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BRILLIANT BRYAN.
THE ELOQUENT YOUNG ORATOR CAP
TURES THE REPRESENTATIVES
BY HIS GREAT TALK FOR FREE COINAGE.
Makings Most Remarkable Speech—lt Was
a Wonderful Scene in the House—A.
Speech that W’ill Bear Fruit.
Washington, August 16. —(Special.)—
This afternoon William T. Bryan,
of Nebraska, delivered the most rental li
able speech heard upon the floor of the
house in many years. It was upon tlio
silver question, lie advocated free ccia-
For two hours and fifty minutes the young
Nebraska orator held the close attention
of a full house and crowded galleries. In
stead of members leaving the ball as is
usual they crowded in and every man who
could, listened to the entire speech. There
are few other men in congress who could
have held such an audience for so long a
time. Certainly in the past ten years no
man has performed such a feat.
It was generally known that Mr. Bryan
was to speak, but no one expected him to
sustain the great reputation made by his
tariff speci’hdclivered last year. 1 hat. speech
made him famous. His speech of today
will perpetuate his fame. No such speech
has been heard on either side since the
debate opened. His delivery was perfect;
his argument exceedingly strong. Every
possible argument in favor of free coinage
be placed before his hearers in the most
forcible style. He did not repeat himself.
Though without a note before him, he
went through every argument in language
that riveted his hearers to their seats.
Occasionally a single standard man would
interrupt, but none did it without subse
quent regret. He knows his case, so to
speak. At repartee he is brilliant. His
handsome, smooth face always broadened
into smiles when a question was propound
ed him. With the confidence and ease of
a fencing master, he would dip the wings
of his interrupters. lie drove every one
to his seat who exhibited the temerity to
face him. and he did it with the apparent
ease of the experienced matador. He
pierced their argument and called for others
as the matador would for a new bull.
The speech was, indeed, grand. No other
kind c.mid have received such attention.
Hardly a man left his seat even for a mo
ment. . . ~
There is something inspiring about .Mr.
Bryan's delivery. He is but thirty three
years of age, with a smooth face of the
Sam Randall type, erect in his bearing,
perfect in bis gesticulation—a manly man
to look upon. He is pleasing to the eje.
Il's language is choice, smooth ami eloquent.
He uses no surplus words. Every word
fits just where ho puts it. His voice is
splendid, his utterances pleasing to the
ear. his arguments strong. The speech has
established him as the greatest orator in
the house.
When he had finished great applause and
cheers of “vote! vote!" rent the air. Sil
ver and anti silver men. democrats and re
publicans alike crowded over each other
ngratnlate him. He simply had elec
trified the house. 'Tom Reed and .Toe Can
non grasped his hand and told him it was
iao greatest speech ever delivered on bis
rde of the silver question. Bourke f’oek
-:in and William L. Wilson declared it
was the greatest silver speech ever made
<m the floor of the house. Bland. Culber
son. Bankhead ami all the silver men denion
sTate.l enthusiasm of the iimst intense or
der. For full ten minutes the house bns
• oss stopped to allow for the congratula
tions. Not a member failed
i.ite him. Speaker Crisp says since he
'■as boon in congress he has never known
an >tl man to hoi 1 such an audibnee for
two hours ard fifty t Huntes. He lul l never
seen such close attention; such interest in
ch.
The silver men are happy over it tonight.
They know it has strengthened tin cause.
Some of them claim it will change many
votes. There tire those who say since that
eeh the silver mon have a chance of
winning even in the house. N> definite
i ’on of such a speech can be given in a
brief synopsis.
THE ELOQITM NEBBASKIAN
In His Great Appeal for Silver—Bimetalism
Honest Money.
There has been a general demand on
The Constitution to publish in full the
speech of tion. W. .1. Bryan, of Nebraska,
the brilliant young congressman whose
magnificent oration in the house in favor
<>f bimetallism has won the admiration
of the country.
We regret that it is impossible to pub
lish the speech in full, as its length is
such as to make it impossible for us to
gratify our own desire ami that of the peo
ple to Ho so. He spoke lor more than two
Ii hi -s. ami held the undivided attention of
ever' member of tin* house during his re
marks.
We publish her>-'v:<Vi liberal extracts
from the speech, talon from The Cougres
- ■•tin! Record, and in doing so amiounce
that every line is worth rending.
Those who are sufficiently interested in
the question to wi<h to see a full copy of
the speech can no doubt, be gratified by
writing either to Mr. Bryan or their rep
resentative in congress, asking for a copy
of The (' tngressional Record containing
the speech.
Mr. Bryan's Speech.
Nir. Speaker, I shall accomplish
my full purpose if 1 am able to im
press upon the members of the house the
: .ir reaching consequences which may fol
low our action ami quicken their apprecia
tion of the grave responsibility which
press 's upon us. Historians tel! us that
tin victor) of Charles Martel at Tours de-
■ r ’lined the history of all Europe for cen
turies. It was a contest “between the
Crescent and the Cross," and when, on
i:.\t fan fill day. the Frankish prince drove
the f Howers of Abberrali
man be rescued the west from “the
all destro)ing gras of Islam." and
lived to Eur.pe its Christian civilization
A greater than Tours is here! In my hum
ile judgment the vbte of this house on the
id.j. . i nmlor consideration may bring to
the people of the west and south, to the
people of the United States, and to all man
kind, weal or woe beyond the power of
iangpage to describe or imagination to con
ceive.
In the princely palace ami in the hum
blest hamlet; by the financier ami by the
p ■ rest, toiler: here, in Europe, and every
v'.hit -. tlm proceedings of this congress
■upon this problem will be read ami studied:
and as our actions bless or blight we shall
I ■ commended or condemned. The pres
of the United States, in the discharge
of his duty as he sees it, has sent to con
a m< ssage calling attentk n to the
present financial situation, ami rec. tnnmml
i tlm um-oiidiiional repeal of (!:•' Siier
nui’i law as the oitlv means of securing im
ine! .ie relief. Seim- outside of this hall
ham insisted that the president s reconi
memlrtim imposes upon democratic mem
ber; an üblizatieii. as it w -te. to carryout
lis -.idles, ami overzetilons friends have
■ j . opposition to his views
bject t ■ ha rdy dissent er to mi
ni i<• displeasure. They do the
■ iibnii gr< at injustice who presume that
h xi mdd forget r a moment the inde
mni ’ im ■ of the tw.i branches of congress.
He v,.mH pot be worthy of our admiration
or even respect if he demanded a bonwage
,-,-ls h would violate the primary principle*
of free representative government.
To Whom *: •' We R< upeiwihle "I
Eel hi; owi language rebuke those who
tin disregard their pledges to their own
pe. ph- pt ..rder t• > display a false fealty.
In tlu i which he mt to congress
in December. !’-<>. Im said, in words which
m-.v wel ! 1:■ <»:- guide in 'his great crisis;
“The zealous watchfulness of our consti
ueneies. great and small, supplements their
suffrages, and before the tribunal they es-
THE WEEKLY CONSTITUTION: ATIANTA. GA. TUESDAY. AUGUST 22. 1893.
tabltsh every publie servant should be
judged. Among the many grand truths
expressed felicitously by the president dur
ing his public career none show a truer
conception of official duty or describe with
more clearness the body from which tlm
member receives his authority and to which
he owes his responsibility. * * *
'1 be Message.
I have read with care the message sent
to us last week, and have considered it
in the light of every rei|sonab.e construc
tion of which it is capable. If 1 am able
to understand its language it points to the
burial of silver, with no promise of res
surrection. Its reasoning is in the direc
tion of a single standard, it leads irre
sistibly to universal gold monometallism —
to a realm over whose door is written:
“Abandon hope, all ye who enter here!"
Before that door 1 stop, appalled. Have
gentlemen considered the effect of a single
gold standard universally adopted? Let
♦is not Uijheive ourselves with the hope
that we can discard silver for gold, and
that other nations will take it up and keep
it as a part of the world’s currency. When
all the silver available for coinage could
gain admission to some mints and all the
gold available for coinage would find a
place for mintage, and some nation like
France maintained the parity by means of
bimetallism it was of comparatively little
importance whether a particular nation
used silver or gold or both.
.Exchange did not fluctuate and trade
could be carried on without inconvenience.
But times have changed. One nation af
ter another has closed its mints to silver
until the white metal has in European
countries been made tin outcast by legisla
tion and has shown a bullion value different
from its coinage value. India, at last,
guided by the misrepresentations of the
metropolitan press, which proclaimed as cer
tain what was never probable, has suspend
ed free coinage, fearing that this country
would stop the purchase of silver. If the
United States, the greatest silver produc
ing nation, which now utilizes more than
one-third of the total annual product of the
world, closes its mints to the coinage of
silver, what assurance have we that it
can retain its place as primary money in
the commercial world?
Is it not more reasonable to suppose that
a further fall in the bullion value of sil
ver will be followed by a demand for a
limitation of the legal tender qualities of
the silver already in existence? 'Chat is al
ready being urged by some. Is it not,
reasonable to suppose that our hostile action
will lead to hostile action on the part of.
other nations? Every country must have
money for its people, and if silver is aban
oned and gold substituted it must be
drawn from the world’s already scanty
Ah Honewl Dollar. •
supply. We hear much about a “stable
currency" and an “honest dollar.” It is a
significant fact that those who have spok
en in favor of unconditional repeal have
for the most part avoided a discussion of the
t'ffect of an appreciating standard. They
take it for granted that a gold standard
is not only an honest standard, but the
only stable standard. I denounce that
child of ignorance and avarice, the gold
dollar under a universal gold standard, as
the most dishonest dollar which we could
employ.
I stand upon the authority of every in
telligent writer upon political economy
when I assert that there is not and never
has been an honest dollar. An honest
dollar is a dollar absolutely stable in rela
tion to all other things. * * *
Dollars Kist) him! l ull.
If the number of dollars increases more
rapidly than the need for dollars- as it
did after the gold discoveries of IM!) the
exchangeable value of each dollar wil] fail
and prices rise. If the demand for dollars
increases faster than the number of dol
lars—as it did after IMM> the price of
each dollar will rise and prices generally
will fall. The relative value of Uie dollar
may be changed by natural causes or by
legislation. An increased supply—the de
mand remaining the same or a decreased
demand-the supply remaining the same
will reduce the exchangeable value of each
dollar. Natural causes may act on both
supply and demand; as. for instance, by
increasing the product, from the mines or
increasing the amount consumed in the
a. s. 1.1 .•..■datum acts directly on the de
mand. and thus affects the price, since the
demand is one of the factors in fixing the
price.
If by legislative action the demand for
silver is destroyed and the demand for gold
is increased by making it the only stand
aijl. the exchangeable value of each unit
of that standard, or dollar, as we call it,
will be increased. If the exchangeable val
ue of the dollar is increased by legislation
the debt of the debtor is increased, to his
injury and to the advantage of the creditor.
And let me suggest here, in reply to the
gentleman from Massiichusetts (Mr. Me.
Call who said hat the money loaner was
entitled to the advantages derived from
improved machinery ami inventive genius,
that he is mistaken. The laboring man and
the producer are entitled to these benefits,
and the motley loaner by every law of jus
tice ought to be content with a dollar equal
in purchasing power to the dollar which
lie loaned, and any one desiring more than
that, desires a dishonest dollar, it. matters
not what name he may give to it. (Loud
applause), 'fake an illustration: John Doe.
of Nebraska, has a farm worth am!
lie ri^.igos it to Richard Roe, of Massa
chusetts. for sl,')(M). Suppose the value of
the monetary unit is increased by legislation
which creates a greater demand for gold.-
The debt is increased. If the increase
amounts to IGO per cent the Nebraska
farmer finds the prices of his products
have fallen one-half and his land loses one
half its value, unless the price is main
tained by the increased population incident
to a new country.
The mortgage remains nominally the same,
though tin’ debt has actually become twice as
great. Will he be dci-ieved by the cry of
"honest dollar?” If he smild loan a
Nebraska neighbor a hog weighing 100
pounds and the u«*t spring demand in re
turn a hog weighing 200 pounds he would
be cajled dishonest, even though ho contend
ed he was only demanding one hog -just
the number he loaned. Society has become
accustomed to some very nice distinctions.
The poor man is called a socialist if lie
believes that the wealth of the rich should
be divided among the poor, but the rich
man is called a financier if he devises a plan
by which the pittance of the poor can be
converted to his use. (Laughter and ap
plause.)
The poor man who takes property by
force is called a thief, but the creditor who
can. by legislation, make a debtor pay a
dollar twice as large as ho borrowed is
lauded as the friend of a sound currency.
(Laughter and applause.') The man who
wants the people to destroy the government
is an anarchist, but the man who wants the
government to destroy the people is a pa
triot. (Applause.)
< loiiideiK >• i'.lust Be Itestored.
The great desire now seems to be to re
store contidenee. and some have an idea
that the oidy way to restore confidence
is to coax the money loaner to lot go of his
hoard by making the profits too tempting
to be resisted. Capital is represented as a
shy and timid maiden who must bo courted,
if won. Let me suggest a plan for bring
ing money from Europe. If it be possible,
let us enact a law "Whereas confidence
must be restored; and, whereas, riioney will
nlwavs come from its hiding plane if the
inducement is sufficient; 'rhenfore, be it
enacted, that every man who borrows SI
shall pay back S 2 and interest (the usury
law not'to be enforced.” ** *
Vi hat Ones » Gold .Standard Mean ?
We have been called cranks and luna
tics and idiots because we have warned our
fellowmen against the inevitable and in
tolerable coiiisequences which would follow
the adoption of a gold standard by all the
world. But who, 1 ask, can be silent in
the presence ol such impending calamities?
The I’nited States. England, France, ami
C ■rmauv >wn today about .S2.<iuO,()(M).<M)t)
of the xvorkl's supply of gold coin, or about
of the' total amount, and yet
these four nation contain but a small
fraction of flic inhabitants of the globe.
Whitt will be the exchangeable value of
•i -'old dollar when India's people, out
numbering alone the inhabitants of the
four ''real nations mimed, reach ent after
t'i..ir share of gold coin? What will be the
tin il pricii of gold when ail the nations
(>f'the Occident and the orient join in the
\ distinguished advocate of the gold
standard said recently in substance;
“Wheat hns now reached a point where the
English can afford to buy it. and gold will
soon return to relievo our financial embar
rassment.” How delighted the farmer will
be when he realizes what, an opportunity
he has to save his country! A nation in
distress; banks failing; mines closed; la
borers unemployed; enterprise at a stand
still. and behold, the farmer, bowed with
unceasing, even if unremunerative, toil,
slops forth to save his country—by selling
his wheat below the cost of production!
And 1 am afraid he will even now be cen
sured for allowing the panic to go ns lar
as it has before reducing his prices. * * *
The junior senator from Texas, Nir.
Mills, never did the party greater service
than when on the 3d of February, I.BS(>,
on this floor he denounced in language the
force and earnestness of which cannot bo
surpressed. the attempted crime against sil
ver. Let his words be an inspiration now:
But in al. the wild, reckless and remorse
less lirutalities that have marked the foot
prints of resistless power there is some ex
tenuating circumstance that mitigates the se
verity of the punishment due the crime. Some
have'been the product of the tierce passions
of war, some have come from the antipathy
that separata's alien races, some from the
superstitions of opposing religions.
Hur the crime that is mr>v s oight to lie per
petrated on more than fifty millions of people
comes neither from the camp of a conqueror,
the hand of a foreigner, nor the altar of an
isolator. But it comes from those in whose
veins runs the blood of the common aneestt).
who were born under the same skies, speak
the same language, reared in the same institu
tions and nurtured in the principles of the
same religious faith. It <omes from the cold.
plimgmatie. marble heart of avarice avarice
Ihai. seeks to paralyze labor, increase t.ie
burden of debt, and fill the land with desti
tution ami suffering Io gratify rhe lust for
sold avarice surrounded by every comfort
that, wealth can command, and rich enough
to satisfv every want save that which refuses
to l>e satisfied without the suffocation and
strangulation of all the labor of the land.
With a forehead that refuses to be ashamed
it demands of emigres an act that P* 1 ’-
alvze ail the forces of produetion, shut ent
labor from all employment, increase the bur
den of debts and taxation ami send desola
tion and suffering to all the homes of the
poof.
Ijanffuaee Could Not Ho Stronger.
Can language be stronger or conclusion
more conclusive? What expression can be
more forcible than the “most gigantic cume
of this or any other age?” What picture
more vivi.l than that painted in the words,
"The consummation of such a scheme would
ultimately entail more misery upon the
human race than all the wars, pestilences
and famines that ever occurred in the
history of the world?" Wh.-it more scath
ing rebuke could bo administered to av
arice than that contained in the words of
Mr. Mills. * ♦ *
Hirnet allium.
Lot me call your attention briefly to the
advantages of bimetallism. It is not
claimed that by the use of two metals at
a fixed ratio absolute stability can be so
cuhml. We only contend that thus the
monetary unit will become more stable in
relation to other property than under a
single standard, if a single sttindard were
really more desirable than a double standard
we are not free to choose gold and would
be compelled to select silver. Gohl ami
silver must remain component parts of
the metallic money of the world —that must
be accepted as an indisputable .fact. Our
abandonment of silver would, in all proba
bility. drive it out of use as primary.money,
and silver as a promise to pn.v gold is little,
if any, better than a paper promise to
pay. If bimetallism is impossible, then
we must make up our minds to a silver
standard or to the abandonment ot both
gold and silver. (Applause.)
Let us suppose the worst that has been
prophesied by our opponents, namely,, that
we would be upon it silver standard it we
attempted the free coinage of both gold and
silver at any ratio. Let its suppose that
all our gold goes to Europe and we have
only silver. Silver would not be incon
venient to use, because a silver certificate
is just as convenient to handle us a gold
certificate and the silver itself need not
be handled except where it is necessary for
change. Gold is not handled among the
people. No one desires to accept any large
amount in gold. The fact that the treasury
Ims always on hand a large amount, of kyd
coin deposited in exchange for gold cert'di
eates shows that the paper r'T.'Nf, 1 ";,'
i~ >■ ■■ >■■■ 'i ! ih .ii tl>. .. . A involved '
following out the sn;pi>osit t.’i’. a. ••o” .q/era.
goes abroad. Europe will have more inone)-'
with which to buy our exports—cotton and
wheat, cattle and hogs.
If, on the other liniid, we adopt gold, we
must draw it from Europe and thus lessen
their money and reduce the price of our
exports in foreign markets. This, too,
would decrease the total value ol our ex
ports ami increase the amount of products
which it would be ttecessary to send
abroad to pay the principal anil interest
which we owe to bondholders and stock
holders residing in Europe. Some have
suggested the advisability of issuing gold
bonds in order to maintain a gold standard.
Let them remember that those bonds sold
in this country will draw money from cir
culation and increase the stringency and
sold abroad will affect injuriously the price
of our products abroad, thus making a
double tax upon the toilers of the I idled
States, who must ultimately pay them.
Let them remember, too, that gobi bonus
held abroad must some time be paid in
gold, and the exportation of that gold
would probably raise a clamor for an ex
tension of time in order to save this coun
try from another stringency. A silver
standard, too, would make us a trading cen
ter of till the silver-using countries of the
world, and these countries contain far
more than one-half of the world's popula
tion. What an impetus would be given
to our western and southern seaports, such
as San Francisco, Galveston. New Orleans,
Mobile, Savannah and Charleston. Then,
again, we produce our silver and produce
it in quantities which would to some ex
tent satisfy our monetary needs.
The government does not try to fix the
purchasing power of tin* dollar, either gold
or silver. It simply says in the language of
Thomas Jefferson. "The money unit shall
stand upon tin 1 two metals." and then al
lows the exchangeable value of that money
to rise or fail according as the total pro
duct of both metals decrease or increase
in proportion to the demand for money.
In attempting to maintain the parity be
tween the two metals at a fixed ratio the
government does not undertake the impos
sible. France for several years did main
tain the parity approximately at 15 1-2
to 1 by offering unlimited coinage to both
metals at that ratio. It is very common for
some people to urge, “You cannot put
value into anything by law." and I am
sorry to .see soffie proclaim this who know
by rich experience how easy it is for the
government to legislate prices up or
down. * * *
Tun Dollar of Our Daddies.
1 have here a silver coin (exhibiting it)
which came from the mint in 1797. It has
upon the edge the significant words:
"Hundred Cents—One Dollar or Unit.”’
It would seem, therefore, that the weight of
the gold dollar was regulated by the silver
dollar and the gold pieces provided for
made multiples of it. In 1834 and in 1837
the alloy was changed and the gold dollar
reduced in size in order to correspond to
the newly established ratio of 16 to 1.
The amount of pure silver in the standard
dollar has never been changed since its
adoption in 1792.
The ratio of 16 to 1 overvalued gold and
our silver went abroad. The silver dollar
was worth about 3 cents more than the
gold dollar because it could be coined in
France at the ratio of 15 1-2 to 1. Thus
during all the period prior to 1873 this
country enjoyed bimetallism and, although
at one time we used one metal and at an
other time another, no statesman arose
to demand a single standard. We now have
three kinds of bimetallism—those who favor
double standard only by international agree
ment, those who favor independent action
at a changed ratio and those who favor in
dependent action at the present ratio.
Those favoring an international agreement
might be again divided into those who
favor an agreement by a few nations, those
who favor an agreement by many nations
and thosu who favor it only on condition
that all nations would join. * * *
One hundred and seventeen years ago
the liberty bell gave notice to a wailing and
expectant people that independence bad
been declared. There may be doubting,
trembling ones among us now, but, sirs,
I do not overestimate it when I say that
out of 12,000,000 of voters, more than
10,000,000 are waiting, anxiously waiting,
for the signal which shall announce the
fiuaneial independence of the United
States. (Applause.) This congress cannot
more surely win the approval of a gratelul
people than by declaring that this nation,
the grandest which the world has ever seen,
has the right and the ability to legislate
for its own people on every subject, re
gardless of the wishes, the entreaties, or
the threats of foreign powers. (Ap
plause.) * * *
The Profile of Mining.
But what is the mine owner’s profit?
Has any one told you the average cost
of an •mice of silver? You have
heard of some particular mine where silver
can be produced at a low cost, but no one
has attempted to give you any reliable data
as to the average cost of produetion. 1 had
a letter from Mr. Leech when he was
director of the mint, saying that the gov
ernment in possession of no data in re
gard to lite cost of gold production ami
nom of any value in regard to silver. No
calculation can be made as to the profits
of mining which does not include money
spent in prospecting and in mines which
have ceased to pay, as well as those which
are profitably worked.
V'. hen we see a wheel of fortune with
tw< lity-four paddles, see those paddles sold
for 10 cents apiece, and see the holder
of the winning paddle draw .$2, we do
not conclude that money can be profitably
invested in a wheel of fortune. AVe know
that those who bought expended altogeth
er $2.40 on the turn of the wheel, and that
the man who won only received $2; but
our _opponents insist upon estimating the
profits of silver mining by the cost of the
winning paddle. It is safe to say that
taking the gold and stiver of the world—
and it is more true of silver than of gold—
every dollar’s worth of metal has cost a
dollar. It is strange that those who watch
so carefully lest the silver miner shall re
ceive mon' for his product than the bare
cost of production ignore the more for
tunate gold miner.
[ >id you'ever hear a monoinotallist com
plain because a man could produce 25.8
grains of gold, .!) fine, al any price what
ever. and yet take it to our mint and
have it stamped into a dollar with full
legal tondi r qualities? I saw at the world’s
fair a few days ago a nugget of irold, just
as it was found, worth over What
an outrage that the finder should be al
lowed to convert that into money at such
an enormous profit! And yet no advocate
of honest money raises his hand to stop
that crime.
Tlie Farmer’s Interest.
The farmer labors under a double dis
advantage. He not only suffers as a pro
ducer from all those causes which reduce
the price of property, but he is thrown into
competition with the products of India.
Without Indian competition his lot would
bo hard enough, for if ho is a land own
er he finds bis capital decreasing with nn
appreciating standard, and if he owes < n
the land he finds his equity of redemp
tion extinguished. The last census slows a
real estate mortgage indebtedness in the
live great agricultural states—lllinois
lowa, Missouri. Kansas and Nebraska—
of more than a billion of dollars. A rising
standard mentis a grwnt deni to these
mortgagors. But as 1 said, the producers
of wheat and cotton have a special greiv
anee, for t’he prices of those articles are
governed largely by the prices in Liverpool,
and as silver goes down our prices fall,
while the rupee price remains the same. *
* *
The Real Trout,le.
The trouble is now that depositors have
withdrawn their deposits from the banks
for fear of loss, and the banks are compell
ed to draw in their loans to protect their
reserves, and thus men wh<) do business
upon borrowed capital are crippled. The
people have not lost faith in t’he govern
ment or in the government’s money. They
do not refuse silver or silver certificates-
They are glad enough to get any kind of
money. We were told last spring that gold
was going to be a premium, but recently
in New York city men found a profitable
business in the selling of silver certificates
of. ijr' iall denominations at 2 per cent pre
ryvn» and on the sth of this month tlien
jo 'fin. N'ew York Herald and
* ! York Times this ailvertisemont:
-oi.V':!i |><q I \l;s. - We-ii-flre
2'■nii'.iin of ■"■ I per eon!, or
rniCiiuHl, standard silver dollars, in
i Cl.ooo or more, in return for our eerti
’l. . ~ i.eeks pnvable through the c cnring
hotr*'.' ZIMMERMAN & FORSJIAY,
Bankers. 11 Wall street.
About the same time the New York po
lice force was paid in S2O gold pieces
because of the scarcity of other kinds of
morey. How many of the failing banks
have obeyed the law in regard to reserve?
How many have crippled themselves by
loaning too much to their officers and di
rectors? The situation can be stated in a
few words; money cannot be secured to
carry on business because the banks have
no money to loan; batiks have no money
to loan because the depositors have with
drawn their money; diqnisitors have with
drawn tlieir money because they fear the
solvency of the banks; enterprises are
stagnant because money is not in circula
tion. * * *
Moro Money Needed.
One of the benefits of the Sherman law.
so far as the currency is concerned, is
that it compels the issue of a large amount
of money annually, and but for this issue
the present financial panic would, in my
judgment, be far more severe than it is.
That we need an annual increase in the
currency is urged by Nit. Sherman him
self in a speech advocating the passage of
the Sherman law. On the sth day of June,
1890. he said in the senate:
Vmler the law of February, 1878, the pur
chase of .$2,000,000 worth of silver ffitllloti a
month has by coinage produced annually an
average of nearly .s;’>.o('i>,ooo per month for a
period of twelve years, but this amount in
view of Ibe retirement of the bank notes, will
not increase our currency in proportion to
our increasing population. If our present cur
rency is estiiiiatf.sl at $1,400,000,000, anil our
present population i.s increasing at the ratio
<>t 3 per cent per annum, it would require
5t2.000.000 increased each year
to keep pace with the Increase of population;
but as the increase of population is accompa
nied by a still greater ratio of increase o'
wealth anil business, it was thought that an
immediate increase of circulation might be
obtained by larger purchases of silver bullion
to an amount sufficient to make good the
requirement of bank notes and keep pace with
the growth of population. Assuming that
,s.'>l,U(M),(Mio a year of additional currency is
needed upon this basis, that amount*- pro
vided f.ir in this bill by the issue of treasury
notes in exchange for bul.iou at the market
price.
This amount, by the fall in the price ot
bullion silver. J»:ts been largely reduced.
Shall we wipe it out entirely? He insi>t<'<l
that the Sherman law gave to the people
more money than the Bland law, and upon
that ground its passage was defended lie
fore the people. Could it have been pas-ed
had it given less than the' Bland la" t
Who would have dared to defend it if it
had provided for no money at all ?
What provision shall bi 1 made for the fu
ture? Upon that question our opponents
are silent. The bill which they have pro
posed leaves us with no increased curren
cy provided for. Some of the advocates of
a gold standard, in the defense of their
theory, find it necessary to dispute every
well established principle of finance.
We are told that as civilization increas
es credit takes the place of money ami that
the volume of real money can be diminish
ed without danger. If you will pardon me,
1 am reminded of the man who eoneeiveil
the idea that a fish could be made to live
without witter. As the story goes, he put
a herring, fresh from the sea. in a jar of
salt, water. Ry removing a little every
morning and adding rainwater he gradually
accustomed it to fresh water. Then by
gradually removing the fresh water he ac
customed i*( to air and finally kept it tn a
cage like a&ird. One day, in his absence,
his servandFplaeed a cup of water in the
cage in order that the fish might
moisten its food; but. alas! when the
master came home he found that the fish
had thoughtlessly put ts head into the water
and drowned!
From the arguments of some of our op
ponents we might be led to the conclusion
that the time would come when money
would not only be necessary but really dan
gerous. * * *
Gartiliiig.
They tell us that ourplatfo rm demands
repeal, but does it demand repeal only?
Shall we take away the "cowardly make
shift” before we restore the real thing for
which that “temporary expedient" was sub
stituted? As well denounce one kind of
food because it lacks nourishment and then
refuse all food to the patient. They shall
not be permitted to thus mutilate the plat
form. No such inexcusable, attempt at
garbling has been witnessed since the min
ister took from the sentence "Let him
which is on the housetop not come down to
take anything out of his house” the words
“topknot come down,” and inveigled against
the feminine habit of wearing the hair
in a knot on the top of the heail. (Laugh
ter.) They demand of us unconditional re
peal, They demand that we give up all
that, we have in the way of silver legisla
tion before we know what we tire to re
ceive. Shall we surrender on these terms?
Are Wo <JHrthitjreniHnH ?
Rollin tells us that the third Funic was
was declared by the Romans and that a
messenger was sent to Carthage to an
nounce >the declaration after the army
had started on its way. The Carthageiiians
at once sent representatives to treat for
peace. Tile Romans first demanded the de
livery of 300 hostages before they would
enter into negotiations. When 31X) sons
of the nobles had been given into their
hands they demanded the surrender of all
the arms and implements of war before
announcing the terms of the treaty. The
conditions were sorrowfully but promptly
complied with, and the people who boasted
of a Hannibal ami a llamilcar gave up to
their ancient enemies every weapon of of
fense and defense. Then the Roman, con
sul, rising up before the humilated repre
sentatives of Carthage, said:
“I cannot lint commend you for the readi
ness with which you have obeyed every or
der. The decree of the Roman senate is that
Carthage shall lie destroyed.”
Sirs, what will be the answer of the peo
ple whom you represent, who are wedded
to the "gold and silver coinage of the con
stitution,” Jf 'you vote for unconditional
repeal and return to tell them that you
were commended for the readiness with
which you bbeyed every order, but that
congress has decreed that one-half of the
people’s metallic money shall be destroyed?
(Applause.)
They demand unconditional surrender, do
they? Why, sirs, wo are the ones to grant
terms. Standing by the pledges of all
the parties in this country, backed by the
history of a hundred years, sustained by
the most sacred interests of humanity it
self. we demand an unconditional surren
der of the principle of gold monometal
lism as the first condition of peace. (Ap
plause.) You demand surrender! Ayo. sirs,
you may cry “Peace, peace.” but. there is
no peace. Just so long as there are people
here who would chain this country to a
single gold standard, there is war —eternal
war: and it might just as well be known
now! (Loud applause on the democratic
side.) I have said that we stand by the
pledges of all platforms. * * *
Sliall We Kepudlatm Our Plerlireg ?
Does any one believe that Mr. Cleve
land could have been elected president up
on a platform declaring in favor of the
unconditional repeal of the Sherman law?
Can we go back to our people and tell them
'that, after tletiotmeing for twenty years
the crime of 1873, we have at last accepted
it as a blessing? Shall bimetallism receive
its death blow in the house of its friends,
and in the very hall where innumerable
vows have been registered in its defense?
What faith can be placed in platforms if
their pledges can be violated with impun
ity? Is it right to rise above the power
which created us? Is it patriotic to refuse
that legislation in favor of gold and silver
which a majority of the people have always
demanded? Is it necessary to betray all
parties in order to treat this subject in a
"nonpartisan” way?
Th<' president has recommended uncon
ditional repeal. Il is not sufficient to say
that he is honest—so were the mothers who,
with misguided zeal, threw their children
into the Ganges. The question is not “Is
he honest?” but “Is he right?” He won
the confidence of the toilers of this country
because he taught that "public office is a
public trust," and because he convinced
them of his courage and his sincerity. But
are they willing to say. in the language of
J >b, "Though He slay me, yet will I trust.
Him?” Whence comes this irresistible
demand for unconditional repeal? Are not
!»■• representatives here as' near to the
people and as apt to know their wishes?
Whence comes the demand? Not from the
workshop and the farm, not from the work
ingmen of tliis country, xx ho erea e its
wealth in time of peace and protect its
flag in time of war, but from the middle
men, from what are termed the "business
interests,” and largely from that class
which can force congress to let it. issue
money at a pecuniary profit to itself if
silver is abandoned. The president has
been deceived. He can no more judge the
wishes of the great mass of our people by
the expressions of these men than he can
measure the ocean’s silent depths by the
foam upon its waves.
The Musses Oppose Unconditional Repeal.
Mr. Powderly, who spoke at Chicago a
few days ago in favor of the free coinage
of silver at the present ratio and against
the unconditional repeal of the .Sherman
law, voiced the sentiment of more laboring
men than have ever addressed the president
or his house in favor of repeal. Go among
the agricultural classes; go among the poor,
whose family is dear, and you will not find
the haste to destroy the issue of money
or the unfriendliness to silver which iis
manifested in money centers.
'fhis question cannot be settled by type
written recommendations and suggestions
made by boards of trade and sent broad
cast over the ['united States. It can only
be settled by the great mass of the voters
of this country who stand like the rock of
Gibraltar for the use of both gold and sil
ver. (Applause.)
There are thousands, yes. tens of thous
ands, aye, even millions, who have not yet
"bowed the knee to Baal." Let the presi
dent take courage. Nluehlbach relates an
incident in the life of the great military
hero of France. At Marengo, the Man
of Destiny, sad and disheartetied thought
the battle lost. He called to a drummer
boy and ordered him to beat a retreat. The
lad replied:
"Sire. I <lo not know how. Pessaix has
never taught me to retreat, but I can bent a
charge. <7ll. I can beat a charge that would
make the (lead fall into line! I that
chage nt the bridge of Lodi; I beat it at.
Mount Tabor: I beat it al the pyramids; Oh,
may 1 boat it here?”
The charge was ordered, tin battle won,
and Marengo "its added to the victories
of Napoleon. Ob, det our gallant leader
draw inspiration from the street gamin of
Paris. In the face of an enemy proud and
confident the president, has wavered. En
gaged in thb battle «oyal between the
“money power and the common people” he
has ordered a retreat . Let him not be dis
mayed .
lie has won greater victories than Na
poleon, for ho is a warrior who has con
quered without a sword. He restored fi
delity in the public service; he converted
democratic hope into realization: he took
up the banner of tariff reform and carried
it to triumph. Let him continue that
greater fight for “thu gold and silver coin
age of the constitution.” to which three
national platforms have pledged him. Let
his clarion voice call the party hosts to
arms; let him but speak the language of
the senator from Texas, in reply to those
who would destroy the use of silver:
In this hour fraught with peril to te who'.e
country. I appeal to te unpurchased repre
sentatives of the American people to inocr
this bold ami insolent demand like men. Lot
us stand in the breach and call the battle an
ami never leave the tie’.d until the people’s
money shall be restored to the mints on equal
terms with gold, as it was years ago.
Let this command be given, and the air
will resound with the tramp of men scarred
in a score of battles for the people’s rights.
Let this command be given and this Mi rep
go will be our glory and not our shame.
(Applause on the floor and in the gallaries.)
The Farting of the Ways.
Well has it been said by the senator from
Missouri, Nir. Y'est, that we have come
to the parting of the ways. Today the
democratic party stands between two great
forces, each inviting its support. Ou the
one side stand the corporate interests of
the nation, its moneyed institutions, its
aggregations of wealth and capital, imperi
ous, arrogant, eompassionless. They de
mand special legislation, favors, privileges,
ami immunities. They can subscribe mag
nificently to campaign funds; they can
strike down opposition with their all-pervad
ing influence, and to those who fawn ami
flatter bring ease and plenty. They demand
that. the democratic party shall become
tlieir agent to execute their merciless de
crees.
On the other side stands that outnumber
ed throng which gave a name to the demo
cratic party and for which it has assumed
to speak. Work-worn and dust-begrimed,
i they make their mute appeal. They he*
• of average wealth increased on every sKR
I and feel the inequality of its distribution*.
; They see an overproduction of everything
l desired because of the underproduction of
i the ability to buy. They can-
I not pay for loyalty except with
I their suffrages, ami can only punish be
trayal with tlieir condemnation. Although
j the ones who most deserve the fostering
I care of the government their cries for help
too often beat in vain against lhe outer
wall, while others find ready access to
legislative halls.
This army, vast and daily vaster growing,
, begs the party to be its champion in the
I present conflict. It cannot press its claims
i amid sounds of revelry. Its phalanxes <lo
[ not form in grand parade, nor has it gaudy
banners floating on the breeze. Its battle
i hymn is “Home. Sweet Home,” its war cry
i "Equality before the law.” To the demo
-1 cratic party, standing between these two ir
reconcilable forces, uncertain to which side
to turn and conscious that upon its choice
its fate depends, come the words of Is
rael’s second lawgiver: “Choose you this day
whom ye will serve.” YVhat will lhe an
swer tie? Let me invoke the memory of
, him whose ilust made sacred the soil of
.Monticello when he joined
The dead but sceptered sovereigns who still
rule
i Our spirits from their urns.
He was called a demagogue and his
I followers a mob, but the immortal Jeffer
| son dared to follow the best promptings of
his heart. He placed man above matter,
I hulfmnity above property and, spurning
the bribes of wealth and power, pleaded the
cause of the common people. It was this
devotion to their interests which made
his party invincible while he lived and will
; make his name revered while history en
i dures. Anil what message comes to us
i from the Hermitage? When a crisis like
i the present arose and the national bank
of his day sought to control the politics
I of the nation, God raised up an Andrew
1 Jackson, who had the courage to grapple
with that, great enemy and l>y overthrow-
■ ing it he made himself the idol of the peo
ple and reinstated the democratic party in
public confidence. What will the decision
| be today? The democratic party has won
the greatest success in its. history. Stand
ing upon its victory-crowned summit will
it turn its face to the rising or the setting
sun? Will it choose blessings or cursings--
life or death—which? AVhi<h? (Prolonged)
applause on the floor and in the galleries,
and cries of “Vote! Vote!”)
REPDBUCiiIToTEIifIJLITy.
Flow the Will of the Democratic Party Cai
Be Defeated by Republican Connivance.
From The New Y'ork Ilerahl.
In about a week the house wl'.l probably
1 vote on the nmner.ius phases of the proposed
financial legislation n >w before it ami out of
the tangle into which the situation has <li;jft
eil will he evolved a basis sufficiently definite
j to show where the democratic party stands
as regards the coinage of both gold and silver
j as the standard money metals of tile country.
In his last letter to Tile Herald that dis
| tlnguislied republican contraverslnlist, Mr.
• Murat Halstead, concerns himself as to the
! representative character of the position taken
by The Constitution and by myself in my let
ters to The Herald, in advocating strict com
pliance with the demands of the party plat
form. While he believes that “more thud
any other” newspaper. The Constitution rep
resents southern opinion, he hopes that in
I the matter of financial legislation its construc
! tion of party duty does not reflect the senti
ment of the south. “If.” says Mr. Hal
stead, “the president’s policy is not over
thrown as a republican freak or. his part, the
bulk of the southern senators must vindicate
him. ”
There is but ona test as to whether or not
my position, and that of The Constitution, is
represent at.’e of the wishes of the southern
people in the matter of harmonizing con
gressional action to the pledge of the party
which elected flic administration. Whatcvci
views Mr. Halstead may have on this point
will be put at rest in the announcement ot
the vote of both the house ano the senate.
Il will bo found, when the record of the
hense is made that an overwhelming majority
of the democrats are in favor of the recogni
tion of silver as well as gold as a standard
I money metal. If left to the democratic ma
; jority the house would unquestionably repeal
the Sherman law and pass a free coinage bill.
I As the matter stands it is probable Hint
such action will not bo taken. as
i there arc, unfortunately. enoug\
recalcitrant democrats to combine with the
' republican minority and thus shape the action
I of the house contrary to the attitude of the
I large majority of the democratic represents
i fives.
'Tlii> situation demonstrates the potentiality
; of the republican position. Having less than
! one hundred, out of a membership of three
hundred and fifty, the republicans are as
strong in the house today, and infinitely more
dangerous, than they were when under the
lash of Speak"!- Reed they whipped the force
bill through the house at a gailop. and ilcfied
the people iu tile recklessness of their ex
tra vag;*nce.
We have often heard of the “Randall mi
nority." It has passed into history and
live as long as the memory of poor Sam Rani
dail. 'There is not a chapter in the history
of political parties in this country marked
by more bitter antagonism than that which
records the attitude of the majority of the
i democratic party toward the “Randall ele
ment,” when that wing of the party differed
with the majority tn the matter of protection
legislation. At that time the democratic
party had not made an unequivocal declara
tion of its tariff policy in its party platform,
and .it was in shaping this policy that tho
division occurred which evoked from t.hfl
democratic majority the bitter denunciation
of Mr. Randall and those who agreed with
him, and which cost Mr. Randall the lass
of the speakership. As soon as the party
declared itself, outspokenly and unequivo
cally, as against protection in any form, bo.th
elements of the party, the big and the little,
harmonized svi;h w.nderful unanimity, an,l
tariff reform became at once the shibboleth
and the battle ery of the party. The demo
crat who disagreed was no longer a demo
| erat, but like the Arab, silently folded h:s
I tent and betook himself to the republican
camp, where he belonged.
Let) us compare tlrts with the situation
today. We find lu the house an unquestion
able majority of the party in favor of the
i free coinage of both gold and silver. The
' same condition exists in the senate. But,
I strange to say, the most conspicuous leaders
of the demoeratlc minority are the very
• ones who wen 1 the most blatant and uncom
promising in attacking the "Randall minor-
J ily.” because it differed with the demoeratlc
majority when tariff legislation was under
discussion, even before the party had du
; clared itself either on one side or the other,
j The Randall element never dared to antag
' onlze the party platform, but immediately
accepted its declaration and worked with all
the Intensity of demoeratlc enthusiasm for
the redi'tnptiou of the- party’s pledge. Tua
democratic minority in the house and senat«
today are not trying to shape, but to over
throw, the democratic policy. But it is nol
probable that the unholy combination of
the democratic minority with the republicans
ot the house will direct congressional action,
and if the president’s policy is to be left
I "to the vindication of the southern sena
tors,” as Mr. Halstead would Have it, it will
| not <»e lecognized by Its most intimate
friends after those distinguished exponents
of southern opinion have acted upon it.
Let Mr. Halstead watch the record of the
5 vote in the house, if he wants to know how
the democrats of the south stand on the
question. If he will do this he will have no
further ground for inquiry ast o whether
■ or not my position Is a H'flex of southern
' sentiment in the demand for the use of both
stiver am! gold as the ■standard money metals
of the country, each »> be coined without
discrimination sigainst the other, and every
dollar to be intrinsicirtty worth every other
■ uollar.
j The ratio is not the issue, nor is it essen
i tlal to the settlement of the q uestlon :ie-
I cording to democratic promise. Free coin
i age lias been solemnly promised by the dem
ocratic partv and the majority of the demo
mats In both We senate ami the house, are
i in favor ot redeeming the pledge of th«
nartv and their votes will so demonstrate.
1 CLARK HOWELL.
I Atlanta, August 18th.
7