Keowee courier. [volume] (Pickens Court House, S.C.) 1849-current, 1899-10-12

"u Viz HeiCy VI SPeVulutofs WIZ GAN
readily corner them and produce
stringenoy and panic and ruin to the
masses, while they pile up millions
of ill-gotten gains drawn from the
life blood of millions Of producers.
Why was the price of bushel Of
wheat short time since Sc cents and
the price of cotton 4 cents per
pound ? Prices at which tho farmer
could not mako enough to live, to
say nothing of paying off his mort
gage. They will tell you it was the
result of over production. I will tell
you it was no such thing. 1t was
because heartless speoulators had
cornered our currency and with
drawn it from the avenues of trade
until the value of q dollar was in
creased more than double in it's
purchasing power, i. g., the medium
of exchange and the measure of
value had fluctuated, had been with
drawn to such an extent that every-
thing having intrinsic value was
valueless. A bushel Of wheat, which
has intrinsic value, because it will
sustain life, will sustain life at SO
cents per bushel just as long as it
will at $3.50 per bushel and q
pound Of cotton will make as much
cloth at 4 cents per pound as it
will at 10 cents per pound yet
New York city, with an increased
population, consumed as per cent
less wheat when it was Sc cents
per bushel than ever before. Why ?
Because the working people there
could not get money to buy wheat
even at So cents per bushel. That
is why. Our great nation was like
strong man having the life blood
sucked from his veins by an army
of lceches, who fattened as he failed
in strength; and yet we bore it pa
tiently and the leeches still live to
enjoy their ill-gotten gains and are
ready to do it again and again.
But what is the remedy2 Ger
tainly not in the free coinage of
silver. We have tried limited coin
age O. silver for many years in the
past and found no relief in it only
added distress to our producers.
FREQ coinage would be flying from
the ills that VIC have to those that
are worse.
Does the gold standard bring re-
lief? People ask where is the prom
ised prosperity we were to have with
"NlcKinley and Sound Money" 1
have not seen it; have you 1t is
true things are much better to-day
than they were four OF five years
ago, but not because of McKinley's
election. Times not what they
should be, and are liable to be
worse after the next panic, which
may come any day that it suits the
spectators to promote it.
The remedy is in p change in our
financial system. This can be easily
obtained by bringing little practi-
cal business common sense to bear
on the question and leave tho poll
ticians and money spectators out of
it. Without doubt we want md
must have "Sound Currency" an
'IIoncst Dollar" one that will pass
current for 100 cents all over the
world, and one that the blood sucker
cannot corner as he does our present
currency, built on the huctuating
and dishonest fiction of "gold re-
demption."
How is this to be obtained ? I
will tell you. First of all, let us
make our Senators and Representa-
tivcs and our President understand
that they arc not masters, but scr
wants of the people. That the peo-
pie are sovereign. That even multi
miilionaircs and gigantic trusts are
as cobwebs compared to the sovereign
will of the people. Having done
this, then let us command our SER
| wants as fOllOWa.
Issue paper dollar, making it an
absolute legal tender for all dues,
public and private, and convertible
at will into government bond
drawing interest at say 2 per cent
per annum, said bond with accrued
interest, interconvertible at will into
said legal tender paper money. This
would give us currency based upon
the credit and faith of 100000 o.
the best people on earth, and on all
the wealth of every kind (inc!uding
gold and silver as small item) of
this greatest, richest and best coun-
try on earth currency whose basis
would be as broad as our glorious
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