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Plain Questions For Plain Men

Plain Questions For Plain Men image
Parent Issue
Day
23
Month
September
Year
1896
Copyright
Public Domain
OCR Text

What do men expect to ga in by free coinasre of KÜver at the 10 to 1 ratio. ? Not wlxat do owners of (-11rer mines and speculabors in uilver bullion expecb to galn, but ])lain, ordinary, honest American citizens - fannere, ehopkeepers, mechanica and the like - the people who make up the mass of the American JTation- what good would {ree coinage 'do them ? Xay aside the wild rantIne about the "Crime of 1S73," of wiiu-h Senator Stewart, now most blataxtt of all in denouncing it, was one of the chief perpetrators. Lay ;i ido all talk about God having crea!ed siiver and gold in t!he exact proporlione of 16 to 1, which is scien.H ically untrue. Lay aside the lilasphemous twaddle about cniclfy!ng humanity on a cross of gold. I.ay if-ide all euch flubdub, the stok:n irade of Juvenile I)eclaimcr:s and üitiquated cranks. Come right down to ihe practical polnt, ïellow-workingmen and fellow cïtizen-;, and answev, 'A yon can, WhaJfc good vill fi'ee (.oin;i ge do you ? P'ippose that you belons to the sm;,:l minority of men whoso farms are ciortgaged. Will it help you. to pay (hat mortgage ? Certííinly not ii M'nator Stewart or any other rilve" leader holdus the mortgage, Xor you may be sure fchere is a clLuse in it requiring payment in gold. But supposO some less rapacious ïnoneylender holds it. He lent you gold or money equal to gold. Do you, as an man, want to return to him anything else ? He paid you in 100eent dollars. Io you want to repay him ju 53-cent dollars ? Or .-.uppose thac you belong to that othei' wnall minority of men who are in debb in ottr ways than on mortgages. Th ose debts were cOintracted honestIy You are bound to pay them honestiy, in full. Do you really want to repudíate 47 per cent. o'f theim ? And can you look your iellow men. in the face ? . Perhaps you are a farmer with produce to sell. You think prices are now too low. You want them, to be higher. Do you think you will garn tfcat nú by making the money you eet for your profin'ee ies vn'.naWeï Wlll 1t hplp maften If, 1nsrOaJ oí 100-cent goid dollars, you c"t paid for rniir srrnln nn5 hnv m) catT]e in 53-cent silver dollars ? Oh, but you say, prices will go up so that you will get more dollars for your crops than you do now. Perhaps. But prices- measured by the number of dollars- will have almoet to öonble bsfore you will be getting as much as you do now. Dö you thhik they will doublé very quickly after Mr. Bryan's election ? Even thrn, whnt better off will yon be? "Will jjjo-ii be any riidier wlth one liundred do" are worth 53 cents each than witb fifty-three worth l'OO cents each ? Ask your ten year-old school boy to figure it out and see. Or you are a mech&nic, and want hfeher wages. That is a laudable de-irc. It would be pleaisant to get four dollars a day instead Of two dollars. Bat if tbO dollars are cut ai t w. so that theíour will be worth no more than the two now are, so that you caá buy no inore with! the four than you can with the two, what will it proíit you ? If your wages go up - in number of dollars paid - don't you suppose the rent of your house and t!he cost of your food elothes will go up too ? Indeed, hasn't experience taught you that thes latter go up more quickly and further than the former, and that are the hardest of all toi get up, and gö up least aud last ? ■Would it not be the height of f olly to "voto for a doubling of your expenses, with the mere hope, buit noi absolute certainty, that your income would olo be doubled ? The chances aie, however, that your farm is not martgaged, for the maJoi'ity of farms are not, and that you are not iu dett, for the majorlty o imen are uot. Iostoad of belonging to' thö debtor minority, jou belong to thi; creditor majority. What good will free coinage do'you? Your ll:e is insureil - that is to say, a li.'es insufiiuce company owes you nioney. Yon híive paid your premiums In, 100cant dollars. Da you wamt the polley paid to you or to your family in 58 cent dollars ? You have a l:lre Insurance, on your house and furnitui'fi. 01 on your barí, or a cyelone insumnoe. ií you live in Hhe land of Biyan and Peffer. It coivers the valué of youf property. In base of ddsastor, do you want that ïull value paid, of only about one-half of it? will it proirit yoni !to payi for $1,000 oí insurance and thèn to receiA-e only $530 ? Tliert! are other and higher conslderatioins, of moráis, and honor, and tiho National Kvelfa-re. But let us lock at the case from. thlsi lower and Kimjilev point oif view. Judged by thö elemental standard of self-intere9t. what will It pnoi:it the average, evevyday American citizen to degrade the currencv and flood the land vith half-pilce dollars ?-

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Subjects
Old News
Ann Arbor Courier