Gloucester County Democrat. (Woodbury, N.J.) 1878-1932, 1897-12-30
lPLAN or SETTLEMENT SAMUEL GOnPDRS REPLY
To Secretary Cages Criticism Of
the Federation Of Labor.
EVILS OF THE GOLD STANDARD.

The Labor Lender Declares That the
Passage of the Gage Bill Would Give
the Banks the Absolute Control or
All Measures of Value.
Washington, Dec. &c. Samuel Comp
ers, president of the American Fedora
ton Of Labor. has replied in an open
letter to Secretary Cages recent letter.
taking exceptions to the resolutions
passed by the Federation with refer
ence to the Gage financial bill. Mr..
Gompers says in part:
'sYou take exception both to the
position which our organization has
taken upon your bill, as well as the
language employed. Even If you are
| justified in the one, you certainly mis-
apprehend the other. | submit that
you will seek in vain for single de-
mandatory word either in regard to
your motives, your plan or your bill.
We realize that denunciation is not
argument, but to declare our position
and the statement of fact in regard
to a most important and far reaching
measure, affecting and changing the
financial system of the country, can by
no means be construed as denunciation.
"Those resolutions declare against
| your plan for more thoroughly commit
| ting our country to the gold standard,
a plan for destroying our greenback
currency and substituting bank notes,
a plan in fact for weakening the con-
troll of the national government over
that most important of all measures,
the measure of values.
'"That you should take offense at
these resolutions regret, for the right
to express disapproval of the acts of
their servants is one of the rights held
| sacred by the American people, and
one you will freely accord. The reso-
lutions are declaratory of the views of
! the American Federation of Labor, and
are entirely impersonal. We have the
greatest respect for your probity and
integrity.
"You deny that the perpetuation of
1 the gold standard, at which you aim,
would have any disastrous effects, and
you ask what evils have resulted from
our adherence to the gold standard. I
answer that the evils are those that
have grown and ever must grow from
dishonest measure of values, meas
ure of values that interferes with the
| just distribution of wealth, that de-
prives some men Of part of their
earnings, that is rightly theirs, and
confers it upon others who have earn
| ed it not.
1.-THE products of labor are divided
into three general shares. One share
goes as interest and rents to the money
lender and landlord, to capitalists who
do not productivity use their own cap
ital, who seek to avoid the risks of pro-
duction. A second share goes as prof
its to employers, third share goes as
| wages to wage earnerS. The interest
charges and rents are to great de-
gree fixed, and profits and wages are
subject to great fluctuations. This be-
ing so, it is clear that anything that
reduces the total money value of the
products of labor must increase the
share Of the money lender and creditor,
though nominally fixed, and decrease
the share to be divided among en-
ployers and wage earners. 1t is equal
| ly clear that to increase the value of
money must decrease the value of the
products of labor, and therefore en-
rich the creditor at the expense of the
debtor.
NOW, IL our adherence to the gold
standard has caused money to grow
dearer, you must admit that the gold
standard has done injury to our people,
brought distress to wage earners and
employers, and discouraged enterprises
| Our adherence to the gold standard has
caused money to grow in value and, of
course, forced the things measured in
money to fall in price.
However, it is not alone to a cheap
ening of the labor cost of production,
| but also to an actual appreciation of
! gold that the fall in prices since 1872
has been in great part due. This ap-
probation has grown out of the de-
monetization of silver, which has in
creased the demands for gold. The fall
in prices since 1898, common to all gold
using countries, a fall in prices of 20
per cent. has not grown out of i'm
provement in machinery exclusively
but was due primarily to an apprecia-
ton of gold.
Changes in the value of money have
largely influenced the movements of
prices during the last half century, and
were great factors in the price move
ments during one long period Dnring
the quarter of a century following the
gold discoveries in California there was
much progress in the line of invention,
much introduction of labor saving ma
chinery, much cheapening in the labor
cost of production. This, on your
theory, should have caused steadily
falling prices. But what happened?
The outporing of gold cheapened gold
to greater degree than commodities
were cheapened, and the result was
xxoF In
higher at the end of this period than
at the beginning. Then what hap
pened? We, along with many other
nations, closed our mints to silver. We
increased the demand for gold, with
the result that gold went up in value
and prices of commodities down.
And now just one word as to the
second of the resolutions, to which you
take exception. This resolution de-
clares, and you admit it, that the pur-
pose of your currency bill is to cause
the retirement of our national green
back currency and all government
paper money and the substitution of
sirable. Why? Would it not give the
banks the power to regulate our for
eign exchanges, the power to check
gold exports by contraction and by
screwing down accommodation to mer-
chants SO as to force them to throw
their products on the market at prices
at which our foreign creditors would
rather take such products than our
gold? It would make the banks guar
dian over our volume of money! and
SO of our measure of values.
1--WE oppose your currency bill be-
cause, as has been well said, it is "a
bill to provide for the abdication of
the sovereign powers of the govern
ment to the banks, for strengthening
the hands of the speculative cliques,
enriching the few and impoverishing
the many"