Willmar tribune. [volume] (Willmar, Minn.) 1895-1931, 1900-04-11
THE PARAMOUNT ISSUE,
Bryan Says the Money Question Will
Not BE Dropped During the
Coming Campaign.

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question will not be dropped is low ap-
parent to every careful observer. The
republican party now seeks to make
the gold standard permanent by legis-
lative act. The advocates of the
gold standard have no plan for
securing the necessary increase in the
volume of standard money. Their ulti-
yer it's legal tender qualities and make
gold the only legal tender.
Then every dollar of debt will be paid
in gold alone, and every debtor will he
compelled to find the gold, no matter
how scarce it will be, or how difficult to
secure. Every disturbance in gold
standard countries will shake our
financial system and the debtors will
be the first ones upon whom every dis
aster will fall. Since 1896, we have
secured large amounts of unpromised
and unprotected gold from the discov-
cries in Klondike, and also because of
the famine in Europe, which created
demand for our breadstuffs at in
creased prices.
The secretary of the treasury ex-
cuses the loaning of government
money without interest to national
banks on the ground that this is neces-
sary to prevent an injurious contrac-
ton of the currency. If, with the in
crease, the secretary is afraid to keep
the revenues in the treasury for fear
of disturbing business conditions:
what would have been the condition
but for the unpromised addition to the
money supply, and what would be our
condition if any European disturbance
caused an outflow of gold?
How can the democratic party avoid
the issue without confessing the gold
standard to be desirable?
The republican party not only seeks
to make the gold standard permanent,
but in the same bill it seeks to take
from the federal government the right
to issue paper money and to surrender
that right to national banks. The peo-
pie never voted for such proposition
at an election.
The power to control and expand the
currency at will enables the financial
magnates to control the markets and
secure for themselves fabulous for
tunes at the expense of their vic
tins.
The democratic party cannot drop
the money question without turning
the people over to the tender mercies
of the bank presidents, who control
business conditions by controlling the
money supply.
There is no party, there is no group
of men, working earnestly and dill
gently for the restoration of bimetal-
lism at any other ratio than sixteen
to one. If the opponents of industrial
trusts think that such trusts can be
destroyed by making peace with the
money trust, they deceive themselves
Behind the industrial trusts stand
the money magnates, who defend the
gold standard To make terms with
the advocates of the gold standard in
order to center the fight against in
dustrial trusts would ALLEVIATE a ma.
jority of the sincere opponents of all
private monopolies without CORE
spending gain from the ranks of advo-
Gates of the gold standard.
During Mr.. Cleveland's administra-
ton the gold democrats were in con-
troll, but the trusts were not Interfered
with. Under the present administra-
ton the gold republicans are in con.
troll, but the trusts are not interfered
with. The trusts can only be destroyed
by those who oppose the principle OF
monopoly wherever applied.
Advocates of the gold standard use
the same epithets against the oppo-
nents of trusts that they used against
the opponents of the gold standard
If man opposed the gold standard
in 1896 he was demagogue; so, it
seems, is the man who opposes trusts
now. The opponent of the gold stand
ard was accused of being deficient in
brains; so is the man who opposes the
trusts now.
1t is suggested that some gold dem.
ocrats will return to the party if the
party will g-ve up silver and fight i'm
perialism. Who are the supporters OF
imperialism? The same people, as a
rule, who support the gold standard,
national bank currency and Industrial
monopoly. do not mean to say tina
all the advocates of the gold standard
favor either imperialism or the trusts.
but do say that both Imperialism and
the trusts find the majority of their
supporters among the gold Standard
The republican party opposes the in
come tax because it is not willing to
make the rich bear their share of the
expenses of the government. It ia
vors the gold standard because it gives
to the financiers an advantage over
wealth-producers. It favors national
bank currency, because it gives to n&-
tional banks a valuable privilege de-
MED to the rest of the people. 1t favors
trusts, because it is more interested in
those who make money out of monop-
oily than it is in the people, who are
victims for every private monopoly,
and so naturally takes the side of the
syndicates that want to exploit the
Philippine islands.
The democratic party is consistent
in opposing the gold standard, ma
tional bank currency, industrial mo-
nopolies, large standing armies, i'm
perialism and entangling alliances with
European nations.
The position of the democratic par