Rocky Ford enterprise., 1909-02-26
GINGER SNHPS
BY 80. II. T."


men folks in the same boat. The
Wavs and Means Committee of our
Federal Congress is just now having
a strenuous tussle with it. But there
is hope. When such old-time bene-
fciaries of the system as Carnegie
begin to honestly tell US what they
know about it we should be able to
get some real light. Perhaps it would
be putting it little strong to quote
that old adage to the effect that when
rogues fall out honest men get their
due. But it really has some bearing
on the case. There is serious dis
sension in the Protectionist ranks.
I see that Senator Teller i feeling
the Free Silver pulse. This would
seem to me a good time to trot out
that hobby again; that is. a good
time to get it in the public eye
Whenever the bottom falls out of
the speculative boom that the public
is wont to call by the name of pros
perity,"-but WHICH is in reality some
thing entirely aside from legitimate
liable that somebody must be left
holding the bag. The fellow who is
left with an inflated property in his
possession can only get out even by
having some cheap money to pay for
it, or by swapping it for a good deal
of cheap money. So the fat money
scheme is the natural corollary of fiat
property valuations and stock gam
bles. Having now reached the pinch
that naturally follows the bursting OF
the prosperity" bubble, and the fel-
low who took the last trick in the
public confidence" game insisting on
his stakes" how is the loser to meet
his gambling obligations except by
having the government come to his
rescue and give the legal tender value
to some cheaper product than that
with which we previously measured
values. The Senator cut quite a hg-
urc in Colorado politics when the
Free Silver craze caught us after the
panic OF 'o3. and there is no tellinp
where il might have landed him il
Mark Hanna hadn't found us a pres
idcntial candidate who had once made
Free Silver speech. and was just
Janus faced enough to front both
ways at once on the money question.
But with neither presidential chair
unpre-cmptcd nor senatorial toga
hanging on the wall. it would seem
as il there was nothing in it for the
tossing up of some Swcaty night-caps
bv the crowd that can be pcrennially
hoodoocL into believing something
can be made out of nothing.
We are very prone to smile at that
Socialistic tenet which inculcates the
theory that the msrg:n OF profit in
trade is always and everywhere a viii
lainous Injustice; and the sublime con-
fdcncc that most OF us have in the
correctness OF the popularity accept
cd viewpoint, makes us lose sight OF
the measure OF real truth there is in
that radical statement. Honest COM
mcrce really does resolve itself into
the exchange OF the real product of
my labor ior the real product OF 9TH
cr mems labor because what another
has OF material product will conducc
to my comfort and happiness more
than the product ] have and wish to
cxchanTr for it. The work OF pro-
noting exchange OF products is SIM
plv supplementary TO the work OF
producing them. and the man who is
engaged simply in the transfer OF
-roducts Is properly entitled to
share in the advantages of exchange.
But whenever and wherever there are
artificial economic barriers OF any ----'
set I'M that give special advantage to
either party to the exchange there is
in justice. IL does not matter whether
this is Socialistic doctrine or not. it
is truth: and phases OF this injustice
run through all phases of our pres
cnt cconomc practice. 1t NAV spring
indirectly ont of the Protective Tar
ifs. Trust combines and other things
that are associated with republican
forms of government. or out of the
feudal grants, patents and licenses is
sued by monarchial favoritism. In all
cases IL is Just the bulge" that one
man gets upon another by reason OF
SPECIAL privileges. artifcially produced
for the purpo5c of giving an uncarn-
ed margin to one at the expense OF
another. The giving OF. an artificial
market value to silver. by making il
arbitrarily the cuu valeut of rarcr
metal. is one of the schemes for spc-
cial advantage TO the few over the
many. and ouch; to be deprecated bv
cvc-v man who wants to be honest
II o-ght to be cS ccially and cmphat
icallv repudiatcd by anybody who
-ails himself democrat. And ] he
'icvc that is wherc the Senator counts
himself now.
Inst after the Senator had "gonc
over to the crcmv" and declared him
self. rather loIil''. as being by nature
7nft instinct friend and sympa;hizcr
with SIC cxnlo'cd majority, he came
into the Arkansas Val
lev. and straryc TO behold. he pro-
cccdcd to defend \ detective tariff
on beet SUGAR. Speaking generally
there arc ci~:.' r'illions of people in
these United States and they are each
said 20 consume about their own
WEIGHT il suga! each ycar-whcn thcv
ran raise the whcrcwithal to buy it.
There NAV he. ~ the widest stretch
of imagination Sooooo who are more