The comet. (Johnson City, Tenn.) 1884-1916, 1897-09-09
Why They Parted Company,

ing the changes on the fact that wheat
and silver have seemingly parted COM
pany. 1t is assumed that it is a part
of the democratic creed that they
should keep even pace, and now that
one goes up and the other down it is
heralded noisily throughout goldbug-
dom that the democratic creed is now
it fault in some way. Mr.. Bryan
seems to have mentioned in some of
his speeches that we'll established fact,
which statistics amply sustain, that
wheat and silver have kept sympathetic
pace with each other for about one
hundred years, and now that they
separate, Mr.. Bryan is set down as a
fraud.
The goldbug newspapers are gloating
over it and parading it up and down
their columns as if the fact that they
have now separated is a complete over
throw Of all the contentious of the dem
ocrats in the last canvass. Many of
them think that the American people
are fools enough to believe that the
tariff raised the price of wheat, and that
the great wave of prosperity that is al
ways about to submerge the country is
the result of bill that robs the very
people who are to be the benefciaries
of the boom.
The fact is, wheat and silver have
kept almost exact pace, as statistics
show, and the reason of it is as plain as
a, b, C. The one is the great staff of
life and the other was the great staff of
finance. AS long as silver was per-
mitted to serve its legitimate uses it
was in universal demand, and the one
being the leading commodity and the
other the leading representative of all
commodities, they measured up equally
to each other all along the years.
Now silver is demonetized. Country
after country has been forced to dis
continue the use of it until there is such
little demand that the price of it has
gone off. Upon the other hand, wheat
has had an excessive demand placed
upon it by reason of short crops all
over Europe and Asia. Great Britain,
France, Russia, India, Australia, China,
Hungary are all short. This is the
cause of it.
Ii all these countries and ours, had
made laws forbidding the use of wheat
to make bread of, wheat would be
groveling at the bottom of the price
list with silver.
1t is the use of anything that meas
ures its value-the demand. All these
nations have been conquered one after
the other by the gold power until silver
is in little demand anywhere and it
old-time uses have been abolished.
It is as true as it ever was that, under
equal and normal conditions, wheat
and silver will show continuous parity
The gold power has deliberately SCI
about the elimination of silver from the
list of moneys and to take from it al
most its sole function or use, and aftel
having accomplished its murder they
point to the result as an evidence of th'
justice and legitimacy of the meanI
used to overthrow it.
When silver is again restored to it
legitimate place as money metal, a
it will be, wheat will again fall il
alongside and they will keep even pac
as they subserve the purposes and de
mands of mankind.
Analysed correctly, the fact tina
wheat aud silver have parted compan,
under existing conditions strengthen
the democratic contention in the lat
campaign and furnishes renewed res
sons why silver should have restore,
to it its money function.
If the United States had now th
. double standard the benefits whic
:, seem impending would be more tina
!, doubled. Our much-cussed countr
! seems determined to prosper in spit
of the goldbugs, the republicans, tn
robber tariff and the devil. -Nashvill
;, Sun.