The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1898-09-14

: dollar could nave IndOe d NOAidA VI
half that amount. The gold standard.
wherever it existed, was a creature or
law, and nothing else.
The difference between the support
ers of Bryan and those of Mckinley in
the last campaign was only a difference
of method. One element believed in the
free coinage of silver independently
and the other is waiting for an inter-
national concurrence. He made the
practically Is. 500, 900 voters had gone on
record for the free coinage of silver at
some time only $4,000 voting unequivo-
cally for the perpetuation of the gold
standard.
Speaking for an hour, he went into
all the arguments in support of silver
as a money metal, co-ordinately with
gold, at 16 to l.
The afternoon session of the national
currency convention developed into al
most mouth to mouth contest between the
gold and silver sides. with the mfddle-or-
the-road editors of the Reform Press as
sociation strongly in evidence for their
favorite theory of an irredeemable paper
currency. The fiatiStS are the most i'm
patient to be heard and can hardly wait
{ until Thursday, which is their day for the
advocacy of paper money. and their in
teruptions were fast and numerous
RAILWAY ARGUMENT.
The first speaker was II. P. Robinson Of
Chicago, editor of the Railway Age: He
answered a number of Mr.. Bartine' $
points of argument and contended
strongly for the necessity for main aiming
the national honor by paying OH the ooh-
cations of the country in as good money
as they were contracted in. \ portion or
his speech follows
at is commonly claimed that the free
coinage Of silver. f it hurt anybody. would
only hurt The capitalist and the @oldbug.
If the free coinage OF silver would reduce
the railway earnings the men VINO would
are,r. mt hea fha .
goldbug, but would be the laboring man
If the United States was on silver basis
the arnings of the railways would be, or
course. m silver dollars, or their ecuiva-
lent The railways could not put up. their
rates. and at the best they would only get
the same number of dollars as the5 do
now but those dollars would purchase
less. They would purchase less mach1n-
cry. less fuel, less supplies-that is to say,
that the expenses of the railways Tor
: these items would be materially increased
Railway companies therefore would have
less money TO pay interest. TO pay labor
and to pay dividends First OF all, they
would pay no dividends but that would
not be nearly enough 10 meet the deficit
the interest charges all have to be paid in
gold. and the companies would nave 10
! charges. but having nothing but de2re-
ciated silver dollars to pay in. the effort
would necessarily be futile. No railway
company in the country could meet its
annual Interest charges, and there could
not be anything but bankruptcy ahead.
Meanwhile. while the struggle was
going on. labor would suffer. The railway
companies would be compelled to cut their
pay-rolls and TO cut their wages: There
would be fewer men employed They
would probably get less wages. and every
dollar Of those wages would produce less
than it does today"
IOWA GOVERNORS WORDS.
Governor Leslie NJ Shaw of Iowa made
a brief address which went deeply into
the subject from the producers point of
view.
I am a gold monometallist." he said.
| because the whole world has agreed
upon the gold standard and the law of
/ commercial convenience, which no act of
parliament or congress can repeal. gov
4 erns the whole matter. The only logical
argument | can see for silver coinage is
that 1t would reduce wages practically
one-half and thus enable us TO compete
with foreign nations. but l would rather
have the American market than that"
WILLIAMS, ASKED QUESTIONS.
/ Several questions as to the ability of a
debtor country TO retain its gold against
foreign draughts, and having to do with
the quantitative theory of money. as laid
down by Well-known financial authorities.
and also as 10 Indian competition with
I the American wheat producer, were pro-
I pounded by ex-Congressman George Fred
/ Williams of Boston.
! General A. ]. Warner of Ohio. president
of the American Bimetallic union, con-
; tended that the gold standard had appre-
ciated the dollar and correspOndingly
caused a general fali OF pI-ces, U-....,.-.--i
! the debts of the country.
/ Congressman Fowler of Illinois replied
( to General Warner and demonstrated that
wages had both increased numerically
since 1S40 and in purchasing power under
8 the gold standard.
Besides. since Mr.. McKinley's election,
/ he said. the bank clearances of the coun-
try had increased from $4,000 10000 to
: Se5.t09. .0o0 600.
Charles a. Towne of Duluth. national
chairman of the silver Republican party,
took exception to Mr.. Fowler's logic that
( the gold standard had produced simultan-
( eously an indefinite rise in wages and fall
in prices.
Mr.. Towne will open in behalf of silver
tomorrow morning, and Mr.. Fowler will
combat him