Oklahoma Champion. (Oklahoma City, Okla.), Vol. 1, No. 6, Ed. 1 Friday, March 6, 1896 Page: 1 of 8
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Vol. 1, No. 6.
OKLAHOMA CITY, OKLAHOMA, FRIDAY, MARCH 6, 1896.
It is only a question of majority
with the Populists of Texas this fall.
It was the republicans in congress
Ife
■
who sustained Cleveland’s veto of a an effort to join in defeat of the- Sil-
ver movement. Secretary Carlisle, in
representing thte adniistration fac-
tion of Democracy,1 has distinctly
showing THKilf HAND. 1 up? There is now no excuse for fur-
Dispatches from Washington iur-j thebliadMsa. No mao cao f.il u,
iog the past mot indicate that the see tW work,ops ot the two o,d par
gold standard elemeats arc makiog ; ties •!*« <•>'» « •"* "I*"
FlZi'.LKHS THAT IJON'T BCEKME.
'|cer coinage bill in 189.3.
With
Nebraska
mm Texas, Kansas,
and the Dakotas all going Populist
this fall it is a good time for Oklaho-
ma to line up.
^ Ik the republican party wins u
national victory this fall it will be
by a reduced vote. Its house is not
without family troubles.
Rkki> anu McKinley are having a
finish contest for Kansas delegate*,
I *but that state will give neither of
I
?
them an electoral vote.
11
I
stated that the tir. >e has come when
the advocates of ‘ honest money”
must unite and bkl defiance to the
silver people.and that the gold stand-
ard adyocat.es are ready to recognize
the new alignment of parties on the
financial question. Other and sim-
ilar expressions have recently been
made by various i arty leaders.
The republicvios.i-hcwever, are not
prepared to recognize toe financial
Issue so far as to nacke such, a dec-
laration. at least until after dhe con-
vention. In event McKinley cau be
nominated has party will endeavor
to thresh over the .tariff straw, and
thus prevent a threatening disaffec-
tion in their own ranks on the muot-
txl money question. Hut despite
this policy moveme.it by the bosses
there are honest republicans who
recognize the fact that a break must
come and that the issue before the
people is that of finance. They are
too intelligent to be deceived and too
honest to belie their principles; -so
that notwithstanding the allurement
of seeing their party standing on the
mountain top of victory this fall
it-seems that the “unity” talked of
by republicans is in a decree phan-
tasmagorieal. Such men as Senator
Teller have in the past few days
warned their party that some recog-
nition of silver must be given at St.
Louis in June or the West will not
be a factor in republican success.
These .assertions >do not convey the
idea which some prefer to believe,
that these senators will bolt their
party convention, but they are rath-
er intended to be.a plain statement
of inevitable results. Men who hold
as high positions in the party as
United States senator will hardly
see the advisability of deserting po-
litical affiliations on the eve of prob-
able victory, but.a> they openly aver
there .are .many of the .rank and file
who do ne* look for pie in the gener-
al disbursemen.te consequent upon
success, and who are not ready to
sacrifice principle upon the altar ol
Ssbeimanism.
As already indicated, the* goh.
standard wing of Democracy see- in*
hope for success and has thrown off
the cloak of hypocrisy. The misceg-
nution of Wall Street anil the unit-
ed States government stands ex-
posed to view, and defiantly jeers an
outraged people. They are ready,
they suv. to make the fight on finan-
cial fines. They are willing to ad-
mit that tin; cenunon peoale have
been deluded by scarecrows ail.these
years, and that capital now has -so
securely throttled the nation that
resistance is vain. These open dec-
larations mean something. They
The war talk and war spirit ap- ^ mean that unless the common peo-
The dissolution of Democracy may
afford the republicans a chance to
squeeze ir. this full, but the West
wiil not be a party tc the disaster.
The indignation of Spain’s “proud
and sensitive people” must have
been very great on account of the
Senate’s action; for it actually de-
terred many of the refined Baree-
lonian's from going to the ball fight.
Ok all the degenerate members of
the whole bug tribe, commend us to
*4he namby • pstmhying m i 1 k-and - water
specimen, the stradde bug. This
position is now fully occupied by the
sticklers for coinage of t he American
product of silver.
Senator* Teller. Carter and Du
bois have vigorously denounced the
alleged interviews in which thev
were reported as sayitvg they would
not leave the republican party if it
fails to declare for silver. They say
their threat was no bluff.
It is not altogether essential in
the full discharge of their duties,
but. judging from the regularity with
which they ar" aff doing if, each in-
I 'dividual representative of the South
and West i t con gross considers that
he is not fuHv relieved from respon-
sibility until le* lambaste come end
9 of the Cleveland adcmnistrLffoh ft fa
Tillman. At !a«t it begins to look
*s though some of tlv p<><>p!r are get-
ting their eves open.
Chairman Vincent, of the Terri-
- toria! committee, has secured u rep-
resentation of nine delegates for Ok-
lahoma in the Populist national con-
vention. instead of four as the na-
tional committee fix >fi upon when
the apportionment was “made- The
enlargement of rope •-•mtaiion was
just!v due the popuM.-ts of Okit.ho-
mi>„ and i* is fortunate for them that
they have a wide-awake chairman
who ‘us that-they receive what tltev
jjre rightly entitled to. The conven-
tions to select the delegates will be
held during the latter part of June.
by the leaders, and surely men will
not voluntarily be led around by tbe
nose in the face of Wall Street t
taunt to help themselves if they can
Vrtl. Stewart and Itryan Antwcr Morion
• ad Carlisle* "Vnanawarablr"
Onrstioa*.
Some months ago Secretary Mor-
ton. of the Agricultural Department,
who knows more about finance than
lie does about farming and knows
mighty little ubout either, prepared
a list of questions on the financial
question, which he asserted with
TO RECOGNIZE CUBA.
The initial step toward recogniz-
ing Cuban independence has at last * much empeasis were unanswerable
been taken in the recent action of; froui pfie ..fiver standpoint. Secre-
the senate, and the only puzzling
feature is that it was not done be-
fore. That it was the sentiment <•!
that body was demonstrated by the
remarkable majority of tit! to 6 in
favor of the resolution, and it is to
be regretted that the inexcusable
delay has robbed it of much force
in foreign countries. Corning so
soon upon the heels of trie Venezue-
lan bluster it has unfortunately been
characterized abroad as being one of
the political maneuvers practised in
this country during campaign years,
and it is humiliating to thus discover
to what low standard the dignity of
the United States has been reduced
by its modern political methods.
But whatever may have been the
motive of the senators who voted for
the resolution, the people they rep-
resent have been sympathizing with
the Cuban insurgents during ail the
many months they have been en-
gaged irs the struggle for freedom.
The people of America have drank at
the fount of civil:zation too long to
look with cold apathy upon barbar-
ous massacres at our very doors, or
to view with complacent insouciance
the merciless butchery of patriots in
the cause of liberty. Sufficient time
has not yet elapsed since Bunker
HiP. Monmouth and Valiev Forge to
cause Americans to forget at what
price our libi rty was bought, even
though the foe was not the sanguin-
ary and cruel Spaniard. In all the
western hemisphere, marked for its
progress and independence. Cuba
tarv Carlise agreed with Mr. Morton
and they then declared that the sil-
ver question was irretrievably ex-
pired. The list fell into the bunds
of Jos. R. Buchanan, of New York
City, who referred the questions to
Senators Stewart and Vest. Pres-
dent Warner of the Bi-metallic
League and ox Congressman Bryan,
for answers. Below we give Mor-
tons questions and the answers pre-
pared to them by Senators Stewart
and Vest, and Congressman Bryai
•KCUETARY MORTON'S QUESTIONS.
1. If by international iizrui-raent tl.c pi i' c
of *,!vcr cut. lx- fixtsi unci niuiltt permanent lit
gold, %> |ty runout the prices of ull oilier coni-
module- bo made permanent and unfluctuat-
ing i»y tin Haute process?
When the ad vacates of free uod unlimit-
ed'•oinaffe dre!aros for Hi to 1. does lit1 not
give away bis cane and assert himself for a
gold Htandurd u» "the one” by which to ui> eas-
im silver and everything else?
c ustom duties an> based upon llitl value
of iioixirtsc mi puled it Aniortvtn 01 United
Stales currency. The law compel, the s-ert -
tarycflhe treasury at beginning ot et.cb
tjuitrler to proclaim value of foreign coins It.
I'rilled States money. Now. the EiirIIsIi
pound Is $4 y>. «s-ID on u gold basis. Important
iElOO vrurlli of nier-.-handlse from England to-
day, you would pay duly on MSB valuation.
Hut goioR 10 a silver basis the English pound
would be hi United State- eurrenev " ‘
doubled, rherefi.re the duties on the • an.,
pood* w* aid te doubled, would they not
pears to increase every week, not
only on this but on the opposite con-
tinents. Threatened and active rev-
olutions are the themes in the
mDuthS'Of the people everywhere,
and it must all mean something.
Can the people of this age, those in
civilized nations at least, learn a les-
son from Lie teachings of history,
or will they again permit war, with
all its attendant horrors, to engage
them? Froci the earliest civiliza-
tion down to the present, despotic
fillers and revolutions have gone
hand in hand and to this condition
more than any other, can be attrib-
uted the popuular unrest of today.
The democratic and republican
press is very sanguine that their par-
ties will hat e nothing to lose and
everything to gain by adopting au
unequivocal declaration for “sound
money,” and assert that the South
and West will wheel into line on such
a platform. In the nance of all that
^ears the slightest pretension to
honesty and fair-dealing, the Popu-
lists trust that they will. There is
absolutely nothing, even though
specially designed by the Creator
Himself, that would give such an
impetus to populism as a “sound
money” plank in the platforms of
both old parties. By all weans, let
(hem try it.
pie desire a continuance of the pres-
ent system they must get together.
Division among the masses has been
and is now the chief desire of the
classes. So long as people with com-
mon interests at stake will array
themselves one against the other,
justso long will their chains be riv-
eted. It is a discouraging fact, how-
ever, that they continue to do this
very thing, and the love of party
seems to be a more potent power in
the American breast than the love
of home and country. With the late
attitude of capital expressed through
its agents there can be no doubt
that the forces of money monopoly
propose to stand together, as in fact
they always have. With them the
love of riches is higher than patriot-
ism, but with the common people
fealty to party has highest consid-
eration. In both cases patriotism is
made subordinate, and the masses,
blinded by a prejudice that is fatal to
their liberty, are being driven on to
a helpless condition. This will be
true so long as the torchlight parade
has more attraction for a man than
his home and family, and the oily el-
oquence of a wily politician wields
more influence than tbe mute appeal
of pinched faces in the hovel of the
poor.
The money power has thrown down
the challenge, will the people take it
senator vest's answer.
1. Commodities such as corn,
wheat, iron, lead, etc., can be pro-
duced in unlimited quanliti *s beyond
the capacity or requirements of c < n-
sumption, while silver lies never
been so produced. This question as-
sume* that siiver is always a corn-
stands out in bold relief as a little i modity <ike corn, wheat or cotton
colony oppressed by Old Work] tyr- j aiuj ignores the fact that when made
anny; and in its struggle to free it-; money by law, national or interns-
self from a bloodthirsty monster thejtional. it becomes within the juris-
• *:,itej Jstatcs, which owes -ts exis-. j diction so enacting not a commodity,
tence ak a nation to a similar revo-' put the representative of all values,
lotion, has stood idly by while the | Xo ask why international agreement
smoke of the fagot lias been borne by j cannot fix the the price of coinmodi-
ihe southern breeze to our very ; tjft. js foreign to the issue. When
shores. It is time this country paid ! stamped as money and made full le-
:norc attention to justice and evinced }-aj tender, silver!* not a commodity
less toadyism to thatdiplo natic par- |j„ the narrow and restricted rnenn-
uphrasc, “comity of nations. | ing of that term, but represents the
The martial demonstrations with 1 vaiu« of all commodities, ft may be
which the people of Spain received i uscd fuV mechanical and inanufsu-
the senate •-actioi should not deter ! taring purposes, but its money fuuc-
the United States government from tion comes from law and is of over-
a strict adh -rence to its belated line' whelming importance. Secretary
of po ic.v toward securing Cuban in-1 M rum persistently adheres to tin*
dependence. It would indeed be hu-' fallacy that the commercial value of
miliating to American patriotism, 1 silver as caused by closing the minis
after seeing the Stars and Stripes • against its coinage will not be affect-
torn into shreds by the savage mob; tH; by restoring the metal to its po»i-
at Barcelona, to be compelled to re- tion prior to 1873. The opening of
cede from the advanced position ta | ||,e mints of the world, or even of
ken, because of Spanish bluster on the Unit *d Stated, to free coinage
one hand and puerile statesmanship ' would give silver equal purchasing
on the ot her. Not only is our do-1 .v,,d debt paying power with gold,
dining national dignity ajt stake, but What owner of silver bullion, outside
our reputation as humanitarians and j0f a lunatic asylum, would sell it at
lovers of Liberty. A recession would
be disgraceful cowardice. A pro-
gression on this line will mean the
freedom of a persecuted hand of pa-
the present market price if the mints
were open to free coinage? The in-
trinsic value of silver, as of gold,
comes almost entire!}- from its adapt-
triots upon whom a barbarous coun- lability to the purposes of being used
try has turned loose an organized as money, and this use can lie estah-
rnob of cutthroats under command of | fished by law. To attempt an anal-
a murderer who has long ago earned | ogy between silver and commoditie-
the distinguished title of “Bloody hs illogical and utterly deceptive.
Butcher, and revels in massacre ; o. I must confess my inability t<
and blood. If congress does nothing apprec iate this question. Does Sec
more it has done one good thing, ami i Morton mean that no ratio of
the Spanish government should uti- j co|Iia'ge can be fixed by law between
derstand that seventy million people gold and sfivent as has been done
stand ready to echo the sentiment
by any means that may become nee
essary.
The country is no sooner cheered
by the assurance that Cleveland re-
fuses a third term than its hopes are
shattered by the announcement that
Carlisle is the president's choice. A
distinction without a difference.
We challenge a free silver repub-
lican to show us where his party has
ever favored free coinage since its
act of 1873. Any republican who
realizes that finance is the issue has
no business in the G.O. P.; he should
join a party that will give him what
be wants.
since civilized governments were* es
tablished? If his question mean-
anything, it is that no ratio can in
established lietween gold and silv* i
which recognizes the difference it
quantity, texture and value of th
two metals, and does not preserv<
exact equality in coinag*, without i.
consistent y in the lawmakers. 1
the secretary is right, the world ha
been blundering on the subject o:
coined money through all the g-s.
and the framers of our constLu on
—Hamilton, Jay and Madison, will
all the financiers who suec ’dot
them—have been gabbling like i >t»
when they discussed tin* prop
tio between the precious met,a
3. Imports arc* paid for
money of tbe country where pure Ras-
ed, and the value of such imports is
estimated in our unite of value, dol-
lars and cents, and not in the com
mercial or market value of the metal
constituting such coined dollars.
This has been done ever since 1878.
In this question Secretary Morton ig-
nores the effect of free coinage upon
stiver, and falsely assumes that this
country would at once go to a silver
bAsis. He adheres to the fallacy
that free coinage would add nothing
to the commercial value of silver, in
face of the fact that when the act of
18711 demonetised silver its commer-
cial value fell, and when the Bland-
Allison act of 1878. provided for lim-
ited coinage the commercial value
increased. No intelligent man can
be induced to believe that the stiver
dollar, which is a full legs! tender,
and with which all the products of
this great country can be purchased
will be worth 50 cents anywhere, il
the foreigner c an buy our exports
for silver dollars, or can invest these
dollars in property within our bor-
ders. why should he value them at
one*half their purchasing power?
The legal te der money of any coun-
try is worth everywhere what the
products of that country are worth
after providing for its own people.
The silver dollar of Mexico is worth
only (12 cents outside of that country
because Mexico exports some silver,
a little coffee and a few hides, but
the U S. silver dollar and silver cer-
tificate arc exchangeable for gold ull
over Europe because we are the larg-
est exporting people in the world.
G. G. Vest.
SENATOR STEWART'S ANSWER.
1. If by international agreement
is meant the free and unlimited coin-
age of silver at a fixed ratio by ull
nations, there would be an unlimit-
ed demand for that metal at a fixed
price in gold coin, and nobody would
soli it for a less price. The demand
for all other commodities besides
money is limited, and no interna-
tional agreement could create an un-
limited demand for all commodities.
Consequently no int >rnational agree-
ment could regulate the price of all
other commodities besides money.
2. The advocate of unlimited coin-
age at It! to 1 does not give awav In-
case and assert himself for the gold
standard as the measure for siiivr.
but lie assert.- that gold and silvt ;■
shall measu.c each other; that Hi
ounces of silver shall he worth a-
nnieh as an ounce of gold; that an
ounce of gold -.hall he worth as mttcli
as 1<I ounces ol --;;V.-r. and that ,n (fi-
lar shall lx- in mi of 2.", 8 il) grai s ol
standard gqki or .ilJ! grains of stan-
dard silver. The dollar in either
case consists of g*>!d and silver, but
it is the government stamp or super-
scription upon ihe gold or the - fiver
which makes it a dollar, in the sain;
way that the printing and engraving
on the greenback or the silver certi-
ficate make it a dollar; also in the
same way that the writing on a
shoe t of paper makes it a will, a liv'd
or a bond. It is not the materia!
upon which letters and figures are
stamped or engraved which is mon-
ey. but it is the stamp and inscrip
tions themselves which indicate the
intention of the government, which
is money, the same as the intention
of the testator in a will, the mort-
gagor in a mortgage, the gran to” in
a deed, and the like.
3. This question assumes a false-
hood. If free coinage of silver in
this country did not create a parity
between the two metals at a ratio of
|f> to 1, everybody knows that it
would raise the price of silver and
have a tendency to restore the equi-
librium of exchange. There is no
doubt that if there could beonegreat
bimetallic country, such as the Unit-
ed States, the equilibrium of ex-
change would be restored through-
out the world, because if any great
country would given fixed price for
each of the two metals I see no rea-
son why any person in any part of
the world would sell either metal at
a discount greater than the differ-
ence of exchange. The truth of this
ean.iot be verified until some great
nation b* comes bimetallic. All na-
tions of anv consequence are either
gold or -ilv r monometallists, but
assuming that an ounce of gold would
l»e worth more thm 16 ounces of sil-
$1 Per Year.
ver after the mints of the United
states were opened to the fret* a ad
unlimited coinage of both metals the
tariff on goods of all countries would
be higher when paid in silver than
when paid in gold, and the price of
all other commodities would also be
higher. So far as the price of goods
in the countries from which they are
imported determines the duty in thi*
country, I understand the law to be
that gold prices are taken as the ba
sis. and a reduction is made in the
price of goods from silver standard
countries equivalent to the difference
between the market price of gold aud
silver. In other words, the price of
goods from Mexico is what thev
would sell for in that country in U.
S. gold coin aud not what they would
sell for in Mexican silver. Free coin
age in the United States would err
tainly produce a parity of exchange
bet ween the money of this country
and that of si ver standard countries
and tin- tariff would be advanced
with the price of all commodities. Ta
equalize the tariff in case gold was
at a premium over silver it would be
necessary to add to the gold price Of
goods from gold standard countries
sufficient to bring the. price of those
goods up to the silver price, as it U
now necessary to reduce the silver
price of goods from silver standard
countries to the gold price in order
to equalize the tariff and make it the
same, from all countries.
William M. Stewart.
EX CONGRESSMAN HRVAN’s ANSWER
1. Gold and silver are called pr?
eious metals because limited in pro
duction. Most all other valuable
things can be produced in unlimited
abundance. International bimetall-
ist- believe that several nations, act-
ing together, can create a monetary
demand which will absorb at a fixed
mint price all ti e silver bullion of-
fered. and thus hold tho bullion
price of both metals up to the mint
price, regardless of relative pmdu *
tion or cost of production. Inde*
pendent bimetallists believe tlmt,
considering the present demand f or
silver for ail purposes by all other
countries, the United States aloae
can utilize in its commerce* all ih*
surplus silver, and thus maintain
the bullion price of gold and silver
at 16 to 1. our present mint ratio.
2. This question can hardly he
asked seriously. Even a gold stan
dard advocate ought to lx* able to
discover a better argument than a
play upon words. If, however, the
.-.iui] !e minded are likely to bo mis-
led t)v th ■ phiM-e, 16 to 1, we can
hang'* i' to 32 to 2 or 1-16 to 1.
When in MU tlie government chat g
! ed the ratio, th** si'ver dollar v/a*.
j left urn liange 1. and the weight of 1he
| gold dollar was d(vreas<*d.
3. This que- tion ignores the fact
j that the demand created for silvar
1 by the opening of our mints to free
and unlimited coinage wiil necessar-
ily raise the bullion j,r;ce of silver,
just as the suspension of free coin-
age in India and the repeal of the
Sherman law decreased the demand
and lowered the price. If, as we be-
lieve. the new demand thus created
will absorb all tbe surplus silver,
then silver bullion w'li stand at $1 29
an ounce throughout the world, and
import duties will remain unchanged
because an English pound will mean
the same whether measured by gold,
or silver. W. J. Bryan.
It is a significant indication of
trouble ahead when we see tho
daily press full of dispatches on the
"coming party break.” This is Pop-
ulist year.
A strong argument for govern-
ment ownership of railroads, says a
late Washington dispatch, is con-
tained in a report to the State De-
partment by United States Com-
mercial Agent Moore at Weimar,
upon the Prussian railroad system.
He shows that last year the gross
receipts from these railways was
#244.467,174, or more than half the
entire revenues of the State. The
not earnings after deducting #53,-
240.700 interest on working capital
aud sinking fund, were $51,061,000
which will be turned into the treas-
ury for the use of the State. This
sum Is larger than the income deriv-
ed from taxes of all kinds.
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Hudson, C. C. & Stafford, R. E. Oklahoma Champion. (Oklahoma City, Okla.), Vol. 1, No. 6, Ed. 1 Friday, March 6, 1896, newspaper, March 6, 1896; (https://gateway.okhistory.org/ark:/67531/metadc941994/m1/1/: accessed March 29, 2024), The Gateway to Oklahoma History, https://gateway.okhistory.org; crediting Oklahoma Historical Society.