The independent., 1903-04-30
TURNING P0pULIsT
Roosevelt Turning Popuiist," Says Tho
Weekly People


the circle" in the west, delivered him
self of speech in Armory Hall of
the University of Minnesota on the
4th inst. The leading topic of this
speech was the Cuban treaty. Prais-
ing its virtues, Mr.. Roosevelt said:
In the next place it widens the
market for our products. both the
products of the farm and certain of
our manufactures, and 1t is therefore
In the interests of our farmers, manu-
Racturers. merchants and wage-w0rk-
ers."
Free silver was not the feature of
p0pulism neither was free coinage.
These were but external manifesto
tions of populism. The essence of
populism was the economic theory
that the ratio of the good things in
the hands of the wage-earner depend
ed upon the quantity or volume of
the same good things in existence.
Proceeding from this theory, popul-
ism demanded an increased volume
of circulating medium (money). 1t
reasoned: Money is good thing,
it is wealth; the less there is of it,
the smaller its volume, all the less
there will be for the wage-earner; the
larger its volume, all the more will
fall to the share of the wage-earner.
Increase the per capita of circulating
medium"
The theory, as everyone posted on
economics knows, was an absurdity;
and none felt the absurdity more
keenly than the Workingmen present
at populist meetings. Indeed, these
workingmen, though utterly untutored
in statistics, were themselves walk
ing evidences and advertisements of
the absurdity. During the previous
thirty years, the volume Of clothing,
of boots and shoes, of everything that
is desirable to sustain life, had in
creased greatly; it had increased not
only absolutely, but relatively, and
greatly over the increase of popula-
tion. Did those workingmen enjoy
any increased per capita Of these
good things? None better than they
knew that their increased per capi-
ia consisted not in more trousers,
shoes, hats, food, etc, but in the re-
verse. They had an increased "per
capita of patches ON their trousers.
of holes in their shoes, of air-shafts
in their hats, of s'hollows" in their
stomachs. They were living exhibits"
giving testimony on the subject, that,
the share of the Workingman in the
good things in existence, whatever
that share may depend on, does rot
depend upon their vohlme-ccnse-
quently does not depend upon the
widening of the market" for them,
Which is the same as saying that it
does not depend upon the affiuence
(the 'interests') of the manufacturers
or employers. Weekly People
Is. L. P), New York.
(The Peoples conception Of popul-
ism is wonderful admixture of truth
and error. 1t is true that free silver
was not the feature of populism;" that
was simply an incident the money
question was the real issue. Primarily
1t is true that in order to have good
things" good things must be in ex-
lstence, but populism never assumed
that the existing distribution of good
things is equitable. On the contrary,
1t was a protest against inequitable
distribution of these good things.
Money is good thing, it is
wealth." says the People Now, the
latter part is a socialist idea-not
populistic. Money is wealth in the
hands of an individual, but from the
standpoint of society, populism de-
nies that money is wealth." That
is to say, an increase or decrease in
the denominational sum of money
tusinS this term to mean coined metal
or paper bills) would make no change
in the sum total of cattle, sheep. hogs.
grain, manufactured products, etc.,
in existence; but it would make a
change in the price" Of these things
Populism' never taught that an in
crease in the denominational sum of
money would change the value of
commodities, as ascertained by a COM
parison of the demand for one with
that for the other; but that it would
result in an increase in the price"
of commodities, or their "value named
in terms of money" because the value
of money would be decreased, as to
each dollar, by reason of the increased
supply. There is, of course, the ad-
ditional factor, the velocity of money,
or rapidity of circulation, to be reck-
oned with.
Now nOnu1ism asserted that an