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TODAY*! WKATHKH.
WASHINGTON, Aug. IP. Minnesota—Part
ly cloudy weather; probably local showers;
Warmer In eastern portion: southerly winds.
Wisconsin Warmer and partly cloudy
weather; tight to fresh southerly winds.
South Dakota Generally fair In eastern
portions; southerly winds.
North Dakota— Fair: warmer In eastern
portions: southerly to westerly winds.
Montana Fair, preceded by local showers
lv northern portion*; westerly winds: cooler.
( ; K.V KUAL OBSERVATIONS.
United States Department of Agriculture,
Weather Bureau, Washington, Aug. 19, 6:48
p. in. Local Time, 8 p. m. 7501 Meridian
Time ObaervatfoiM taken at the same mo
liH-ni of time at all stations.
Place. Tern. Place. Tern.
St. Paul 72 Mimifdosa 74
Imluth «4 Winnipeg 70
Jiuron 74 — :
Bismarck 78 Bismarck 78-80
Williston 82 Boston 62-66
Havre K8 Cheyenne -....62-82
Helena 86 Chicago 62-64
Edmonton 74 Cincinnati 70-74
iiuitleford 80 Helena 86-88
Prince Albert 70 Montreal 56-66
Calgary 70 New Orleans 86-94
Medicine Hat 80 New York 68-70
Swift Current 76 Pittsburg 66-70
Qu'Appelle 74 Winnipeg 70-80
DAILY MEANS.
Barometer, VAT 2; thermometer, CA; relative
humidity, 62; wind, south: weather, cloudy;
maximum thermometer, 7t',; minimum ther
mometer, ",l : daily range. 26; amount of rain
fall In ia.st twenty-four hours, .0.
RIVER AT 8 A. -M.
Qauga Danger Height of
Reading. Line. Water. Change
St. I'anl 14 2.2 —0.1
La Ctosk 10 2.4 —0.1
Davenport IS 1.8 0.0
St. Louis 30 10.6 —1.2
—Fall.
Note Barometer corrected for temperature
and elevation. —P. F. Lyons, Observer.
COMPLBTUra THK HKCORD.
We give place today to a communica
tion thai is beyond the ordinary limit
of length, because we wish to give
every latitude to criticism upon our
own position, and because, also, this
gentleman furnishes so conspicuous
;in illustration of a bad fault in any
discussion, the habit of producing part
of a record without giving the whole.
His contention is that the men who
favored the Bland-Allison act of 1878
did not believe that its effect would be
to raise the price of silver bullion. He
says that the Bland-Allison act, that
was patched up in the senate, was
•'a thing that no silver man ever pre
dicted would raise the price of silver
to :< parity with gold." Fortifying 1 this
position, he quotes from the Congres
sional Record, not the Congressional
<;iol>e, beginning, for reasons best
known to himself, at page 1251.
The debate in the house on the bill,
as it came from the senate, is recorded
at length in the volume of the Con
gressional Record to which he refers,
but the account of it begins on page
1J4:: Referring to the earlier portions of
the debate, and be it remembered that
it Is not in any case here the original
tree silver bill that is under discussion,
but the bill as amended by the senate,
and, as discussed by Mr. Turner's let
ter, «re find that Mr. Phillips, of Kan
sas, speaking for the bill, said that,
while he believed the amendments
would "cripple its usefulness and
weaken its power to relieve the coun
try." still he should vote for it. That
fixes his status. Here is what he said:
I venture the prediction, and my predic
tion is ba«ed on figures and calculations, that
before twenty months from the time the sil
ver dollar is coined, gold and silver, In the
proporttraa of our currency, will be at par
With caeli other, and before three years have
puns, it will have risen to be the dearest
Metal. (Fas* 1244.)
Following him came Mr. Monroe, of
Ohio, and used the following language:
We thus reach the conclusion that the sil
ver dollar, remonetized at the ratio of 16 to 1,
or t!_' L . grains of standard silver to tho dol
lar, would soon rise in value to a par with
Kohl, it will not be difficult to reduce the
hiii unit whenever the advanced price of sliver
■hall demand It. (Pago 12-tr,.)
The debate was continued by Mr.
Bundy, of New York, from whose
speech we take the following extract:
I am firm In the belief that silver should
lie utilized for other purposes than the arts,
iiinl :i» a commodity with a merely nominal
value, and that the restoring its usefulness as
money will k<> Bar toward restoring Its former
value, the &» ■ ..■.'■ and superior of gold. And
while i cannot now, from lack of time, go
Into the discussion of that topic. I am con
vinced that but a short time will be needed
la remove all possible Inferiority of silver
us a legal tender coin. (Page 1249.)
This brings us down to the point at
which Mr. Turner begins his excerpts.
We propose to add a little to them. In
Quoting Mr. Bland, he judiciously
omits to notice that Mr. Bland con
tinued his opinions in the following
terms:
Meanwhile, let us take what we have t»
supplement it immediately in the appropria
tions bills, and if we cannot do that. I am In
favor of issuing paper money enough to stuff
down the bondholders until they are sick.
Mr. Sayler, of Ohio, answering the
objection that the bill did not provide
for free coinage, said that it was prac
tically the same thing, since it author
ised coinage to the full capacity of the
mints of the United States. We are
astonished that our correspondent
should make a quotation from Mr.
Southard and stop at the precise point
where it becomes interesting. Let us
follow Mr. Southard's argument, found
on page 1251, to this effect:
Tlu- meritorious principle recognized in this
bill, and even as amended by the senate, is
tliii: hoth coins shall be equal as a. unit of
value in legal tender quality. It recognizes
•ho did silver dollar of 412« i grains of stand
ard silver, and makes It a legal tender for all
debts, public and private, and the argument
is perfectly irresistible for the rest in the
future. It will cut its own way with but llt
tl» iHlp.
Than was, even in that year of our
Lord IS7B, a great man named Hanna;
but hiss first name was not Mark, and
he hailed from Indiana, instead of
Ohio. Here is a choice sentence from
his long address, which shows us his
general attitude and his particular be-
lief in the effect of the bill. Addressing
an opponent of the measure, he said:
Mendacious hireling, why not publish the
truth and the whole truth, and tell the
country thai, up to the very hour that silver
was demonetized, it stood abreas^ with gold;
yea, more, for years was 3 per cent in the
lead; and that, so soon as remonetized, it will
again reoceupy the position it maintained
from the origin of the republic to 1873. (Page
1261.)
We should remark that these gen
tlemen, whom we are quoting, spoke^
of the act of 1878 as "remonetizlng" sil
ver, and were not referring to any free
coinage act of past or future. Mr.
Finley, also quoted by our correspon
dent, continued:
Let us once more renionetlze silver and put
it on an equal footing with gold as an unlim
ited legal tender for all debts, public and
private, and 1 doubt not that it will very
soon be quoted as the equal of gold. (Page
1265.)
We might continue at great length
extracts from this interesting discus
sion, where the reader may find paro
died every statement that is made to
day. We have said enough to show
that our correspondent is completely
in the wrong. While the thoroughgo
ing free coinage men in the house were
dissatisfied with the senate's amend
ments, and while they took this bill j
under compulsion, which is something
that nobody has questioned, the fact,
as we have shown by the record, is I
that almost every one of them did J
take the ground that the passage of I
this act would raise the commercial
value of the silver dollar to a parity
with gold. When you challenge the
judgment of Caesar, it is a good thing
to go on the whole record and not upon
a piece of It.
THE GREAT ISSUE.
Mr. Bourke Cockran was chosen fitly,
as a 'Democrat, to reply to the long and
wearisome speech delivered by Mr.
Bryan in the Madison Square garden
a few days ago. There was the same
immense audience, the same eager ex
pectancy and same appearance of en
thusiasm; but the difference between
the two occasions will be evident to
one who reads even the ordinary ac
count of them, although the press dis
patches did not fully disclose the fact
that one half of Mr. Bryan's au
dience left the hall before he had fin
ished reading his paper. We find in
the great speech which Mr. Cockran
delivered on Tuesday evening in reply
that combination of eloquence and
fact, that masterly marshaling of ar
gument and that magnetic appeal to
the individual, which unite to make
the perfect orator. There is no diffuse
ness, no apologetic tone, no lack of
concentration, no absence of force in
Mr. Cockrans aigument. Straight as
a bullet and as resistlessly it flies to
the mark. He aims at the bull's eye.
The great central fact in this cam
paign is that, whatever else it might
or might not do, the free coinage of
silver is a measure to reduce the wages
of labor. It is the workingman's inter
est above all others that is
now at stake. Unless all the
predictions of both silver men and gold
men are at fault, unless every effect
that each of them expects from free
silver fails to materialize, then prices
will advance. Whether this be from
an Increase in the money volume, as
the Populist assumes, or from a de
preciation in the quality of the cur
rency, as the sound money men argue,
both accept It as a necessary and in
evitable consequence. If prices do ad
vance, the workingman must suffer.un
less his wages advance at least corre
spondingly. He Is the man upon
whom the whole burden of the change
will fall. He knows better than any
other how much of a task it is to se
cure Increased compensation. He
knows if prices should double what are
the chances of his obtaining a doubled
wage. If they should rise but 25 per
cent, let him look backward and see
how long it has taken him to secure
the last advance of 25 per cent. It is
the workingman above all others who
must pay the piper in this dance.
If there shall be a single
laboring man's vote cast for
free silver In November, It will
be the vote of a man who asks
that the purchasing power of his daily
wage be diminished by an unknown
amount, anywhere up to 50 per cent,
without securing to him any compen
sating advantage. If this is un
wise for him, it is certainly
criminal for any others to at
tempt to force it upon him. As Mr.
Cockran shows, and business confirms
it, that "crown of thorns" stage busi
ness was not so entirely inapt. For, if
this certain evil which we have point
ed out be not indeed the worst injus
tice ever done to labor by any govern
ment, then we fail to appreciate its
true effect. Mr. Cockran' s address is
a true speech, a manly speech, a Dem
ocratic speech, a great speech. We
hope that every voter in this country
will read it and ponder it before next
November.
— m —
A GOOD TIME TO HIV.
It is probable that the present will
turn out to be the best time for mak
ing purchases of all kinds of stocks,
bonds, real estate and other property
that has been seen or will be seen for
a generation to come in the United
States. Everybody knows and will ad
mit that such investments are at the
present time away below the normal.
If financial conditions were settled,
there is not a security on the list whose
actual income-paying ability does not
entitle it to advance heavily above
the present prices. The same is true
of real estate and of every other form
of property not purely speculative in
character. This Is a natural condition
following well-established laws. The
demand for all these classes of prop
erty has been cut down and almost
annihilated by the persistent agitation
for free silver. Knowing that the suc
cess of this movement would depreci
ate the value of every fixed Invest
ment very largely, people have sold
their holdings and refuse to buy others.
This means the diminution of demand
and the increase of. supply. That
produces a sluggish market and
a range of constantly decreasing
prices. That condition, as we have
said, is abnormal and unnatural. The
moment that the causes that produce
it are removed, the reaction will come.
If there could be an election tomor
row, resulting in the overwhelming de
feat of the free, stiver proposition, and
f fUS GAtrg- FAtJt, (2&0&E: THURSDAY, AUGrtfSI? 3$ fsl9<
the election of a national administra
tion and a congress pledged to main
tain the present standard and to keep
all our forms of currency at par, no
body doubts thafall kinds of property,
except the shares of silver mines,
•would jump upward with astonishing
buoyancy. There would be added,
within twenty-four hours, hundreds of
millions to the value of our posses
sions, as measured by the prices which
the people would be willing to pay for
them.
Now, that is what Js going to happen
in November. We do not think any
thing is better assured, and we do not '
see how any man who has faith in
the American people can doubt it,
than that they are going to decline to
force this country to the silver stand
ard and enact a financial revolution
with all its certain disasters and all its
unknown possibilities of calamity. As
suming that to be true, the man who
purchases any kind of property today
is going to make a big profit in Just
three months from this time. He is
going to realize more out of that in
[ vestment than he could in ordinary
times in a series of years. He has to
take, it is true, this one chance. There
j is but a single element of speculation
I in the process. He must face the pos
j sibility of a free silver tri
umph, and a consequent slump in
the markets and disappearance of all
value until the inevitable readjustment
shall have been completed. But that
chance, as we have said, Is, to our
minds, far smaller than those which
men take in ordinary business every
day. It is less than the risk from fire
or from the dishonesty of employes, or
from any of those unforeseeable mis
haps that line the path of all kinds of
business. It cannot happen unless the
people of this country are ready to
plunge deliberately into an unmeasured
gulf of dishonor and disaster. Assum
ing that they are not, then the mar
kets today offer to capital the oppor
tunity of a generation. Any purchase
made now is good for an advance be
fore the end of the year equal to about
five years of ordinary profits. The long
headed business men who see this and
act upon it will be the heavy gainers.
FACTS PL.AISI.V PIT.
The second of the series of Prof.
Laughlin's articles on financial ques
tions, which we publish this morning,
is an admirable exposition of two or
three simple, but fundamental ideas,
and an exposure of equally simple and
equally fundamental fallacies. The
especial virtue of it is its extreme sim
plicity in presentation. No one can
fail to understand exactly what Prof.
Laughllr. means, to grasp the applica
tion of it to the practical affairs of
life and to see the force and aptness
of the illustrations which he uses.
The first proposition discussed is
the assertion that "more money"
means more wealth. The real
wealth of a country consists in the
amount of useable and exchangeable
things that it possesses. If its money
is of a kind that is exchangeable freely
with other nations for food, clothing
and other necessaries of life, then an
increase in the amount of it marks an
increase of wealth. But to multiply
counters and to increase the local vol
ume of money by detracting from its
quality, by adding to it something that
is not 'exchangeable for other people's
goods, and that can be made to circu
late among ourselves only by legisla
tive compulsion, is not to increase
wealth. Moreover, it Is a strange
thing that the poor man should think
that adding to the amount of money
will add to his possessions. How is he
to get one dollar of it except by ex
changing for it his labor? The owners
of silver bullion are benefited, because
they get from the mints the dollars
which the government puts out; but
not one of those dollars will pass from
their grasp into any other purse with
out some equivalent rendered.
The fallacy cf supposing an intimate
connection between money volume and
hard times or good times is exposed
as it has been so frequently in our col
umns. "Prosperity," says Prof. Laugh
-1 lin, "in any sense, means large produc
tion, large crops, abundant employment
and an equitable distribution of
wealth." The law of money volume is
admirably stated by saying that "the
amount of money needed by trade is
dependent upon the business habits of
the community." This is precisely the
point upon which we have dwelt so fre
quently. As long as attempts are made
to fix money volume by political legis
lation, so long must we have recur
ring periods of stringency and redun
dance, each of which is vicious and
baneful in its effects upon business
success. The amount of money should
no more be regulated by law than the
number of bicycles to be manufactured,
or the number of office buildings that
are put up in any city per annum.
Finally, the point made that the
countries of the gold standard have
a much higher per capita circulation
of money than those of the silver
standard ought to be suggestive
enough to those who attempt to justify
free coinage on the ground that we !
need more money. Prof. Laughlin cov
ers the ground thoroughly as he goes,
and our readers may look for equal
thoroughness and simplicity in the ar
ticles yet to come, which will traverse
the entire range of this vast, but In
teresting topic.
■■UUMUU ITS OBLIGATIONS.
To the Editor of the Globe.
Will you please answer through the col
umns of your paper whether or not silver
certificates and silver coin can be exchanged
for gold at the treasury department of the
United States? —F. L. Blackman.
Sioux Falls. S. D.. Aug. 18. 18S6.
Appended to the above communica
tion is the following newspaper clip
ping, which explains what the writer
really wants to know:
He Wanted Gold. — The -writer waa under
the impression that all kinds of our United
States money. 1. c.. silver, gold, silver cer
tificates, gold certificates and national bank
notes were alike so far as their purchasing
power Is concerned, and that any one could
be exchanged for a like denomination of the
other without premium at the United States
treasury or subtreasury. However, I find
that I am in error on this point, as today I
presented $25 in silver certificates and $25 In
national bank notes and requested gold in
exchange at the subtreasury here and was
very much surprised to have this demand
refused. We would like to ask. In view of
the above, if our present currency is upon a
gold basis, and if it is. why was my de
mand refused? — T. E. Nicholas.
Chicago, Aug. 11.
"We are glad to sac the above in
quiry, because It affords an opportun-
lty to show again how truly this coun
try today enjoys a system of practical
bimetallism. We are on ft gold basis,
yet we have other forms of currency
in existence, which are maintained by
the government at par with gold* It
is only if the government should re
fuse or be unable to fulfill its obliga
tions that solvency would t>e In danger.
Silver certificates a#e issued under ft
law of the United states which, pro
vides specifically for their redemption
in silver dollars Each silver certificate
bears an inscription stating that there
have been deposited in the United
States treasury a number of silver dol
lars corresponding to the denomination
of the note, which will be paid to the
bearer on demAnd. The silver certifi
cate is therefore practically a ware
house receipt, entitling the holder to
call for and receive a certain amount
of property specifically described. No
man can demand gold in exchange for
these unless as an accommodation, any
more than he could demand pig iron
in redemption of an elevator receipt for
wheat. Silver dollars, being unlimited
legal tender for all debts in this coun
try, except where otherwise stipulated
in the contract, circulate on equal
terms with gold. They are not redeem
able in anything. There is, therefore,
no reason why the treasury depart
ment should either accept or refuse to
J accept them in exchange for gold, ex
cept to consult its own convenience.
The gentleman who wrote the clip
ping referred to must have exercised
much ingenuity to select $25 worth of
two kinds of currency which, if he
knew anything at all about our cur
rency laws, he must have known were
not redeemable in gold. The silver cer
tificates we have already described..
The national bank note is also issued
under a law particularly defining the
conditions of redemption; which re
quire the bank issuing it, or its re
demption agent, to redeem these notes
in "lawful money." The United States
treasury has no direct responsibility
for redeeming them, and only holds se
curity to do so in case the bank should
fail in its obligation. There is as much
sense in presenting national bank
notes to the United States treasury for
redemption as there would be in ask
ing one bank to pay a certifi
cate of deposit which has been given
to John Jones by another bank, be
cause the bank first mentioned hap
pened to have in its possession some
collateral put up by John Jones.
AGAIN THK MAFIA.
The Italian minister has called on
Secretary Olney to direct his attention
to the fact that three more subjects
of King Humbert have terminated
their careers in this country at one end
of ropes at the other end of which were
the quick and unrelenting hands of a
group of American citizens. With all
due formality of diplomatic phrase
Minister de Fava will ask the secretary
what his government proposes to do
about it. There will be the explana
tions made by Secretary Blame to the
same minister, after the enraged citi
zens of New Orleans, led by Parkin
son, had burst open the parish prison
doors and shot to death a lot of Itali
ans, a few not yet naturalized, mem
bers of the Mafia, who had, or were
suspected to have, murdered the chief
of police for some real or fancied in
jury. Uncle Sam paid some $25,000 then
to the families of those who, fortu
nately for their survivors, had not yet
declared themselves intentional citi
zens of the republic. He will, prob
ably, after due deliberation and inves
tigation, pay something to the fam
ilies of these three, provided they
were, at the time of their taking off,
still subjects of his majesty the king
of Italy.
Whenever an Italian assassinates
another, or murders one of another
race, it is the fashion to charge it to
the work of the Mafia, as such crimes
some years ago were laid at the doors
of the Molly Maguires in the mining
regions of Pennsylvania. The Mafia
is, or was, an association of Sicilians,
formed for the purpose of protecting
the smugglers who tried to evade the
tariff laws, and, in so doing, had fre
quent altercations' with the revenue au
thorities, in which the handy stiletto
was a convenient: means of producing
silence on the part of the incriminat
ing officer. So , these practical free
traders brought qdium on themselves,
instead of on a bad la*w, and the name
of their society is made to cover the
murderous action of every vengeful
Italian in any part of the world.
The three Italians who were taken
from the jail of St. Charles parish, in
Louisiana, and summarily executed,
had committed the offense of murder
ing American citizens. As long as they
only, run their stilettos into each other
society there does not disturb itself
more than to put the remains under
ground sans ceremonie. So depraved
had public sentiment become that the
assassin had come to be regarded as
somewhat of a public benefactor who
was not to be disturbed in his laud-,
able work of diminishing the numbers
of an undesirable element by the
minions of the law. As long as they
killed each other, society refused to be
even moved to arrest and try the of
fender. One reason for this was the
secrecy with which these deeds were
usually done, making their detection
very difficult and their punishment
rare.
It is with this fact that local senti
ment justifies its, acts when the inva
sion of natlvism by the stiletto rouses
society to self-defense. The secrecy of
the crime and the readiness of others
to establish an alibi, together with our
rule of the presumption of innocence,
have made convictions so difficult that
the public takes the administration of
what it deems justice into Its own
hands, and strings the suspect to the
nearest tree or fills his body with lead.
Nevertheless, the offense is against
law, order and social existence, and
must not be tolerated or condoned.
FORT RIDGELEY MOSIMEST.
It Will be Formally Dedicated Thin
Afternoon.
The Fort Ridgeley monument will be dedi
cated today. There will be a special train
from St. Paul to Fairfax over the St. Louis
road. Judge Flandrau and the members of
the commission will be accompanied by Gov.
C lough and staff and other distinguished
guests. The train will leave at 8:35 o'clock.
It la expected that the dedication will be at
tended by a large crowd of people.
THE NEED FOR
" MORE MONEY."
PROF. TjAVGHLIVS SECOVD LET
TJBXR ON. THE MOJTEY <il KS
TION.
INCREASE OF GOLD OR SILVER
DOBS WOT NECESSARILY MEAN AN
INCREASE OF NATIONAL
PROSPERITY,
MONEY MERELY A MACHINE.
We Need Moit a Steady Condition ot
Bailneii »«» Keep Prodnctlon
GrowlnK,
(Copyrighted by the Author.)
The proposition to change the exist
ing- gold standard for one of silver
(which would be the result of free
coinage of silver at 16 to 1) would
bring about an upheaval in the com
mercial world equal to that produced
in the physical world by an earth
quake, which changed the level of the
sea coast relatively to that of the
water. And when some persons sug
gest that free coinage be tried as an
experiment, and that if its idvocates
prove to be mistaken, it could be given
up, it is exactly as if the Japanese
should have tried the experiment of
an earthquake and tidal wave on For
mosa, thinking to give it up in case it
did not work well. But, meanwhile,
the change of level had submerged
millions of property and robbed 50,000
people of life. So would it be with free
coinage of silver. The experiment of
getting from one level ia another is a
destructive thing; after the damage
has been done you cannot get back
where you were before.
But by some the change of standard
is favored on the ground that "more
money" is needed, and that 'more
| money" will bring prosperity. Unless
j it is wished to change the standard
with the effects described above, then
the only possible reasons that can be
urged for "more money" are: (1)
That we need more money as the
"standard," with which goods are com
pared, and in terms of which their
values are expressed; or (2) that we
need more money as the "medium of
exchange" by means of which goods
are exchanged against each other. ([
here omit the question of indebtedness,
which demands separate treatment.)
To suppose that the standard should
be increased in number because the
things to be compared with it may
have increased, is fallacious on the
face of it. In order to ensure a satis
factory standard of weight, a single
Troy pound deposited in the Tower of
London is sufficient to set the .stand
ard for other weights all over the
"world. Two of these would be no
better than one. For the essential
idea is to have at least one of unchang
ing weight. Stability of weight is not
acquired by having many weights but
by being exact with one particular
weight. Other weights made exactly
after this standard can bo multiplied
according to the needs of weighing.
One pound weight and one pair of
scales will last through a thousand
weighing operations; so it is absurd to
suppose that a pound weight is need
ed for every pound of goods to be
weighed, or in any such proportion.
Then scales are invented which say«
the actual use of weights. So it is, in
general, with money, when regarded
as a standard of value; in comparing
goods with money one does not need
to actually use the money. From sell- i
ing one dozen of eggs, the farmer
knows the value of the other eggs in
the market that day.
But surely, it will be said, in selling
and buying goods, the more money
the greater prosperity. Let me point
out, however, that exchanging things j
does not increase their number, nor i
does increasing one kind of thing j
thereby increase things of another !
kind. Increasing the number of hats
does not p^an an i""i-<.p« n f bricks.
So, increasing one kind of commodity
like gold or silver, does not. increase
the wheat or corn which is lo be ex- |
changed-. In fact, the essential thing j
to every man is the quantity of prop
erty he owns, not the amount of
money he is, at any moment, using, j
We are constantly confusing the sup
ply of things we need for daily use
with the mere instrument by which
these necessary articles are trans-,,
ferred to us in return for work or for
some of our own property. My day' 3 \
labor is paid for in money, but I 1m- '
mediately exchange the money for
provisions. In reality, I exchanged !
my services for provisions.using "money j
only as a go-between. Indeed, the i
money played the least important
part in the operation; the main things
are the labor and quantity of provis- •
ions I got for it. To suppose that in- j
creasing the money increases provis- |
ions is as absurd as to suppose that
increasing the dinner pails will in
crease the number of good dinners.
When a teamster gets a chalk-mark
for every load of earth he dumps, put
ting down more chalk-marks doesn't
increase |he earth pile; indeed, to In
crease the counters without bringing
more loads of earth is an attempt to
get credit for something he has not
done— and we generally call that lying
and cheating.
A very simple fact will make the
v.-hcle matter perfectly clear. Since 1875
more gold and silver has been produced
than in any like period in the history
of the w0r1d— 52,539,000,000 of gold and
$2,209,000,000 of silver, or $4,748,000,000
together. It Is an unparalleled pro
duction of the precious metals which
are used as money. If more gold and
silver brings prosperity, why are we
not growing in riches and prosperity?
An increase of gold or silver, however
great, means nothing whatever as re
gards the quantity of bread, meat and
clothing necessary to the well-being
of the greatest number of men. Of
course, those who own this increase of
gold and silver are richer; but, also, a
man who owns an increased quantity
of cattle would be richer.
And here are other facts which put
the same case in a still stronger light.
In 1873 the total money of the United
States in circulation, according to offi
cial reports, was $751,881,809; in 1895 It
was $1,601,968,463. That is, the money
was more than doubled — and yet we
are complaining of hard times. While
population, since 1873, gained 71 per
cent, money gained 113 per cent, and
yet times are hard. Does that not show
that the amount of the circulation and
the amount of employment for labor
have little to do with each other? In
creasing the money does not increase
prosperity, for the same reason that
increasing the number of wagons in
a county does not Increase the corn to
be carried by the wagons. Increasing
hay presses does not increase the hay
to be baled.
In short, prosperity in any true sense
means large production, large crops,
abundant employment, and an equita
ble distribution of wealth. To obtain
more food, more clothing, one must
produce more, or do more labor, to ex
change for them. If a farmer has
raised a crop of 1,000 bushels of wheat,
I can get some of it only by offering
him something in return for it. When
the government prints paper money
in Washington, or coins silver bullion
for silver owners In our mints, that
would not enable me to get the farm
er's wheat. The silver coins belong
to the silver owners just the same as
the bullion did, and unless I work for
such persons as these silver owners,
or give my property to them, I can get
no more silver with which to buy this
farmer's wheat. If the money is good
and of full value, I must always give
full equivalent for It just as for any
other thing of value. It is only when
the money itself la worthless that one
can get it for nothing.
If one has things of value — eggs, but
ter, corn— one will have no trouble in
getting other things for them, through
the medium of money. If any one
speaks of lacking "money" he really
means that he lacks corn, cattle and
stock to be exchanged for money. If
he has these forms of salable wealth
he can get money to the value of this
property easily enough. To cry for
money, when one has no goods to sell,
is like an infant crying for the moon.
Indeed, the truth is simple enough,
when once stated. When we speak of
a man being worth $10,000, we do not
mean $10,000 in money, but only that he
has property which, expressed in terms
of money, counts up to $10,000 and that
he probably never has at ordinary
times in his possession more than $50
of actual money. In fact, actual money
in his hands is never earning anything;
it is only when a man parts with his
money for materials, machinery, etc.,
that he puts his wealth into the form
where It can earn anything. To every
one, then, it i» not the quantity of
money which is Important, but the
quantity of goods and property one
controls.
Since the possession of articles which
everyone wishes to consume is the re
sult of prosperity, the mere exchang
ing of these goods is a secondary — al
though necessary — process. To trans
port goods by railway is necessary,
but you cannot transport anything un
less first of all there are goods to be
transported. So, exchanging goods is
a process secondary to their produc
tion. Money ia merely a machine for
the more convenient exchange of goods.
There is no more need of money in
amount equal to all goods than there
would be a need for as many gates to
a walled city s there are inhabitants.
Through one gate you can pass thou
sands upon thousands, in small num
bers at a time. And that is what takes
place in exchanging goods. In ex
changing goods tirst for money, and
then giving the money for goods, we
pass the goods, so to speak, through
the gate of money, a few at a time.
All goods are not being offered at once
at the same place. So a small sum of
money will serve for large transac
tions in goods. Hence what we wish
to accomplish in public legislation is
to further the measures which will in
sure that quiet,c steady condition of
business likely to help in keeping pro
duction constantly growing. Tinkering
with the currency is like working at
the wrong lever— it does not start the
engine; and if you pull too hard it may
break, and the engine be disabled, so
that it cannot go at all.
If one would go into a great city and
see how goods are exchanged it would
be understood that very little money
is actually used. The practical busir
ness men have ingeniously devised
methods so that, by help of the banks,
they offset what they 3ell (which is ex
pressed in terms of money) against
what they buy (which is also expressed
in terms of money),— and thus little or
no money actually passes from hand to
hand. Indeed, in large wholesale
transactions actual money is used only
for paying balances, and 90 to 95 per
ct-nt of the transactions are settled
without any money whatever. In one
year the amounts are enormous; $50 to
$60 billions of transactions are settled
without money, and solely by the aid
of banks and clearing houses. The
amount of money needed, in such meth
ods, is only that called for by cus- |
tomers in the smaller payments where
checks are not used, and to convince
all depositors that they can have cash
■w henever needed. It Is only in times
of business alarm and panic that much
cash is called for; and reserves are kept
mainly to secure confidence.
It must now be clearly apparent that
"the amount of money needed by
trade" is dependent on the business
habits of the community. No one can
say just how much it will be; with a
proper system, it will regulate itself.
The monetary needs of civilized coun
tries do not increase in any proportion
whatever to transactions, as Mr. Bryan
would have us believe in his speech of
acceptance. Who says there Is not
money enough? How does he know?
If he thinks there is not enough money,
because he is poor, the difficulty with
him is that he lacks goods, not money;
that he confuses property with the
means of transferring property. The
vague feeling that we can secure pros
perity by "more money" has no basis
of reason either on grounds of the
functions of money as a standard, or
as a medium of exchange, as was
shown above. To propose "free coin
age of silver at 16 to 1," therefore, on
the ground that It would give "more
money" is doubly fallacious; (1) It
would contract, instead of expand the
circulation; and (2) oven if it could ex,
pand the circulation it would not pro
duce prosperity.
The silver-using countries of the
world have a smaller per capita cir
culation of money than the gold-using
countries. Great Britain has $20.78;
France, $35.77; Belgium, $27.82; Gemany,
J17.59. These are on the gold standard.
But Russia has only $8.49; Mexico, $4.95;
China, $2.08. These are on the silver
standard.
The theory that prosperity cannot be
produced by increasing the quantity
of money in circulation is a fundamen
tal proposition of political economy;
therefore on this ground free coinage of
silver cannot be justified. What as
tounding folly to propose a measure,
not only unsupported by economic reas
oning, but certain to bring overwhelm
ing disaster to business. There is
nothing to be gained for prosperity by
artificially increasing the quantity of
money— absolutely nothing to counter
balance the devastating commercial
ruin sure to follow the change of the
standard from gold to silver.
J. Laurence Laughlin.
THREE KILLED. '
Particular* of the Mine Accident at
Bntte.
BUTTE, Mont. Aug. 19.— Pete Ryan,
foreman of the St. Lawrence mine, the
property of the Anaconda company,
and Jack Campbell and John Man
ning, two miners, were killed
last evening by a fall of the cage
from the top of the mine to the
bottom of the shaft at the 1200-foot
level. The two miners were working
at the bottom below the bulkhead at
the 1200-foot level deepening the shaft
when the cage containing -Ryan fell,
inetantly crushing the life out of the
two men below, also killing Ryan who
was In the cage. Ryan had Juat come
to the top and was about to step cut of
the cage when the brake refused to
work and the cage started down the
shaft with fearful velocity. The en
gineer on top tried to throw on the
clutch, but could not. The safety also
refused to work, and the engineer
jumped out of the window In time to
avoid the crash when the reel broke
and tons of iron were shot through
roof and walls.
shh!
OSTLY HALF THE RECORD.
A < orrcupondenl Erm From I aillutc
to Read It All.
To the Editor of the Globe.
n? r UsUe of the 15th lns '- you say,
editorially: -The advocates of the U land-
Allison act were not surer of or Insistent upon
any other proposition than that the enactment
0 i.l at Jf w would ralse «l'ver bullion to par
with gold at the ratio of 16 to 1, and main
tain it there."
In this you are entirely mistaken. The
Bland act was originally introduced Into the
house of representatives by Mr. Bland aa a
free coinage measure, and as such passed
that house of congress. It provided in unrals
takeable terms for the free and unlimited
; coinage at the ratio of 16 to I.
It was then sent to the senate. There the
gold bugs flew upon it and amended it out of
all semblance to the bill that had passed
i In the house. These amendments were bit
: terly fought by the silver men in the sen
ate and the charge was even then made
that the object of the amendments was to
discriminate against silver while pretending
»o legislate in Its favor. The bill was go
amended that Instead of providing for the free
I and unlimited coinage of silver it provided
; merely that the government should buy and
I coin from $2,000,000 to J4,O<XJ,'K)O per month of
: silver, and that instead of issuing the silver
1 £]i s and P uttln « them in circulation, silver
certificates should be Issued In their place
bo amended, the bill passed the senate and
was sent back to the house for concurrence
■ w "? at * ook Place then you will find recorded"
in the Congressional Globe, Vol. 7 part 2 be
ginning on page 1,251.
For the purpose of giving your readers the
true history of this very important matter
1 hope you will find room in your valuable
paper to print most of the following ex
tracts :
♦K M! \..E land sald fpage 'SSD-I do not Ilka
this bill (as amended). It Is not what the
country expects. But I am in favor of taking
this now aa making one step in the right di
rection. But I give notice here and now that
this war shall never cease so long as 1 have
a voice in this congress until the rights of the
people are fully restored and the silver dollar
shall take its place alongside the gold dol
lar. • • • I say I protest against this bill
while I vote for it under that protest.
Mr. Whitthorne (page 1.251) — Treating ths
senate amendments as one, I am opposed
thereto :
First. Because It invites capital to coerce
into general use the single standard of gold.
Second. Because it discriminates in favor
of gold and against silver.
Third. Because it creates a public debt
unnecessarily.
Fourth. It pledges the faith, or seeks to
pledge the faith, of the government to what
may become an entangling and dangerous
alliance in the life-blood of our domestic
trade and commerce.
Fifth. It is not responsive to the demands
of the people and their industrial interests,
nor, indeed, to the requirements of the con
stitution.
Mr. Southard— l take this measure as a
choice of evils, while I am opposed to most
of the senate amendments. The discrimina
tion made by them against silver, as com
pared with gold, will always cheapen silver
and keep it at a discount.
Mr. Ewing (page 1,263), calls It a "delu
sive compromise."
Mr. Finley— The limitation of the coinage
of silver, as provided by the senate amend
ment, is objectionable; but I am willing to
take a half loaf rather than no bread at
all.
Mr. Cox (page 1,268)— 1 stand upon the prin
ciple that gold and silver shall walk hand
in hand in their financial function, and it la
but Just and fair to both of them that they
should have equal chances; otherwise the
result expected may fall. But I have not time
to discuss that (his time was limited to three
minutes), except to say that although the
bill does not come up to the standard which
I marked out, I will stand upon the old
equitable principle that If you cannot get
the very best thing, then take the best you
I can get.
Mr. Springer could not be reconciled to the
amended bill and voted against it, although
he had voted for the free coinage bill when,
it passed the house. He said (page 1269):
! Nine-tenths of the people demand of their
representatives the passage of an act re
monetlzing the silver dollar, authorizing its
free and unlimited coinage, and making it
a full legal tender for all purposes. Will
they be satisfied with this half-way measure,
which, while it remonetlzes. degrades silver,
and locks up In the vaults of the treasury
the whole coinage, as If silver were some
thing unfit for circulation among the people?
So you see, Mr. Editor, the silver men ot
1878 said Just the opposite of what, you would
have the people believe they said. It is
time that, while the free coinage measure was
under discussion in the house, its friends
predicted that if it became a law It would
raise the price of silver to a parity with
gold, but that measure never became a law,
and the so-called Bland-Allison act that waa
patched up from It in the senate was an al
together different thing— a thing that no sil
ver man ever predicted would raise the prlca
of silver to a parity with gold. Yours very
respectfully. — O. A. Turner.
Aug. 18, 1896.
—
The Financial Question ami l,nbor.
To the Editor of the Globe.
The man who works eight to ten hours pep
day has no time to fool away in trying to
solve questions so intricate as finance. Gen
erally, It 1» those fellows who labor with the
muscles of their Jaws that find fault. My
advice to those would be to go to work at
something in order to exercise thn muscles of
the arms, and to those who now labor with
their arms to pay no attention to these walk
ing and talking gentlemen. I will quote here
from Washington Irvlng's works, which I
think will fully elucidiate what I bmu: Peter
Stuyvesant was Dutch governor of Manhattan,
now New York city, or. as he was known by,
Peter the Strong-headed. The Swedes of
Delaware at one time encroached on Peter's
domain. No arbitration would have any ef
fect, so war was the only remedy. Peter
went to war and won, out while away (al
though he left his walking stick behind to
keep peace while he was away), yet the peo
ple uro't dissatisfied and held Indignation
meetings, such as are held occasionally In
St. Paul In our time. As soon as Peter came
back and learned of these meet lags he went
there to see for himself. Just as he entered
a shoemaker was addressing the meeting, but
as soon as he saw the governor he almost
froze with fear, but after a little he got
courage to proceed. Peter the Strong-headed
walked straight up to the platform, offered
the shoemaker a pinch of snuff, and then
pulled out his watch and asked the shoemak
er to mend it. "Why," said the shoemaker,
"I can't mend a watch." "Well," said tha
governor, "If you can't mend such a simple
thing as a watch, how can you govern the
province. Go home," said the governor, "and
attend to mending shoes aud I will attend to
my business."
A great many In St. Paul will tell you how
to run a bank, and yet if you were to ask
any of them to do such a simple thing as to
mend a watch they would admit they could
not do it, and yet they would settle the finan
cial question, which is more intricate than,
mending a watch. Youra for a dollar that is
always worth 100 cents. ■— D— y.
HOHENLOHE HAS RESIGNED.
Kaiser In Anxion* to Have Him Re
consider.
LEIPZIG, Aug. 19.— Neuaten Nachrichten
publishes an article Insisting that Chancellor
Hohenlohe has actually resigned. It as
serts, however, that Emperor William has
made an earnest plea, asking the chancellor
to remain in office until after the czar*
visit.
ftllKT AT ELWOOD.
No Rffort Made to Employ N on- In ion
Men.
BLWOOD, Ind.. Aug. 19.— Everything la
quiet in Eiwood, and there were no attempts
at disorder today. This was the day the
tin plate company designated as the one for
the employes to place their names on the
pay rolls or consider themselves discharged.
None of the men in any of the departments
has enrolled name, and the company has
secured no men in thia city to work. The
strikers say the company will be forced to
sign the scale.
m
Three Frit ■ <!* Released.
WASHINGTON, Aug. 19.— Acting Secretary
Curtis today Instructed the collector of cus
toms at Jacksonville, Fla., to release tha
suspected flilbusterer Three Friends, recent
ly seized by the revenue cutter Boutwell,
without be knew of some good reason for
her detention not yet communicated to the
department. It Is said there Is no evidence
tending unlawfully to connect the vessej
with any Cuban expedition.
Kansas Bank Falls.
KANSAS CITY, Mo.. Aug. 19.— The Ar
gentine bank, a pioneer Institution of Ar
gentine, Kan., was closed today by Myron
A. Waterman, deputy state bank examiner
of Kansas. The liabilities are placed at
about $190,000, of which $122,500 is due to
depositors. The assets are principally in
loans and discounts of which the official
claims are secured by gilt-edge paper, but
I which they cannot realize on at this time.
