The Bellefontaine Republican. [volume] (Bellefontaine, Logan County, Ohio) 1855-1905, 1899-10-06

b1ent upon a complete upsetting Of our
financial system would give a great oppor-
tunity for gain to every unscrupulous spec
ulator in the country, and probably the
people who would suffer the least from
1t would be the very people who by combi
nation have created the greatest trusts.
Theye could, and they would partly protect
themselves. Here and there they would
even wiring profit for themselves out Of
the distress caused to the multitude by the
folly which has made them yield to the
knavery Of their demagogic advisers.
Wage Earners Would Be Crushed.
But the wage-earners, the wage-workers;
they could not protect themselves. They
would suffer more than any other men and
there would be no help for them. No man
In this country is so vitality interested in
having the currency kept at its full value
as is the man who at the end of the
week or at the end of the month
is paid his earnings by another for whom
he works. The big capitalist, large
share Of whose expenses takes the form OF
wages, would be compensated to some ex-
tent for his losses in other directions by
the shrinking Of the amount he would have
to pay out for wages; but the man who re-
ceived these wages would not be compen-
sated in any way. On him the blow would
fall with crushing force, and for him there
would be absolutely no offset.
In the long run, it is not in the power of
any men, or of any outside force, to lower
the standard of living Of the American
workingman, unless the American work
ers act with wisdom and forethought, if
they show farsighted prudence in their
combinations, industrial and political, their
ultimate welfare is assured. In the long
run, only the American workin gman can
hurt himself Think Of 1t, gentlemen! Do
not accept merely my arguments; think
yourselves whether and how you individ-
ually could be helped by having a Ascent
dollar.
The foundation of our society rests upon
the man with lie dinner pail. Whatever
is really for his welfare. for his permanent
and ultimate welfare is for the welfare of
the community, and of all ways most surely
to interfere with his material welfare, tam
pering with the currency in which he is
paid is the surest. The banker, the manu-
facturer, the rich merchant, the large land
owner, could get along after a fashion un.
der the scourge of free coinage, but the
llboring man could not. The laboring man
would go down to the level where you find
him in countries where silver is the stand
ard metal.
Democracy's Quack Nostrum.
What would you think Of the quack who
administered a pill to cure a broken leg
and what would you think of the dupe who
swallowed the pill in all seriousness? Thi:
Is not an exact illustration of the conduct
of our opponents in offering the free silver
nostrum as cure for trusts, only because
the Illustration is not nearly strong enough
The pill might be harmless to the maj
with the broken leg, and free silver would
| aggravate tenfold every evil the trust!
have produced. What possible effec
| in controlling trusts could free silver have
| AS it would cut every dollar in half, 4
| would make the total amount Of capita
put into the trusts reach a far higher nom
inal figure. Otherwise it would not hav
/ the slightest possible effect upon them
| good, bad or Indifferent, save only as
| brought financial ruin to everybody in tn
community.
| In short, want you to keep in mind, t
| think over the fact that the two remedie
| our opponents propOse-altering the tarif
/ and debasing the currency-could have n
possible effect in abating the evils Of tn
trusts, and could hurt those who profit b.
/ the trusts only to the extent that they hur
/ every member of the American bushes
| community, from the capitalist to the da
| laborer. And furthermore, that togethe
| with this nullity of effect upon trusts
would go immense and possibly irretriey
a-.e damage to those men on whose behal
lLey profess to be agitated. OF course
when the upselting Of the tariff and the IL
| PRODUCTION cf free coinage had ruined tn
| whole business community, the trust owl
ers would share to a greater or less exter
| In the general punishment Of America. Br
they would not suffer as much as the wag
worker, and the evils complained Of woul
not be improved by so much as hair
breadth.
BefoSging the Minds of the People.
Do not take nv word for 1t. Think
| out for yourselves Try to think out an
possible way in which these so-called ren
edies will interfere with trusts, and the
ponder deeply over the appalling disast'
which their Introduction would mean
the entire wage-earning class. repe'
what / have said: These remedies can NJ
be proposed in good faith. Those who a
vance them must know that at best the
| could have no possible effect upon IL
evils complained of, even If they are t.
ignorant to realize the disasters that won
, | follow in their wake. They are quat
remedies and nothing else, and those th
: put them forth know that they are such.
What can you expect from political lea
ers who are not sincere in the remedi
they propose? Who frame policies, not f
the social and economic betterment of Il
/ people, but hoping to befog the minds
the people, and to get them to vote again
t their own real interests?
: Now. l have dealt with the purely d
e structive arguments Of the demagogue.
t have shown that they do not propose o.
: constructive piece of legislation; that tn
k propose merely to tear down the who
building, because there is leak in the 70
s over one room; that not only are their pl
S posals mischievous, but that they the
selves must know that they are mischie
! | Gus, and have not even the poor apolo
e of being sincere in their folly.
The Record In New York.
v When it comes to seriously grappli
n with those evils, the people can trust,
k the glib quack who says he can cure t
6 disease out of hand, when he knows not
+ ing and processes to know nothing abO
q what it really is, but the man who |
n tiently and faithfully starts to make
+ | agnosis of the case, and then to cure ca
l. bad feature as the diagnosis reveals
h | existence,
II Let me illustrate what 1 am about to S
q by giving you a brief history of what b
?. recently occurred in my own state. FoI
+ number of years the Democratic party
q New York state has posed as the espec
enemy of corporate wealth, and In it's pl
forms has denounced monopolists, trus
rich corporations and the like, and
" strongly for the vote OF the workingm;
o The Republican party, I am glad to S:
y has not gone on the principle Of promisi
10 impossibilities with the hope Of getti
lr votes, but has promised what lit could p
n form, and has made Us performance SOU;
q fully w.,h its promise.
re We never posed as the enemy of the n
lie man. enemy Of the corporation.
merely said, and we meant what sa
n, that so far as we were concerned, rich a
re poor should be treated alike; the corpo
s. tion safeguarded when 1t did well; made
re pay its just obligations whether it did W
=. or al; and if it did i'll, brought to SUNNI;