Grand Rapids Herald-Review Newspaper, September 12, 1896, Page 7

a) A SHORT CATECHISM. ‘ AN EASY METHOD OF CONVERT. |’ ING MISLED VOTERS. Once They Understand That This Is a |i lattle for Universal Supremacy B. tween Uncle Sam and John Bull They'll Vote for Free Silver. Question—What issue outweighs all others in this year’s campaign? Answer—The question of the restora- tion of the principle of bimetallism in our monetary system. Q.—Why is so much earnestness felt or the subject? A.—Because the vote next November will probably aetermine the question finally one way or the other, Q.—Is not the tariff equally an issue in the campaign? A.—No, there is no appreciable oppo- sition to a protective tariff, and all oth- er issues are lost in the great one of gold or bimetallism. Q.—Explain the position of the gold advocates? A.—They insist that 23.22 grains of gold shall constitute the measure of the dollar, no matter to what point gold may advance, Q.—Why are they so wedded to the gold standard? A.—Because it’ is the English stand- ard, and England is looked upon as the most enlightened nation of the world. Q.—Is there any reason why we sould have the same standard as Euro- pean countries? —None whatever. stem of a country is pure’ of its own internal concern. ‘What influence has precipitated The monetary y a matter vive money influence, Q.—What do you mean by speculative money influence? A.—Capital legitimately employed has little to make or lose by the ques- tion of the standards. A piece of prop- s worth just as much whether ex- din English pounds or in French francs or in American dollars. So in- vested capital represents the same in- nsic value whether it be measured old dollars or silver dollars. Only vestors in money have any very real interest in maintaining forever the gold standard, Q.—But would not a change of stand- ard be an injustice to them? The issue had better not have been raised at this time, but as it has been raised some injustice must be ex- perienced on one side or the other. Q.—Who raised the issue? A.—The advocates of the gold stand- ard. Q.—What are their chief arguments? A.—Denouncing the advocates of bi- *metallism as populists, anarchists, fa- natics and cranks. Q.—Are these denunciations justi- fi —No; many able political econom- ists and statesmen advocate bimetal- lism. Q.—Does free silver carry with it the destruction of the national banking system, the restriction of the powers of the government to preserve’ the peace in times of riot and insurrection, and other so-called populistic meas- ures? A.—By no means. The remonetiza- tion of silver is a legitimate question of statesmanship with a solid basis of scientific truth underlying it. Q.—Just what do the bimetallists con- tend for? A.—For the free coinage both of gold and silver. Q.—What do you mean by free coin- age? A.—The privilege on the part of any holder of the precious metals of taking them to the mint and having them coined into money without limitation. Q.—Then the term “free” simply means unrestricted as to amount? A—Exactly. If every coin contains the full weight of pure metal and passes at what it is worth, there can be no object in limiting the coinage. The more money we have the better. Q.—But how about the expense of running the mints? A.—At present gold is coined at the expense of the government. In some countries the cost of coining is charged to the person getting his metal convert- ed into coin. That would be a matter for congress to settle. There can be no objection to a charge for coinage. There may be advantages in it. Q.—Then free silver simply means putting silver on an equality with gold in throwing open the mints to its coin- age? A.—It does. Q.—What do you mean by 16 to 1? A.—The present silver dollar has 16 times the weight of the gold dollar. The expression 16 to 1 means the contin- uance of the coinage of the silver dol- lar at the present weight, or at 46 times’ the weight of the gold dollar. Q.—But the present silver dollar has put half the bullion value of the gold collar, has it not? A.—True, but its depreciation results very largely from its demonetization. Restore its functions as real money and it will certainly advance. Q.—Will it return to a parity with 4 gold at the 16 to 1 ratio? A.—Many good thinkers believe it will, In any case the disparity would be but very small compared with what it is to-day. Q.—What advantages are claimed for free coinage? A.—It would break the existing cor- ner in gold and cause the dollar to re- turn to its old value. Q.—What would be the effect of that? A.—Prices for all products of labor would advance, business would revive, debts would be more easily paid, labor would be in greater demand, and strikes and ricts would cease. perity would be restored to the country. Q.--Then the support of free silver does not mean anarchy and repudia- tion? | | | THE SLINGS AND ARROWS OF OUTRAGED FARMERS. - raensenraersnyesenseersenneneygennaesnnnegensanass TNR LABOR’S WAGES AND MONOMETALLISM, HAMS Paemmrernmernrermererrenenre trun rnin irc hs The advocates of the present gold standard are fond of asserting that wages are higher in gold standard countries than they are in bimetallic countries. They quote the daily wages paid in Brazil, Belgium, Denmark, France, Germany, Italy, Holland, Great Britain, Argentina, Norway and Sweden, Spain, Turkey, Portugal, Canada, Switzerland, Venezuela, United States, Chili and Australasia, all gold standard countries, as against Austria, China, Russia, Central America, Per- sia, Peru, Uruguay, Mexico, Colombia, Japan, India and Ecuador—all silver standard countries. It will be noticed that not one of the countries named are on a bimetallic system, except it be the United States (the figures are for the year 1890, when this country was on a partial bimetallic basis) which they nevertheless put in the gold standard column. Today all the countries named have either a single silver standard or a single gold standard. Not one of them has a financial system like the United States had up to 1878, and, in a measure, from that time to 1893, when the Sherman law was repealed by a forced panic and under which wages advanced so much. A single silver standard is almost as bad 9s a single gold standard. The one virtue of silver monometallism over gold is that it keeps the forces of production at work. There is practically no un- employed in the silver countries. A third of the forces of production in the gold countries are idle at the present time. And again it is organized labor that keeps wages up in every country. La- bor is thoroughly organized in nearly all of the gold standard countries. In the silver countries it is not. Al of the gold countries named have hereto- fore been bimetallic countries. The silver countries have always been monometallic. Wages thrive under the bimetallic system. Wages go down under the monometallic system—be it gold or silver. This country is now on a gold monometallic system and has been since 1893. Wages have gone down 30 per cent. since then. The daily pay of workmen in the United States in 1892 was $12,000,000; today it is about $8,000,000. We want to get back to the bimetallic system, not mere- ly as it partly existed prior to 1893, but as it wholly existed prior to 1873. Then wages will go up. 1 A.—Far from it; the intelligent and conscientious free-silver advocates have solely in view the prosperity of the nation. TO OPPRESS LABOR. Aldrich's Committee Misrepresents the Facts. New York Journal: What are these statistics in which such constant ap- peals are made, and for which men are asked to distrust their common sense and common observation? Fortunate- ly, this question may be briefly answer- ed, because all these labor sympathi- zers refer to the same set of statistics— the only set in the world that‘ would answer their purpose. It is the report made by Senator Aldrich of Rhode Is- land to the senate finance committee in 1893. Those who know nothing about the wages accepted the committee’s sum- mary, but others looked to see in what industries this astonishing rise in wages had taken place. They found that upon “books and newspapers” wages had fallen since 1873; in the “building trades” they had fallen; in “city public works” they had fallen; in “cotton goods” they had fallen, but that in “dry goods,” where the greatest fall was expected, wages were reported to bave risen over 40 per cent! Turning to the employers’ reports in another volume to learn where the wages of clerks had been rising at such a phenomenal rate, it was found that but asingle dry goods store, up in New Hampshire, had made a return. Less than twenty clerks were employed by it, and yet the Aldrich committee as- sumed that all clerks throughout the country had had a similar advance in wages. As clerks are more numerous than cotton operative, for example, a rise of 40-odd per cent in the wages of a score of clerks was made to offset a fall of about one-sixth in the wayses of over a thousand cotton operatives and leave a handsome balance to be applied to other industries as needed. Other methods likewise extraordinary were used by the committee, such as the separation of the foremen from the hands, and the making a rise in a fore- man’s wages offset a fall in the wages of a score of men under him. By these Pros-4{ Means the desired results were secured. What the employers’ returns really showed was something very different, | according to an independent investi- gator, who went over the returns a, few months ago. The summary for all the persons employed in all the industries covered was as follows: Average Aversge Aggregate daily daliy Persons wages wages: wages: Date Empolyed. (daily.) eurreney. (gold.) January, 1860. $6,566 $1.18 1.18 January, 1873 6,153 12,568 2. 81 January, 1891 -.7,765 13,125 1.69 69 In other words, between 1860 and 1873, under bimetallism, gold wages rose 53 per cent in thirteen years; be- tween 1873 and 1891, under the incom- plete monometallism, gold wages in the most favored establishments fell 7 per cent. Since 1893, under complete monomet- allism, the decline in wages has been at a much more rapid rate. In Massa- chusetts the labor report for 1894 show- ed that in two years the nominal rate of wages in the factories of the state had falfen 7 per cent and that even this lower rate was received by fewer hands, working fewer days. Wage-earners who do not know the statistics know the facts from hard experience, and those who depend upon statistics to persuade the wage-earners to take the side of money lenders and tighten their grip upon the industry of the country have a difficult task before them. “Fool Logic.” St. Louis Republic: In the same col- umn a republican organ tells the work- ingman that if he votes for Bryan he will vote 47 per cent of his wages into the pockets of mine owners, and that he will vote to depreciate not only the silver dollar, but all the currency to 53 cents on the dollar. How in the name of Hanna can free silver coinage put 47 per cent of each dollar coined into the pocket of the silver miner and at the same time reduce the value of the silver dollar and all the currency de- pendent upon it to the value of 53 cents? Any schoolboy can figure out that if the value of the silver dollar depreciates to 53 cents, or anything less than its face value the miner can not make 47 cents by its free coinage at the mints. Or, to put it the other way, if the miner makes 47 cents, the value of the silver dollar will have to be raised to the value of the present gold dollar, in which case there will be no depreciation of the currency, The gold- standard advocate can take his choice of alternatives, but not both. This is a fair sample of the kind of logic with which Hanna’s agents are flooding the country. It proceeds on the assump- Demonetizing Silver. I will take it on myself to answer Mr, Edward Helliwell, who inquirés about what is meant when it is assert- ed that silver has been ‘‘demonetized.” His letter, published in the Record Aug. 6, refers to two objections often stated, as he says, which he gives as follows: 1. “We were not using any silver in 1873, and therefore silver could not have been demonetized.” 2. “We are using more silver money than ever before in our history.” It is a technical word. One might say the silver coin now has no inde- pendent purchasing power, whereas once with us all the silver coin of the United States did have such independ- ent purchasing power, and from 1853 to 1873 the silver dollar possessed it, while the fractional silver coin did not. The independent purchasing power of the fractional silver coin was taken away in 1853 and that of the silver dol- lar in changes that occurred from 1873 to 1878. That is “demonetizing.” The taking away of the independent pur- chasing power of any of the precious metal coinage by law is the “demone- tizing” of such coin. While we did not actually use the silver or gold coin as a part of the volume of the circulating. medium in 1878 the law permitted the gold coin and the silver dollar to be carried on independent purchasing power, and after that this privilege was taken from the silver dollar. While the silver coin now has the same pur- chasing power as gold coin it is so be- cause they are in the volume of the circulating medium as the solvent rep- resentation of the gold coin. The sil- ver coin changes purchasing power with the change of the gold coin, and, not with the change of silver builion: It may then be true that in 1873 we were, not using the silver coin in our vol- ume of the circulating medium, and yet the silver dollar was privileged to be coined and used on its own purchasing power, but after 1878 it could only be used as the solvent or insolvent repre- sentation of gold coin. The silver dol- lar was restored in everything but its independent purchasing power in 1878. The silver dollar therefore remained “demonetized.” Nor does it make any difference » bout the volume of silver coin, for be the issue few or many, the question involv- ing the “demonetizing” of precious metal coinage is whether or not it is issued on independent cr dependent purchasing power. Pur- chasing power alone is “standard of prices,” and any money to perform the office of a “standard of prices” must have sufficient independence of pur- chasing power to fill this office. Sol- vent representative money never has any purchasing power of its own, and therefore can only be subordinate money and is ‘demonetized.”—Ebene- zer Wakeley in Chicago Record. dust Like Cleveland. Those Republican papers that have been roasting Cleveland for his goldite financial policy can now with the same consistency roast McKinley, but it is a noticeable fact that they do nothing of the kind. If there is any difference between the policy announced by Mc Kinley and that pursued by Cleveland people would like to know what that difference is.—Wood River News-Miner Hailey, Idaho. Puts Its Foot In It Every Day. Chicago Tribune, today: This silver agitation is all in the interests of the silver miners, They want to make fifty cents’ worth of silver worth a dollar Chicago Tribune, yesterday: The value of silver cannot be increased by unlimited coinage. Query—If the value of silver cannot be increa8el Sy free coinage, how is free silver going to benefit the silver miners? Except in the Ottoman empire, Per sia, Arabia, Siam, China and the in terior of African countries, slavery is tion that the workingmen are fools, * | now extinct. THE FUN IS OVER VISITNRS TO THE TWIN CITIES ARE RETURNING HOME, The G. A. R. Encampment at St. Paul, the K. P,. Encampment and Carnival of Ceres at Minneapolis and the State Fair, Were a Suc- cess—Gen, T. 8, Clarkson of Oma- ha Chosen Commander-in-Chief. St. Paul, Sept. 6. — The week of pleasure in the Twin Cities is over and nearly all of the visitors have depart- ed. Many of the visitors who came frem a distance and expect to remain some time are now making excursions to different points cf interest around St. Paul and Minneapolis. The G. A. R. encampment at St. Paul, the Knights of Pythias encampment and Carnival of Ceres at Minneapolis and the state fair have been a great suc- cess, and the 250,000 or 300,000 visitors to the Twin Cities were sent away happy. The last session of the G. A. R. con- vention was called to order at 10 a. m. After the preliminary business was. disposed of the chair declared nomina- tions for the several officers to be in order. The candidates were then presented. Delegate Coggswell of North Dakota presented the name of Mr. Linehan in a strong speech, and the nomination was seconded by a New York delegate. Brown of North Dakota nominated Rear Admiral Meade. Col. Spooner of Rhode Island made the nominating speech for Mr. Ballou. Clarkson’s name was presented by Judge M. L. Hay- ward of Nebraska. The name of Judge Given of Iowa was withdrawn by his delegation. Senior Vice Commander Hobson’s name was also presented by one of the delegates from Kentucky. When the nominating speeches were finished and preparations were being made for a ballot there was general surprise when the announcement was made that Mr. Linehan’s name would be withdrawn. Then, as it appeared that a concerted movement had been decided upon fer the withdrawal of all candidates except Mr. Clarkson, there was general applause. The chairman announced that the only candidate before the convention was Comrade Clarkson of Nebraska. A motion was at once made that Mr. Clarkson be elected by acclamation. This was done with a whoop and Mr. Clarkson was declared unanimously elected. Gen, Mullen Senior Vice. The next business in order was the selection of a senior vice commander- in-chief. On motion, there being no other candidates, Gen. John H. Mullen of Wabasha, Minn., was declared unanimously elected. The convention went into the nominations for junior vice commander, surgeon general and chaplain-in-chief, and after the ballots had been cast and counted the result was declared as follows: Junior vice commander, C. W. Buck- ley, Alabama; surgeon general, Rey. A, E. Johnson, Washington, D. C.; chaplain-in-chief, Rev. Mark A. Taylor, Massachusetts. The commander-in- chief announced the appointment of C. E. Burmester of Omaha as adjutant genefal. The committee on resolutions re- ported, and the convention indorsed, as a substitute for various resolutions of- fered in regard to the utterances of President Elliott, of Harvard college, that while they emphatically con- demned his unworthy and untruthful statements, they would not dignify them by formal resolution. It was favorably reported and the convention indorsed a resolution ask- ing a preference to capable ex-soldies in government appointment; also one urging on congress the justice and pro- priety of conferring on Gen. Miles the rank of lieutenant general; also a reso- lution indorsing a proposed park at Vicksburg; also a national park at the battlefield of Fredericksburg; recom- mending the reading of Lincoln's Get- tysburg address as,a part of the exer- cises on Memorial day. The encamp- ment then adjourned. The New Commander. Thaddeus Stevens Clarkson ef Oma- ha was born at Gettysburg, Pa., in 1840. He was educated three miles from the great battlefield of Antietam. He enlisted April 16, 1861, within two hours after President Lincoln’s call for 75,000 men for three months, in Company A, First Iinois artillery. He went to Cairo, served under Gen. Grant there; re-enlisted for the war July 16, 1861; was promoted Dec. 1, 1861, to adjutant of the Thirteenth Il- inois cavalry; served with that regi- ment and on the staff of Gen. John W. Davidson, participating in battles with that commander on the march to Hel- ena and Little Rock, Ark. He was as- signed to command it during the Ar- kansas campaign. In August, 1863, he assisted in raising the Third Arkansas cavalry of Union white men of that state, was promoted to major, and commanded the regiment until nearly the close of the war, participating in nearly all of the battles in Arkansas under Gen. Steele. The W. R. C. At the W. R. C. convention Mrs. ¢ “ith of Indiana, in an eloquent sh¢ch, nominated Mrs. Hitt of Indian- apoiis for the office of national presi- dent. Delegations arose so rapidly in all directions to second the nomination that the convention was thrown into confusion. Mrs. Martin of Missouri was named as a candidate, but she withdrew in favor of Mrs. Hitt, and moved that the nominations close. It was a graceful thing to do, and met with ready appreciation. Her motion to make the election unanimous was carried by a rising vote, and after the ballot was cast Mrs. Martin presented Mrs. Hitt to the convention amid thunderous applause, and Mrs. Hitt re- sponded in a feeling manner. Mrs. Cummings of Pennsylvania nominated Mrs. Marle Hazenwinkle of St. Paul for senior vice president, and she was elected by acclamation. ‘The ladies of the G. A. R. elected of- ficers for the ensuing year as follows: Mrs. C. B. hirst, Louisville, Ky., re- clected president; senior vice president, Mrs. A. T. Anderson, Minnesota: jun- ior vice president, Mrs. Mason, Ne- braska; treasurer, Mrs. Flora George, Washington; chaplain, Mrs. Thankful, Massachusetts. MINNESOTA NEWS. nteresting Happenings in the North Star State. The state fair proved to be a pro- sounced success. Anton Weinholzer was robbed of tearly $300 in his saloon in St. Paul. The residence of Mr. Mika at Delano was destroyed by fire. Loss $500. Two Duluth girls are mysteriously hissing and supposed to have been foully dealt with. Over 100,000 people were in attend- mee at the G. A. R. encampment at St. Paul. Hon. Fred C. Stevens was nominated or congress by the Republican conven- ion of the Fourth district, held at Caylors Falls. Peter Rafferty. who has been held *s a witness, is now charged with the nurder of Thomas Curlin, at Lake flmo, near Stillwater. Gus Mueller of Rochester, aged 36, sommitted suicide by shooting himself n the abdomen. Cause, despondency over his health. The old Marquis Demores refrizer- itor Brainerd v struck by light- ing and set on fire. It is a total loss; yartinlly insured. Under orders of the district court f Wabasha county the uncollected as- sets,—notes and securities of the d ‘unct Merchants bank of Lake City, vere sold. Mrs. Fannie EB. Fleck, relict of A. M. Fleck ,was found dead in a closet in ier residence at Austin. She had been nm poor health for some time. Two thildren survive. John Lambert's house and contents ind six stacks of grain were burned to the ground. The Lamberts were away from home and it is believed that the ire is the work of enemies. A school house in a district about ‘our miles north of Montevideo v jurned with all contents last night. Che loss was about $600, and was fully covered by insurance. The fire sS supposed to have been set by ramps. &. Green and R. C. Blue, unmar- tied, employes of the Great Northern work train, w seriously injured at Sauk Center b ling from and being ‘un over by the train. The recovery f either is doubtful. ID. R. Morrison, a shoe dealer of Vinona, closed his doors Monday. His ‘ailure is the result of the death af \. F. Hodgins, to whom he owed som hing over $10,000. The assets t few thousand less than the liabi ie The stock is estimated at $12,000. State Bank Examiner Kenyon ha taken charge of the Manuf: ank of West Duluth and C. E. Peaslee ias been appointed receive: The fai ire is attributed to the bank’s inability to quickly lize on its assets. De- rosits are about $40,000. A premature explosion of dynamite it the cement works at Mankato fa tly injured Peter Peterson and bad. njured Peter Lewis,. If Lewis recov- ws he will probably be blind. They iad disobeyed orders in using dyna- nite in the upper rock ledge instead of yowder, John Sebaack of Douglass lost his sranary and barn, including a large {uantity of grain and 200 tons of hay, yesides machinery, by fire, catchi ‘rom a threshing machine engine. Mrs. Cheresa Congemine of Hampton lost t quantity of flax in the shock in a imilar manner. Both were insured. Great excitement prevailed at An- iandale for about four hours the other lay over the announcement that Scott yoodman’s little three-year-old boy had wandered into the woods and was lost. Che whole town was turned into a jearching party, and just before dark he little fellow was found about three- ‘ourths of a mile from home. John eGns, living southeast tie, while riding horseback ttle Monday morning, was thrown rom his horsc, sustaining injuries vom which he died the same evening. Te was sixty years of age and cne of he earliest and st prosperous Ger- nan farmers in this section. He leaves i wife and six children, mostly grown ip, to mourn his loss. A. D. Davidson, receiver of the State of Ren- driving yank which failed some time ago, vhen Cashier Stuckey eloped with {15,000 of its money, has sued M. O. formetly president of the bank, 3,200, which, it is alleged, he eon- ‘or rerted to his own use and failed to re- urn. When Cashier Stuckey was tried ‘or embezzlement some time ago he as acquitted, blaming Hall for the ime. A serious affray occurred at Milaca ecently. William Johnson, a saloon ‘eeper of Sandstone, came here several lays ago, and claimed a woman here is his wife. The woman, being di- ‘orced, ordered him from the premises. Je was locked up, and afterward li rated on a promise of good behavior. ‘aturday afternoon he chased several eople from the house, and attempted o murder his wife. He cut the face nd arms of J. Peters severely, and thased the woman into the street at he point of a dagger. Archie Morrell, the little son of Yeorge Morrell, a farmer living near jt. Charles, was terribly cut by a nowing machine. His father was nowing weeds alongside the road. The yoy, unknown to his father, was play- ng among them and the tall growth wrevented his discovery in time to pre- ‘ent the accident. The sickle cut clear hrough the bone of one leg and into he bone of the other, besides tearing md lacerating the flesh of both. Al- hough it was an hour before medical tid could be secured, the physician topes to save one leg, and possibly voth. Fred McNaughton, road master of he Duluth & Winnipeg railway, had m exciting adventure with a monster nuscalonge while engaged in fishing it Bass Lake, near Deer River. He. n company with a party of Minneapo is, had succeeded in taking upward of 50 pounds of fine black bass and were m route home when Mr, McNaughton tooked what proved to be a veritable evithian. After a desperate struggle, n which the boat narrowly escaped veing capsized a score of times, the ish was finally landed, but not until hree rifle bullets had penetrated his main. The fish weighed 5 t ver taken from the inland waters ot ne Northwest. | ; |