The Savannah morning news. (Savannah, Ga.) 1900-current, 1900-08-24

prices occurs because of a permanent
increase in the volume of money. all
things adjust themselves to the new level
and II the volume Of money then Increases
in proportion 20 the demand for money,
ne price levei remains the same. and
Business can be done with fairness to all.
If. however. the rise Is arbitrary and
only affects a part of the products of
labor. those whose products do not par
ticipate in the rise suffer because the
purchasing power of their income is de
creased. If a bad monetary system drags
down the price of the farmers products
while monopolies raise the price of what
he buys. he burns the ca dle at both ends,
and must expect TO suffer in comparison
! with those who belong 10 the classes
more favored by legislation.
Senators by the People.
1T is sometimes urged by partisan
| Populists that four years more of Repuo-
Hcan misrule would so aggravate eco
monte conditions rs to make reforms
easier. No one can afford 10 aid in max
ing matters worse in the hope of being
able 10 make them better Afterwards
for in 50 doing he assumes
responsibilities which he may
| not be able 90 remedy. No
! Populist however sanguine. believes
! if possible 10 elect a President at this
time, but the Populist party may he
/ bic TO determine whether a Democrat or
I a Republican viii be elected. Mr.. Chair
I man. the Populist convent on, which your
! committee represents, thought it better to
1 share with the Democrats in the honor
! OF securing some of the reforms desired
| by your party than to bear the odium of
| remaining neutral in this great crisis or
| of giving open or secret aid to the Repub-
lican party, which opposes all the re-
| forms for which the Populists contend.
! ditions which surround their fellow men
are apt to become impatient; but they
must remember that il takes time to
| work out great reforms Let me illustrate
! by calling your attention TO the slow
| growth of public opinion in support of a
! proposition to which there has been prac-
! tically no open opposition. President John
! son. in 1868. recommended a constitutional
! amendment, providing for the election of
| United States senators by direct vote of
the people, but his recommendation met
| with no response. About twelve years
| later General Weaver, then member of
| Congress, tried to secure the passage of
a resolution submitting such an amend
| ment but his efforts were futile. In 1892
| the resolution recommended by President
| Johnson and urged by Congressman Wea-
! Yer finally passed the House of Represen-
| tatives but IL has noe yet reached a vote
| in the Senate, and now, after eight years
more of public discussion, the proposition
| for the first time received the endorse
| ment of the national convection of one of
| ehe great parties.
IF the fusion forces win a victory this
| fall, we shall see this reform accomplish
ed before the next presidential election
| and with it's accomplishment the people
will find it easier TO secure any remedial
! legislation which they may desire. But
how hakng has been the progress. Hol-
! land has said:
Heaven is not gained by a single
bound,
We build the ladder by which we rise
From the lowly earth to the vaulted
skies,
And we mount TO its summit round by
round.
And so it is with great social and po-
| litical movements. Great problems are
solved slowly, but struggling humanity
marches on. step by STEP content that
at each nightfall il can pitch its tent on
| little higher ground.
The Sequence of Questions
II have called attention to the issues
which brought the Democrats and Popu-
lists together and which justify their CO.
! operation during the last four years. Let
| me now invite your attention to a question
which would justify cooperation at this
time, even though we differed upon eco
nomic questions, Ii is not our fault that
these new questions have been thrust into
the arena of politics. II is not our fault
that the people have been called upon to
| consider questions of eVer-increa sing mag
nitude. In 1890 the tariff question was the
! principal subject of discussion, and the
| Democratic party contended that the
masses were carrying a burden of unjust
and unnecessary taxes. In 1892 the tariff
question was stll the principal issue be-
tween the Democratic and Republican
| parties. although in the West and South
the money question was assuming greater
and greater proportions, and the Populists
were contending that our monetary sys-
tenn was more responsible than the tariff
laws for the depression in agriculture and
the distress existing among the wage
earners.
Gave Way to Finance.
In 1896 the whole question of taxation be-
came of secondary Importance, because of
the increased holiness of those who OPP
posed the gold and silver coinage of the
! constitution. When the Republicans de-
clared at St Louis that The restoration of
! bimetallism in this country, although de-
sirable. was impossible without the aid Of
! the leading commercial nations of the Old
| World, the Populist and Silver Republic
cans Joined with the Democrats in as
| sorting the right and duty of the Ameri-
! can people to shape their financial system
! for themselves regardless of The action of
| other nations. The failure of the Re-
! publican party 10 secure international BIZ
metallism and its open espousal of the
! gold standard still keep the money ques-
/ ton In politics, but no economic question
! can compare in importance with a ques-
ton which concerns the principle and
structure of government. Systems of tax
alton can be changed with less difficulty
than financial systems, and financial sys-
TENS can be altered with less danger and
less disturbance to the country than the
vital doctrines upon which free govern
ment rests.
In the early sixties, when we were en-
! gagged in a contest which was to deter
mine whether we should have one republic
or two. questions of finance We're lost
sight of. Silver was at a premium over
gold, and both gold and silver Were at a
premium over greenbacks and bank notes,
but the people could not afford 10 divide
over the money question in the presence
of a greater issue. And so to-day we are
engaged in a controversy which will deter
mine whether we are to have a republic
in which the government derives its Just
powers from the consent of the governed
or an empire. in which brute force is the
only recognized source of power
Evils of a Colonial Policy.
ssIn a Government where the neonle rrtn