The representative. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1893-1901, 1899-08-10

experience of the quarter of a century last
past has shown to be equivalent to the
destruction of the industries themselves.
pes eql qoIqM 'GIlsnpu! IIsQl 10 slonpoId
Populists know that in the act of gath
ering up and destroying the money of the
people there is nothing that approximates
an act of redemption" and that the wrest-
ing from the circulation of hundreds of
millions of money and committing it to
the flames is wholesale destruction, rather
than redemption. Redemption is benefi-
cent act done with the intention of correct
ing or preventing injury as far as is posi-
BILE to any person as the consequence of a
wrong already done. The destruction of
billion and half of the peoples money
within few years after the close of the
war of the rebellion, under the pretense
that the act of destruction was a necessary
procedure, done in the interest of business
and as step in the "redemptive'' (?) pro-
cess, was one Of the most gigantic and
bare faced frauds ever perpetrated upon a
credulous and unsuspecting people at the
instance of accredited representatives of
heartless and unreasOning avarice Popu-
lists do not charge that all those congress-
men who voted for the acts under which
the tremendous volume of circulation was
wrested from the channels of commerce in
an incredibly short period of time, thus
diminishing the ability of our citizens to
bear taxation and at the same time adding
to their burdens by the issue of additional
fraudulent bonds, knew what they were
doing, or intended at the time to perpe-
trate grievous wrong on their country.
The malfeasance with which congress-
men and others occupying positions of re-
spOnsib1lity and influence were Justly
chargeable is that, seeing the ruin wrought
by this "redemptive" system Of financ1er-
ing before the end of 1874, they did not
unite with the greenbackers nor inaugurate
any other movement to compel the party
in power to correct the evil that had been
done, but seemed rather to prefer to listen
to the contemplate drivel of the pimps of
plutocratic greed than to the wise and just
cOunsels of statesmen and patriots.
The scheme for the destruction Of our
paper currency, appearing to work so we'll,
in order to make doubly sure the perpet-
uity of the public debt, a large portion of
which was originally payable in paper, and
every dollar of which might be paid in
either gold or silver coin, some method Of
getting rid of a portion Of the means of
payment must be devised and silver was
marked as the object of attack So spe-
ciOusly was demonetiZation accomplished by
omitting the dollar in the section of the
act defining the future silver coins of the
government, that even the president who
signed the act protested afterwards that
he was not aware of the fact that he was
ostensibly giving his sanction to the de-
monetization of silver.
While Populists do not admit either the
honesty or constitutionality Of an act re-
quiring payment in anything other than
the lawful money of the United States, and
know very we'll that. although neither 41216
grains of silver nor 25.8 grains of gold is
worth dollor, yet these metals being
very useful in the arts and manufactures
and requiring labor for their production,
are worth something and an agreement to
pay in dollars impressed upon either of
them is virtually an agreement to pay in a
commodity that must first be wrunR from
individuals or corporations at the expense
Of industry. Notwithstanding the views
held by Populists from the inception of the
party, with respect to the nature and office
of money, and knowing as they always have
known, that the moment the precious met
ais are abstracted from the commodity
realm and devoted to the purpose of bear
ing the monetary impression, those physi-
cal qualities which are universally held to
render them useful are lost to the world
and might, together with the whole sub
stance OF these metals, as we'll be trans
muted to paper or some other material
adapted to receive and retain expressions of
value-they have yet. under the existing
conditions, favored and urged the free COIN
age of both silver and gold at the ratio
prevailing in this country for the last 60
years.
BY incorporating the free coinage plank
in the platform of July, 1892. adopted at
Omaha, the convention did that which
seems to have met the general approval of
their party. They were conscious that a
dollar stamped upon silver would discharge
any obligation, both legally and morally,
that dollar impressed upon gold would;
had always been supplied by the
coinage of these metals and they determined
that, as far as the Peoples party was con-
cerned, every facility should be afforded the