Newspapers / The News-Herald (Morganton, N.C.) / May 4, 1898, edition 1 / Page 1
Part of The News-Herald (Morganton, N.C.) / About this page
This page has errors
The date, title, or page description is wrong
This page has harmful content
This page contains sensitive or offensive material
VOL. I. MORGANTON, N. C.,WEDNESDAY, MAY 4, 1898 NO. ii. STORY OF TWO YEARS. WHAT WILL FOLLOW ELECTION IN 1QOO. " r:o Wall Street FeUows Will Talk Secea t inn It Will Sot Lat Mora Than a Dny However Great Era of Prosperity Hut Will Quickly Set In. v. c ciip the following from the Pa 1 riots' Bulletin for. April. That Journal, -vtlch, by the way, Is edited by W. H. Harvey, the pioneer champion . of American bimetallism, is a great edu i' ional paper. Pity that It Is ; not 'ad in every American ihoo.. With incoming foresight its distinguished e.iitor -warns the people of events to follow-. Nov. "6, 1900.- 1 It was Tuesday night, November 6, r ). The long portentous struggle " over. The fiercest battle ever ' iSht at the, ballot box had culmlnat "1 ou that eventful day. The telegraph litruments were ticking the first' re- j-us, that would in a few hours, bring 1 lu-ws of victory or defeat to one ' r the other of the two contending (".fQ?. The first information placed 'rj.the bulletin boards was from New V'ji k City. If showed gains for the f :i standard candidate over the vote ' f -1S56. A cheer rent the air wherever 'j hosts of Mammon were assembled A ffw minutes later a similar telegram frm Boston was posted, to be follow-- immediately by one from Ohio, Co 'imbus, the latter saying that the f vtlfth ward of that city showed a pain of 240 for the candidate of the allied forces. The returns were being n.mpare'd with the - ejection of 1896.. Then the news came faster. From lv.ry point Avest of the Allegheny mountains came gains for the fusion ' jndMate the candidate of the people., lu- 12 o'clock, midnight, it was known tht the forces of humanity had won. Tliir'ty-four states had certainly given hir ;otes for -financial Independence, from . Europe, and the vote of several othor states was in :doubt; but the majority. was' pronounced, beyond ques 'icn. Tor -financial freedom from the monarchies jof the old world, and against trusts and monopolies. Both houses of congress would be with the r.f v president by a decided majority. II. The following day, Wednesday, iroiib confirmation of the news and "ith it, in the morning papers, all l;inls of forebodings of disaster to lunn-ss and) commerce. Impromptu " fingr. in Boston and New York t-ilJ.-r.l secession. .A panic looked im minent. It was boldly asserted that the election would be contested, that President MVKlnley would stand by the money power and trusts, and that General Miles would place the army at the disposal-of the money power. Gov ernor Pingrce of Michigan- wired the chairman of the National Committee of the allied forces at 11 a. m., offer ins to place 200,000 men. in the field at once, to enforce the. verdict of the jople. At 1 o'clock p. m., Governor Means of Ohio threatened to commence rthe mobilization of the state troops of Ohio if the threat to overthrow the popular will was repeated. From the middle, west and south came the same ominous sound that portended a hurri cane. From the governor of Texas came the following significant mes ige: -Let them but raise a hand and we will throw every mother's son of. s.them into the Atlantic ocean." The? f took exchange' had opened feverish. They first took an average dip of ten points steadied and rose a. couple of points, followed by a suspension of trading. The afternoon - papers ex pressed the sentiment of the people fearless and uncompromising with messages from fifteen warlike govern ors. At 3 p. m. there were hurried meetings of stock brokers and money changers in-all big cities and all these separate . meetings were in consulta tion by wire, . By midnight they had 'reached a, conclusion. It was. to take their medicine. They had decided .to turrender. There was .too much at stake, and. a panic was sure, if some thing was not done by them through the morning papers to quite the" peo-. p.le. Their investments would be swept a'way in a day in a mad, unprecedent ed panic, if oil was not, poured on the troubled waters. They poured it In. ropious doses. Self-invited interviews with prominent bankers and 'heads of trust syndicates expressed calm and conservative views.. denied that any at tempt cf.opposing the popular will had been thought of; deplored the result" of the election; but assured the public that they would do all in their power ?o restore confidence. They, called at tention to the fact that all debts of ours held by foreigners, except gov ernment bonds, were payable in gold. Thisrthese gold contracts would be paid in gold, the money of the con tract; and that these obligations were in no manner impaired and no reason existed why foreign creditors should unload these gold securities, that would be promptly paid on maturity in the money agreed. irpon. That the govern-' meat bonds payable in coin, gold or' silver, were insignificant in amount as compared with the other Indebtedness, and that less than $400,000,0007 of these -were in the hands of foreign creditors. They appealed to these creditors to withheld all action that would bring cn a panic that would injure the se curities in which they were so large ly interested. Among other things they rl'ed the fact that foreigner creditors b"id over $5,000,000,000 worth of our riiroad bonds, and that they would In this cne item alone lose enormously the result of a panic. At 10 a. m. the 8th. the stock markets opened t'eady and firm. There was no unload leg of securities; The people who would have been ;most Injured by it had decided to not commit suicide. III. ' On Thursday, Nov. 8th, silver had advanced to L05 an ounce. . "Why this enormous advance?" was asked. "Because in six months, as soon as the .new congress can convene," was the answer, "27VA grains of pare silver can be coined, at the pleasure of the-holder. Into a dollar; and, an ounce of it, at that rate, will be worth $1.29. The next day It jumped to $1.20 an ounce, within nine cents of its free, coinage value. - On Friday' a run on the treas ury at Washington for gold was an nounced. ;By Saturday the next day at 2 p. m. there was not a dollar of .gold in the United States treasury. On Monday, the 12th,!gold payments were suspended, and no gold could he had without paying a premium that fluctu ated for several days between 20 and 30 per e,ent. Business proceeded as usual with, the 6ame kind of money passing from hand to hand -as former ly. There was ho gold left with which to redeem any more of it; and. It was rapidly coming out of hiding and seek ing investment. Prices of property be gan to advance. In thirty days the situation was better understood. A new money crop was coming, that was going to go into competition with gold to supply the demand for hard money. Under the .law of true bimetallism, to get on the statute books as soon as the now congress could get at it, no contract would be legal made payable in one of the two metals. It would be optional with all to pay in either metal. Thus the two metals would be In com petition with each other. In the face of this threatened competition, gold began to decline. On January 3d, the premium was 17 cents. IV. All over the Union, suits had begun against debtors for: the foreclosure of mortgages and debts. This was quick ly checkmated by the same spirit that had faced the awful hailstorm of ostra cism in November. Meetings were held in every county, and legislatures were petitioned to pass stay laws to pro tect the people from the collection of debts for two years after the inagura tion of the new president. Governors were petitioned to call special sessions of legislatures in many Instances. Everywhere these meetings were held, beginning in the west and spreading east and south. In many cases law yers volunteered their services without' fee to take up" the cause of the people. Members of the legislatures elect were brought into these county meetings, and pledged to thU3 protect the' peo ple till at least two new crops had been harvested .under the new order of things. This was soon followed very generally, where payments were not convenient, by voluntary liens being given payable in two years, thus secur ing creditors, giving them negotiable paper and deferripg the payments of the debts. Thus the confiscation of the property of debtors was stopped. The tremendous force that had entered In the November revolution was equal to the emergency, and the money power was at their mercy but that mercy was tempered ,with justice. " V. By January 1st a strong movement had Eet in- toward the Rocky moun tains. By Feb. 1st it became a rush. Gradually the country had awakened to a realization of the wealth in the sil ver deposits of our western mountains. The Alaska gold' fields were to have competition in the silver mining region of our own mountains. A hundred Klondikes had suddenly sprung up into existence-not in the frozen zones of the north, but in our own glorious cli-' mate. The railways were taxed to their full capacity, within four months after the election five states of the Union were all . hope and animation, feeling the throb of prosperity; to say nothing of the orders of provisions and machinery that followed an army of three . million of people into the rocky fastnesses and beautiful valleys of our west. The words of Lincoln were recalled, uttered on the day of his death, recorded in Barret's history of . him, issued in 1S65, in which he said to ,Mr. Colfax, who left Washington that morning for the west: "Tell them, the miners, that the more gold and silver they mine makes the payments of our national debt so much, the easier." The whole nation was beginning to feel the pulsation of new life. And with hope revived, they could already feel, in anticipation of the new future, the passing of the terrible times that had suffocated and' almost destroyed the life cf the nation... - VI. ' ' The new president', the choice of three conventions in one, was inaugu rated Monday, March 4. 1901. His first official action was to issue a call con vening congress In extra session. Mon day, March 11, one week from the day of the inauguration. On Tuesday. March. 19th, a law re-establishing bi metallism passed the senate, and was concurred in by the lower house the following day. The rules had been sus pended, and a bill prepared in advance of the session was rushed through; the speaker in the house sententiously re marking, "Thisbll has been debated for 23 years, we wjll now proceed to vote." On the same day the president signed the bill, and on Thursday morn ing, March 21st 1901, the mints of the United States were open to the free coinage of silver at the ratio of 16 to 1 sixteen silver dollars to weigh as much as one gold dollar as it was prior to Feb. 12, 1S73. Gold was still In hiding; " but its holders were rapid ly learning that the people could do without it and another metal had taken its place, and would continue to do so Jurt as long as gold saw fit to absent itself or demand extortionate -prices in the way cf property 'in' exchange for It. In tfee montlroe It bad fallen 5 per cent, premium. The fact that stay j laws were being put in operation every- j where, and that these laws were in tended to operate, especially against gold debts, had no little effect in bring ing gold quickly to par with silver. What It meant was that there would be no demand for gold in the United States for two years except as people might voluntarily desire it. And thus, two influences were operating to take the demand from gold and thereby' lower its commercial value. The great est of these two influences was silver in competition with gold to supply the demand for money. The Rocky and Sierra Nevada mountains continued to fill with miners -and all attending peo ple that are attracted by r-grPt 1n dustryv The population of Colorado, Utah, Montana, Idaho, Arizona and New Mexico doubled in the year 1901. The wholesale, houses of Chicago, St. Louis, Kansas City, Omaha J and San Francisco felt the impetus of the new business made by the active and pros perous people of the' mountain states. A stream of white metal, the money of Washington, Jefferson, Jackson and Lincoln, was flowing through the mints and percolating among all the people, everywhere. A government of the peo ple had been for twenty-eight years without a primary money that would stay with the people but the past was gone and a government of and returned. the people VII. Farming was again profitable. The price of farm products was advancing rapidly. As they had fallen with sil ver sa had they advanced again with mat metai. uorn was 50 cents per bushel and still advancing. Country merchants were ordering liberally of the wholesale houses their customers had money with which to buy. It was now discovered that the overcrowding cities were having their population de pleted from two causes: first, the im migration to the mountain states had made a tremendous draft on every trade, profession and occupation: sec ondly, the (act that farming was again profitable had caused a second move ment to set in toward the country. During the year 1901, the streets of most of the cities looked more or less deserted. The people that once crowd ed them, looking for work, were gone, but it was an ominous silence. The millions of theretofore Idle hands were making wealth that was to lafer re flect its influence in these marts of trade and centers of commerce. The orders for merchandise and manu facturers' articles, from mines and farms, were now pouring into the cities, with a scarcity of clerks and other employes and wage-earners to handle the business. High salaries and higher wages. became necessary to hold old employes or' to get new ones, so great was ther desire of these to engage in the more profitable or tempting op portunities "in the mines" or to move their families to the better air and the broader influences to be found on farms and in country life. The advance in farm products had made farming de sirable and profitable.' Strikes had be come a thing of the past. Gold and silver were at par. Gold, finding itself in idleness, with everything advancing except itself, had come out of hiding and. Invested Itself in those things that were advancing. It was again in cir culation, among the people, the first time, excepting in California, for forty years. j VIII. On Saturday, May 4th, congress passed a bill, that was signed by the president, making it unlawful for any person or corporation, except continu ous lines, of railways, to own or hold more than 320 acres of land for any purpose. The bill provided for com missioners to set a value upon all sur plus lands, of each holder, to be paid for at once by the government, or re ferred to a Jury, if demanded. This land thus forfeited- by its owner, for value received, to be thrown open for sale by the government. This bill caused over 50,000,000 acres of land in the United States, belonging to citi zens in England, to be thrown open to occupancy by Jan. 1, 1902, made it pos sible for thousands to find homes and useful occupations, and had forever put an end to landlords and tenantry in America. By 1902, the miners who had made a stake were returning from the mountains and buying 320-acre homes for themselves and families Nor were they the only ones who sought life among the trees and flow ers. Merchants, professional men and others became gradually imbued wfth the desire -to cjwn a country home, un til It became a fad. the fashion. Chil dren were healthier, their minds be came broader, the young men hand somer and broader shouldered and more manly, and the women fiirer. better color and more beautiful. It was life. It was man-making and woman-making. And they all knew it. In 1903, by reason of rising prices, the people had discharged all their indebt edness and the detestation of debt and fear that It might at some future time endanger theiberties of their children; had. caused them to pass a constitu tional provision that all debts of fu ture contraction should be based upon honor only; and that there should be no law for the collection of debts thereafter made. It put an end to the ic known as money - lenders, and money changers, and put the last nail in the coffin of the money powers. Thereafter all purchases were for cash, and all business transactions were put upon a cash basis, wth a much higher sense pt honor among, the people than had before existed. The law of col lection continued in force until all old debts, contracted prior to the law, were raid. - One firecracker does summcra but It often prior, not make a makes on E. Philosopher Finds Thrifty Neigh bors Across the Georgia Line. HE SEES SOME FINE MULES. The Bartow Writer Discusses War, Politics, Turnplkr Bpads and the Good- Landf' of the Volunteer State. Tennessee is for peace, but it is bet ter prepared for war than any Southern State. I have r2cently traveled over the southern portion and was profound ly impressed with its resources!. There is a branch railroad running from De herd to Winchester aud from there curving around in a southwesterly courso to Fayetteyille and thence to Petersburg and Lewisburg and Colum- Dia. uoveruor xayjr was on tue vram and told me this was the garden spot aud along this road were the best farms and best farmers in the State of Ten nessee. I never saw such beautiful fields of wheat in my life and the aver age yield is said to be twenty-five bush els to the acre.' Well, of course, 'a war will want wheat. Then this is a fine stock country and the war will want. mules and cattle. Their cattle is of the large Durham breed, so large that some of them .bring from $60 to $70 apiece and are always in demand. The farmer under whose hospitable roof I stayed while in Petersburg, had 120 brood mare3 and raised j mules by the score. He ships larg numbers of Dur ham cattle and has a side show of fine hogs and sheep and turkeys, ducks, chickens and geese. Everything he raises is first quality. He paid $15 for one turkey gobbler. He is shipping and selling somethingttlmost every day. He raises large crops of wheat, oats and corn and., yet finds time to work for his church and the parsonage and the public school. At home he helps his good wife to nurse tho baby and" to look after the children and does every thing quietly and pleasantly. That is what I like. It does not take me long to diagnose a family and .to tell who is the boss, but I dident see any boss about these premises, nor any badly behaved children. If Mr. Edmiston is a fair sample of the citizens around Petersburg, no wonder it is a prosper ous town. I was told that not long ago there was one shipment of eight hun dred geese to Chicago and that the an nual shipment of fowls from that point exceeded 8100,000. Just think of itl Petersburg: is- known abroad as the central point of a fine stock .country, and their annual fairs are attended by stock men from far and near. But it is & small town is not even a county seat. It is the character of the people ithat makes it what it is. Good land and-good farmers will make any place prosper, lhe merchants have de partment storea and pay a little higher for produce and fowls and eggs than is "paid elsewhere. There is a large and successful creamery here and two large sawmills and the largest' Btock loss 1 ever saw, many of them measuring five feet in diameter. These are chiefly poplar and white oak and the trees grow on the hill sides clear up to the ridges. The stocks are rolled down to the pike road in the valley, and from there are easily hauled to tho mills. Oh, those delightful turn pikes. They are all over this country and have doubled and trebled the value of the land. You can't buy these farm ing lands for less than SoO an acre, and much of it brings $100. I saw a large field in wheat that recently sold for S100 per acre at public sale. Why should it not? Every acre will turn out twenty-five bushels of wheat, and. that is worth now for July delivery $22. One mau sold his crop last week for 50 cents a bushel. He didn't believe the war would last until harvest or he wouldn't have done it. I never realized the value of pike roads until this visit. Forty bushels of wheat is a big wagon load in.our coun try and it takes a good team to haul it to town. But they can haul from sixty to eighty on a pike and with less strain on the team. Saturday night found me at Lewisburg, and to my surprise I learned there was no train on Sunday nor until Monday eve, and then I would have to stay at Deherd three hours and at Chattanooga four hours and reach home Tuesday morning. I was distressed, for I left a dear lit tle grandchild siok, and so I dared to travel. on tho Sabbath day. Wartrace was thirty miles awav. and the Nash ville train going east wouta pass mere at 11 o'clock. The livery man very quietly told me that if I would beVeady at half-past 3 o'clock he would put me there by half -past 10. He did it, and I neverhad a moie delightful ride. The good horse never broke his long, sweeping trot, except at the toll gate?, where I paid ten cents, and there were five of them on the route. The morning air was bracing, the buggy springs were easy, the cushions oft and elastic and the driver companion able. He took me for a preacher, which is proof that I talked good Sunday talk. At Shelbyville we changed horses, and the last'nine miles were driren -in' exactly one hoar. That last horse was a wildcat, and for a mile or two my tranquility was disturbed. He didn't want to leave the stable. He reared and pranced and backed his ears and back ed the bngsv down the little hill and cut it around, but the driver knew him and talked kindly to him and let him turn round and go the other way. Fin ally he gave a -nort and waked tip to "business, and we droye arouud square and cot in the right road again. He leaped the railroad with proud disdain,.' and the driver let him have Lis own way, "speaking gently all the time. I never rode after a horse like that one. As we n eared the toil gate the driver cried on, ".Raise the Eote, raise the pole ! He was afraid i'U jump it, or try to, it weitopp4 III 1 IE B E to ray the toll. I thought of John Gil pin's race. "Away went Gilpin, and away.' Well, I felt alarmed, of course, but somehow I felt proud and heroic. Ev erything turned out for us, for some of the people were going to their country churches. ' At Wartrace I boarded the train and surprised my family with my presence that same evening at 6 o'clock. And I skipped Decherd! My friends, were auy of you ever at Decherd in the nighttime? Away back in '60 I was invited by Artemus Ward to come to Macon and hear him lecture. He had just returned from Utah, where he had been lecturing to the Mormons, wno had many wives, and his card of invita tion I have yet, and it ears: "Admit the bearer and one wife.' So I went to Macon and heard him. He had missed his appointment by reason of the train breaking down at a little town in Alabama called Pollard. He looked at his audience, and in a voice of sadness told them of his misfortune and how he had to star in Pollard for twenty-four hours. Then he almost cried as be asked: "My friends, were any of you ever in Pollard? I hope not, and that vou never will be. Bather than live'in Pollard I would live in I would live in vain. ' . I thought of that the other night. It was 3:30 o'clock, when 1 was arouseaDy the porter's fry of Decherd all out for Decherd. Soon I was on the platform and waited for somebody to say "Hotel, sir." The train sped away and I looked in vain for somebody who wanted to see me. The telegraph operator was clicking his ma chine in a room and his light shone dimly through a hole in the wall.; I saw a colored man near -the door and asked for a hotel. "One right 'round de corner," said he. "Walk down de platform and you see de light." It was dark and had been raining. I saw the light dimly burning and waded through some black Tennessee mud to get to it. Anybody could have knocked me iff the" head or have robbed me without resistance. When I got to the piazza I mi-need counting the number of steps and fell upon the floor. I had rather fall up any time than. to fall down, es pecially in the night I tried the door and found it locked, wen. i triea lor ten. minutes to arouse somebody, but I" tried in vain, and sadly returned to the little depot with my shoes more wetter aud more muddier. The colored gen tleman was still there.- Said I:. "My friend, I couldn't wake up anybody over there." "I was, afeered you couldn't," said he; "Uncle Bill is git tin' powerful old (That's me, thought I) and he ain't very liable in de night time." That's me, too, thought I. So took a back seat in the cold, cheerless waiting room and remained there until sunrise, when a train came up and took me to Winchester, which is only three miles away, and is the county seat. It ia a pretty town and quite an education al center. Breakfast was ready and was inviting, and in a little while I felt like another man, and said to myself, "All's well that ends well." But, -oh, those two long, dreary hours at Dech erd, and it looks like a pleasant little hamlet, but it sadly needs some ac commodation for wayfaring and aged travelers. There were some dying em bers in the stove. . but there were no chairs, and I couldn't warm my feet from the beats that were fastened to the wall My legs, were not long enough. But as General Lee said at Gettys burg, "It's all my fault" all my fault for taking a train that put me there in the night. . But Tennessee is a great State. Her people know how to farm, and with good roads and a scaroity of cotton are forging ahead aud ready for war. Bill Arp in Atlanta Constitution. A contemporary, commenting on the demand of the Secretaries of War and Navv for more men for warships and batteries, remarks that while the labor market will not feel the drain much. It is a fact that such employment of able-bodied men Is just so much sub tracted from the productive forces of the.countrv. Considering that the num ber of men required cannot be much In excess of 3.000 altogether, the drain will be hardly perceptible. Soldiers labor, and are the cause of employ ment of others; for armies n;ya.b-- lea and clothed, as wen as paid. Every year 50,000 men offer themselves for enlistment in the army, and recruiting othvers can pick and choose. The aspir ants for ' enlistment include many bright young Americans no aliens will be taken now to whom the mili tary career Is attractive. Nor are the Inducements In the way of pay offered to be despised by able-bodied young men who would otherwise be employ ed in civil labor in the lower grades of employment. Whie the private soldier begins his service at $13 a month, his pay increases $1 for every year of faithful service up to the sixth, when It is $18. Sergeants in the line get as high as $30 a month; in the engineers, ordnance and signal corp3 pay runs at Its highest, from $30 to $50 a month. To the educated man in the ranks there is the chance to compete for a commis sion. The navy pay for men before the mast and petty officers is higher than given in the merchant service! When we consider how much Is sup plied gratis tothe soldiers and sallorslu the way of, food, lodging and medfeal attendance, we can readily see that their pay compares very favorably, for single men at leat, with- tb wages given In at least the lower grades of mechanical employments. Many sol diers and sailors, steady, temperate, faithful men, lay up money enough during their service to begin a business career with a considerable capital. This Is especially true In the West, -where thrifty privates and "non-coma made good Investments In buying land cheap ahead of a boom. In New England may be found men prospering In civil employment who a few years ago were In the rants, and started In a new ca reer with an honorable discharge and a fev hundred .dollars of sarins. Smith Alter trying for ten lona years. I have at last ruccetrded In con vincing uiy wife that I am perfect. Browx Are you sure of Itl Smith Of course I am. It was only this morning that she said I waa a perfect Wlct. Chicago yewa - rr IN VERY PLAIN WORDS CHAIRMAN TOWNE SQUELCHES A GOLDITE ORGAN. , It Asks film 6vMt Qacatloo ' CTalth Ait Aatwercd Thnrafh It C1mim A Sampl of th Ig-noraac Cxlstlaa AnpB; Gold Standard Editor. The Seattle 'Post-Intelligencer,' ; on the occasion of Chairman Tow ne'e visit to that city, propounded to him the fol lowing questions, openly challenging him : to logically ans wer them. It is something new to have-Ignorant ad Tocatea of gold ask auestione of bl metallists, which gives the matter some additional importance. Here Is what the P.-I. asks: "1. Are you. Mr. Towne. in favor of the .dollar of the smallest purchas ing power? "2. Are you glad tnat in .1837-8 our laboring people have had to pay higher prices than usual In recent years for their flour and beef? ' "3. If you answer No. 2 affirmatively; explain to our laboring people why you are glad that their dollars have had less purchasing power in flour and beef, why you are glad that their labor buys less than usual of bread and meat. "4. If It has been a good thing for laboring people to pay dearly for their meat and bread, wouldn't It be a still better thing If they were to ' receive dollars of smallest purchasing power in payment of wages, so they would have to pay still more dearly for bread, meat, clothing, groceries, etc.? "5 If r It would be a good thing for day laborers to receive dollars of small est purchasing power for their work, and pay dearly for the necessaries -of life, would it not be agood thing for all wage-earners and salary-workers to receive cheapest 'dollars for their ser vices and" pay dearest- for everything they wear, eat or use? "6. Explain to day laborers and wage-earners how there can be a gen eral rise in the'' average level of labor namely, the buying power of wages If we shall decrease the 'value of the dollar to the lowest purchasing power; and thereby raise . the prices of the necessaries, and comforts of life to the highest possible point. "7. If you answer No. 2 negatively. Mr. Towne, please explain to farmers why you are not glad that they are re ceiving good prices for their wheat, cattle, mutton, wool, hay, etc?" Here ara Mr. Towne's Irrefutable an swers to the P.-I. ignoramus: 1. No, I am not in favor of the "dol lar of smallest purchasing power," and never claimed to be. The dollar we seek to establish is a dollar that shall approach as near as possible to con stancy of purchasing power. 2. I am not in favor of higher prices thatresult from scarcity of product, and therefore am not gla4 that our la boring people had to pay higher prices for bread and meat, while having no more money than before to buy with. Please remember that it is you, not I, that Is defending the present system, under which the farmer cannot get higher prices than for many years past except at the" expense of the poor man's necessities. 3. As I do not categorically answer No. 2 affirmatively, l am not; obliged to answer No. 3 at 'all, but I have already answered it substantially in answering No. 2. . 4. 6 and 6. These questions are all founded upon the unwarranted assump tion that laborers are benefited by fall ing prices and by a dollar that con stantly rails for more and more of the products of, their labor, whereas every member of an organized labor assemblv can tell you that when pricf I pill ing money wiP - e6&V in enter prise; tiL', wnen money runs away from productive employment It ceases to em ploy laborers; that laborers out of a Job cannot buy products, however low the prices may be; that money jseeking in vestment at making things causes sevr eral jobs to seek one laborer, and wages go up; that money Idle because falling prices forbid it to be risked means sev eral laborers seeking one Job and wages go. down or cease entirely; that labor has always been able.at least for the last generation, since it has been well organ ized to secure for itself In increased wages a share'of advancing prices; that while by combination labor can prevent to a considerable extent a fall of per diem wages as an accompaniment of falling prices, it Is powerless to Increase the number of days of work;that statis tics of. day wages that do not mention the days' work lost are misleading; that if a man's wages are $2 a day and he gets one day's work a week, his wages are really $2 a week;lhat a laboring man pays debts with his surplus, and, even assuming the alleged doubling of his expenses (which we deny, for prices would not double nor anything like it) under bimetallism; he could look with, some degree of equanimity upon an ac count like this: On gold standard Wages. $1 a- day; expenses. 75 cents; surplus. 25 cents;' mortgage on little home, $500; number of days work to pay off mortgageT 2,000. Under bimetal lismWages, $2 a day; expenses, $1,50; surplus, 50 cents; number of days work to pay oh the mortgage. 1,000; net sav ing to laborer In paying bis mortgage under bimetallism. 1,000 days -work. The laboring men know, what eTideatly yon do not, that the established facte, as shown by reliable data (not the par tial and doctored ones cf the Aldrlcn report, which have been laughed out of. countenance by the competent statisti cal authority of the world) are that un der bimetallism wares rose in me United States from;18e0 to 1873 about 53 per cent, and under the gold standard have fallen since 1873 so as to leave the net gain over I860 only 45 per cent. : ' i . 7. This has i been already anbstaa. TParttjr f Money. ' We know, that for a period of sevJ' enty years, to wit; from 1S03 to 1573, during which . there were greater changes In the relative' production c the metals than during any like perH3 In their history, the two metals, goU and silver, were practically on a parity with each other. .' . - During the whole of that tlme-15Mi ouncee of silver would exchange tor one ounce of gold in all the raarkttt of the world: end this because tb mints of France were open to. the un restricted coinage of both taetals'nrotv that' ratio. The coins struck from them w;r unlimited legal tender that lvttey were equally endowed wijh the nczcr function- Pot many ceaturtrs vrtz? to 1873 both metals were In the world's money stock, " and tnsir sepaxatlea from each other waa so gradual as cct to practically Interfere wlth'thelr Joist use as money metals. The way the b!- metallic principle brnlgs the metals to gether and maintaina their parity with each other can easily be understood. It is made plain by the following fa miliar Illustration of Jevons: "Wfcea. two receptacles for fluids are separated from each other, the height to .which the fluid will rise in each depends up on the quantity poured into it. Cut when there is a connecting pipe be tween them the fluid will Tlse to tb eanre level in both, whichever receives the supply." v Ans tnU a' Jon. exactly Illustrates the movement of the metals In western Europe, under the bimetallic law oi rraoce ui which provided for the unrestricted coinage of both metals," and gave to the coins struck from each the oCe of unlimited legal tender. Their legal tender function., allowing the coin struck from one of the metals to freely take the place of the coins struck from the other metal, for monetary pur poses, was the connecting pipe; and as the fluid discharged from the com mon outflow was a single fluid, though In the Inflow the color of one of then may have been white and that of th' other yellow, so where the standard Is bimetallic the resulting money Is. a single bimetallic money, and In Its re lation to commodities as expressive of -value as Is a Blngle standard, though it Is called a bimetallic or double stand ard because two metals are selected tor full monetary use. j Gold Standard Effect It is generally supposed that finan cial and economical questions are too complicated for the comprehension of the masses. On the contrary, the fun damental laws are simple and intellig ible. " Money is an instrument by which .T.nr( nf commodities are effected. and 1U Issue should be controlled sola ly by government In the interests of the people.. The amount of money in circulation should bear a proper rela tion to the number and industrial ac tivity of the. people, j; An ample and constant supply of money stimulates all industries, give a demand for labor with, regular em ployment and good wages and mini mizes panics, bankruptcies, strikes and lockouts.1 A contraction of the cur rency, as conceded by every politicals economist of note. lnt every civilized country of the world, invariably cause i falling prices, curtailment of produc tion! panics, bankruptcies, pauperism and Increase of suicides and other crimes. I What Is the cause cf the pres ent long-continued distress among th producing, classes? The cause can ba readily explained. Ry contracting tb currency, money is made scarce apAH purchasing power is Inflated. The mar ket prices of all commodities. which are the products of industry are reduced; consequently a given amount of money will purchase a larger amount or pro ducts. This is a great advantage to the creditor class and to all who have fixed Incomes, as bondholders, who ar not required to labor for support, but it is a far greater Injury to the pro ducing classes and .also to owners of real and personal property other than bonds,. the value of which becomes de preciated. Great Britain, as the credi tor nation of the world,; understands perfectly the. effect of x:urrency con traction, and has sought since 1816 to ir rnM standard on the world la order, as her most eminent statesmen have acknowledged, to enable her to buy her breadstuffs and raw material at half price and to compel ber debtors in the repayment of loans to give, ia addition to interest, twice as much ss they received when the debts were con tracted. : . : N Don't think all looks are saiKT'e be cause they are bound to ttlL '- f MOUIUZK ATHALEIOII. "Waa Contended! bat Jroor a Wlli D la State Only a Few Weeka. ' Paleigb, -N Ct April 27. (neciL V --Governor Rustell, Adjutant General Cowles and Major Hayes were ia con ference until 7 o'clock. Tbeu lUUnh was settled on as the place of rendez vous, after an earnest argument by General Cowles and Major Ilaye. and also bv Auditor Ayer. It ws contend ed by "these gentlemen that the troop will probably be ia the State bat a few weeks; that the arsenal with all its sup plies, including tenta, i here; tbs Kaleigh is central, and that tb expense of the zhobilizatlon of the troop here will be lets. GoTerncr Bnssell yielded, after holding out to the last for Wilmington. He azreed upon the express condition that if the: 9 volunteers remained in the btat be would insist on the Secretary at War ending 1 hem to the at for it de fence. It was alao with tb under standing that Ilateieh fumuhea. th :le for the camp. The Governor will tomorrow iaane his order for vcsn tetrs to rendezvous at 3 o'c!ck Hatur dar afternoonv Ho will tueu know i Haleizh gives the . camp siio. Tfc heavy artiilery battery is to Vft cf ml oiei troons. CcL J. I. AlJ all r "
The News-Herald (Morganton, N.C.)
Standardized title groups preceding, succeeding, and alternate titles together.
May 4, 1898, edition 1
1
Click "Submit" to request a review of this page. NCDHC staff will check .
0 / 75