The San Francisco call., 1897-07-06

%,
nal vigilance is the price of liberty.
| Government Is composite photograph of
| the people, and II man looks al this photo
| graph and finds IL ugly he may find that his
| own features have placed the stamp of ugli.
ness upon the picture. So, if we look at our
Government and find that it is ugly, this day
of all the year we sh ould look at ourselves and
! see if our own political homeliness has aided
to make that picture uglier than 1t ought TO
| be.
When find man too good to take any part
in politics find man 100 good to enjoy the
benefits of good country. Ii politics would
keep out OF US we might keep out of politics.
But it is part of US, and if we want politics
good we must help make it good, for it is here
to stay.
1t was the boast of the Roman matron that
she bore sturdy warriors, but our victories are
those OF peace Modern American mothers
should boast that they raise good, strong
sons who can take part in politics without
contamination.
But to the main issue: If l were to ask you
what issue is uppermost in your minds know
you would say that the money question is the
most important one before the American
people.
Is there any way in which we can reach a
correct opinion on this su Inject? / believe
| there is. There is one princi pie am going to
apply, because 1t is deep-rooted in our system.
That principal is that all men created
equal. That financial system is best thu deals
most Justly between man and man. You hear
OF dishonest dollars, but you cannot make q
thing dishonest by calling it so.
What basis is there from which we can start?
What is your definition of an honest dollar +?
You will have TO build your honest monetary
system on honest dollars. What is the gold
definition of the honest dollar?
1.-TWO hundred cents" cried a voice.
This raised a laugh ana Mr.. BRYAN COM
mented:
This is description, not definition. Their
definition is that dollar is honest which,
when melted, loses none of its value. II that
definition is sound, we who advocate bimet-
allism will have to learn the whole economic
system over again. The stomach test is better
than the melting pot test
I'll tell you what is the best kind of
money-that which leaves the fewest starving
men. You tell me the melting pot test is the
correct test of an honest dollar. / tell you
that gold can be melted without a loss be-
cause IL can be coined without loss. 1t is
| Characteristic given by law, and not divine
attribute. Suppose all the nations of the
earth should take all of the money aud de-
termine that we had ninety-nine times too
many dollars and tn IN dump this money into
the ocean. Suppose instead of contracting
the currency IL was expanded, that somebody
should find enough gold to coin 100 times as
much gold as we have now. We would have
one hundred times as much money because it
could be melted without loss. 1t would be
honest money.
Let me give you one that is sound and that
you can build system on. My definition is
the definition of every writer on political
economy who wrote prior to 1S73-a dollar
whose general average purchasing power is
the same yesterday, to-day and forever and
that is the only kind OF honest dollar there
ever IVES or ever can be- dollar which rises
in purchasing power is just as dishonest as a
dollar which falls. The only difference is that
the rising dollar hurts one person and the
falling dollar hurts another. rising dollar
helps the creditor: falling dollar hurts the
creditor. Why is 1t that the rising dollar is
called honest? Because the creditor class has
con ntrolled leg islation and given definitions to
the terms used, and the financiers call any
dollar honest that grows fater every day, no
matter how lean the people grow who use the
dollar.
Now, would like to have an honest dollar
l would like to have a financial system that
gave an absolutely honest dollar, but do not
expect 1T, because dollars are the works of
human hands, and the works OF human hands
may approach perfection, but they never
reach IL. But because we cannot reach per-
fection we are not excused if we fail to try to
approach ii as nearly as possible; and when
tell you that we want bimetallism / don't tell
you we want it because it is going TO give an
absolutely honest dollar, but because II gives
the nearest approach 10 an absolutely honest
dollar
have been crit icized because / said that
did not expect 10 secure an absolutely honest
dollar. want to defend myself. 1 feel good
deal as the man d id in Mississippi whom John
Allen tells OF. This man wanted to run for
office and he prepared petition describing
his good qualities and took it around for his
friends to sign. They signed it, until he came
TO one cautious man, who objected, saying:
81 will sign If you will let me change one
word"
what word Is thatf" asked the man with
the petition
You describe yourself as strictly honest"
said the other. Let me strike out strictly
and put in 'tolerably' and will sign it,
Well now. that is the way l feel about the
dollar. would like to have an absolutely
honest dollar. but If we can get tolerably
! honest one it will be so much better than the
gold dollar that we will take it for a while
until we can get something better.
The stable purchasing power is the test of
honesty, and that dollar is the best dollar
which from day to day most preserves the sta
bllity of its purchasing power, because that
dollar will be the most just between man and
man. How can you get that dollar? By hav-
with the demands for money. If you
have money increasing more rapidly
than the demand the purchasing power
will fall: If you have money that
does not increase rapidly as the demand,
the purchasing power will rise. Dollars are
creatures of law. and If you want dollars plen-
t1.ul you have got TO make them plentiful by
law; II you want dollars scarce, you m axe them
scarce by law, and if you want dollars sui
hclently plentiful to keep pace with the de-
mands Tor money, you have got to secure it by
legislation. II you close your mints 10 the
coinage OF silver you leave gold as the only
money that can be added to the circulating
medium, and If the supply of gold is not suf-
ficient, ii the natural production does not give
you currency sufficient to keep pace with the
increase OF popu alton and industry, your laws
nave given you an appreciating dollar. There
Gre those VINO grow rich as dollars purchase
more and more of the products OF toll.
have said that the dollars honesty is the
purchasing power and that that dollar is best
whose purchasing power is the most stable.
But there are some who imagine that dollars
are like balloons. The rising qualities are the
ones to be desired, and that balloon is the
best that rises most, and there are some people
who think ii is the same with dollars. My
friends, do not want balloon dollars. Tue
balloon dollar, while good for the finan cier
who is in the basket, is bad thing for the
people on the ground, who watch as it gets
fur her and further away from them. Dollars
are intended to pass among the people and
not to soar above them. and our indiclm mt of
the gold standard is that ins lead OF Icing a
just standard for deferred payments it has
become the standard OF deferred hope, and
"hope deferred maketh the heart SICK" We
want 10 bring the balloon dollar down to
earth again, and we want dollar that we can
get hold of when we have something to sell,
We are reminded that Jefferson suspended
the coinage OF the silver dollar, but the silver