, square fight, conducted
by the friends of silver, Ohio, in 1898,
viii give the white metal a majority of
so. 900. The Republican promises of
prosperity have SO utterly failed that it
will be simply impossible for Mark
Hanna and his crowd to much longer
deceive the people.
According to Dun's report" cOntin-
ued the governor, there were more
failures last week in the United States
than in the corresponding week of 1896
and except the years of 1896 and 1898,
there were more failures during the
first ten months of the present year
iOd in the nations history. Corn in
the central states is selling at IS to 25
cents a bushel, oats at Il to is cents,
hay lower than for a generation, and
wheat, under present circumstances,
with short crops in all the wheat grow
ing countries, which ought to sell and
would sell if we had unlimited coinage,
al 81 q buShel, is selling at 70 cents to
50 cents a busheI. Next year, with an
average crop in the world, wheat will
drop to so or 80 cents under the gold
standard.
The Dingley bill is a monumental
fraud and sham. 1t was not intended
to protect agriculture and labor. The
sole purpose was to reimburse the
money power, the mOnOpolies and the
trusts for the Doodle furnished to elect
Mckinley.
THE deficit so far during the fiscal
year is crawling up towards $4,000, 600,
and this includes % days of July just
prior to the passage of the Dingley bill,
when everybody knows there was
great rush of imports
We have reached a point where this
government can no longer depend on
any tariff system to raise money to
meet expenses of the government. We
are getting to be a great export nation,
and imports OF dutlable goods Will con-
tinue to fall off until the revenues from
that source will be wholly inadequate
to meet the demands and we will be
driven to raise revenue by levying the
burden upon what the people possess,
instead of upon what theytcOnsume."
AS an illustration, the visitor pre-
sented an imaginary case Say am
a milIionaire-which is not correct by
about 1899, 999. / own this hotel, lands,
cattle and $500, 900 in bonds and securi-
ties. ] am not taxed a cent on any of
these things to support the general
government. l am taxed by the gov
ernment only on the clothes I wear and
the food l consume. The poor man is
taxed to support the government in the
same way, and the poor man pays as
much to support this great government
as I, although I am worth a million.
and the whole army of the Union may
be called out to protect my property.
There is only one honest way to get
revenue and that is to tax a man on
what he is worth, and to see that the
rightful tax is collected
Governor St. John declared that at
the congressional elections next fall In
diana, Ohio, Michigan, Minnesota, the
whole of the middle and northwestern
states, and all of the southern states,
would elect silver men to congress. The
senate already being in favor of free
coinage of silver, the aw-making pow
er of the United States will be in favor
of the white metal.
Under such circumstances what will
President Mckinley dO?" was the ques-
ton of the reporter.
mckinley is a good man." replied
Governor St. John, with a suspicion of
irony in his voice. He is one of those
real gOody, gOOdy men, but he is a weak
man. Should congress pass q free coin
age law, the natural impulse of the
president would be to sign it unless he
believe at heart Mckinley is a silver
man today, but he had to surrender his
honest convictions in order to gain the
nomination for the office he fills. Wheth-
er he has the courage to stand by his
record before he was discovered by
Hanna remains to be seen. 1 do not
expect the slightest relief to the cOun-
try from congress this winter. The
lower house of congress, as at present
constituted, is the most abject tool of
mOnOpOlies and trusts the country has
ever known. We can expect no relief
until after the election of 1898 and then
there will be a cleaning out all along
the line"
the purpose of examining properties in
the Cripple Greek district. Il have no
investments in silver mines" said he,
but if 1 owned a good gold producer, 1
would spend the proceeds freely to has
ten the day when this country can be
released from the bondage of the gold
power"
FEMALE C0NSTLAR AGENT