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29 chapters
SPEECH OF HON. WILLIS GEORGE EMERSON,
SPEECH OF HON. WILLIS GEORGE EMERSON,
Lockerby Hall, Grand Rapids, Michigan. October 29, 1896. M r. Chairman, Ladies and Gentlemen—I am indeed pleased to meet such a magnificent audience in this manufacturing city of Grand Rapids, noted from ocean to ocean for her culture, commerce and progress. Especially am I pleased to speak in your city in behalf of sound money, protection and reciprocity, under the auspices of the Young Men's Republican Club. I bring you greeting from the state of Illinois, and promise you that she will give a
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KNOWS "COIN" HARVEY.
KNOWS "COIN" HARVEY.
H on. W. H. Harvey, author of Coin's Financial School, is a gentleman I have known for many years, and for as many years as we have known each other, we have been warm personal friends. Toward the man I entertain the greatest respect; toward his theories I regard them as idle, visionary sophistries as unstable as "the house that was built upon sand." The student who really gives thought to the financial question will early discover that Coin's Financial School rests upon a false foundation and t
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THE PEOPLE A JURY.
THE PEOPLE A JURY.
T his audience is a part of that great jury, who, after the evidence is all in, will decide one way or the other, with an avalanche of snowy ballots, as spotless in their purity as the honest hearts of the voters who cast the verdict into the ballot boxes. As Americans we are justly proud of our birthright—proud of the air of freedom that kisses the stars and stripes—our nation's ensign, emblematical of mighty victories in the past, a guarantee of protection in the present to all who stand benea
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MORAL QUESTIONS INVOLVED.
MORAL QUESTIONS INVOLVED.
F ellow citizens, this is a campaign embracing both political and moral questions. It is a political conflict, which the people will sooner or later acknowledge, to be one of patriotism. A moral conflict, which they will acknowledge to be indeed sublime. WE MUST NOT FORGET THAT PATRIOTISM IN TIME OF PEACE IS A SCARCER ARTICLE THAN IN TIMES OF WAR. In the guise of citizens men like "Coin" Harvey are attempting ignorantly or otherwise to undermine and overthrow our nation's honor and credit, and i
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WILSON LAW CLOSED FACTORIES.
WILSON LAW CLOSED FACTORIES.
T he repeal of the McKinley law in 1893 closed down factories and manufactories by the hundred and deprived tens of thousands of American workmen of employment. UNDER THE OPERATIONS OF THE MCKINLEY LAW THE WAGE EARNERS OF THE UNITED STATES WERE RECEIVING EVERY SATURDAY NIGHT A LITTLE OVER $41,000,000. UNDER THE OPERATION OF THE WILSON LAW THEY ARE RECEIVING A LITTLE LESS THAN $19,000,000 AS A SATURDAY NIGHT PAY ROLL, A FALLING OFF OF OVER $22,000,000 PER WEEK TO THE WAGE EARNERS OF THIS COUNTRY.
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BREAD AND BUTTER THE ISSUE.
BREAD AND BUTTER THE ISSUE.
F ELLOW CITIZENS, THE PAPER ISSUE IN THIS CAMPAIGN IS ONE OF FINANCE, BUT THE REAL ISSUE IS ONE OF BREAD AND BUTTER. FREE TRADE DURING THE LAST THREE YEARS HAS PAUPERIZED ITS TENS OF THOUSANDS, BUT THIS FREE SILVER CRAZE, IF PLACED UPON OUR STATUTE BOOKS, WILL PAUPERIZE ITS HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS. My friends, I believe, and believe most earnestly, with every throb of my heart, that in the present campaign the Republican party is the only true friend silver has. We seek to elevate the silver dolla
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JACKSON AND JEFFERSON.
JACKSON AND JEFFERSON.
T he patriotism and statesmanship of Andrew Jackson and Thomas Jefferson were untainted in 1792 by the dangerous influence of a coterie of silver barons. They simply ascertained as nearly as they could the relative or market value of the two metals, and determined the legal from the commercial ratio, placed them side by side and started our mints going with the unlimited coinage of gold and silver at the ratio of 15 to 1. As a matter of fact they had overvalued silver; that is to say, the gold d
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GREENBACKS WERE CHEAP MONEY.
GREENBACKS WERE CHEAP MONEY.
I n 1861 our country was engaged in civil war, and the greenbacks were issued as money, and were at once looked upon as a cheaper money than either gold or silver and immediately drove both gold and silver out of circulation and kept them out of circulation for seventeen years, or until we resumed specie payment in 1879. The history of these seventeen years is another instance where the cheaper money was victorious and drove out of circulation the higher priced money. Mr. Harvey no less than fou
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HONESTY AND SOBER JUDGMENT NEEDED.
HONESTY AND SOBER JUDGMENT NEEDED.
M y countrymen, the questions involved in the present campaign merit and deserve your most careful thought and study. It is the sober, honest judgment of the thinking, reading, investigating American citizen that the Republican party is relying upon for its support. Let me give you a few facts which possibly you will consider worthy of remembrance: FIRST. EVERY FREE AND UNLIMITED COINAGE COUNTRY IN THE WORLD IS ON A SILVER BASIS. SECOND. THERE IS NOT A GOLD STANDARD COUNTRY ON EARTH BUT WHAT USE
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PER CAPITA OF MONEY.
PER CAPITA OF MONEY.
I n the countries on a silver basis we find the Central American states with a per capita of $3.78, Japan with a per capita of only $4.09, India $3.33, China $2.08, Mexico $5.47. Now note the difference between these countries and a few that I will mention that are on a gold basis: The United States has a per capita of $21.10, England $19.98, France $36.70, Germany $18.78, Belgium $27.82. In this connection, fellow citizens, let me impress upon your minds the facts that you cannot go into any co
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I AM A BIMETALLIST.
I AM A BIMETALLIST.
P ersonally, I am a bimetallist, and confidentially believe the republican party, guided by its wisdom and patriotism, will during the McKinley administration, devise ways and means by international agreement of autimatically adjusting the unsolved problem of true bimetallism, and keep both gold and silver on a parity at some given ratio. Silver will then be lifted from its place as one of the commodities of the earth and dignified as money, side by side with gold. To-day, I am a bimetallist, an
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THE CRIME OF '73.
THE CRIME OF '73.
M r. Harvey and all silver advocates talk to us about the crime of 1873. Let me say here and now there was no crime committed in 1873, directly or indirectly. IF THERE WAS A CRIME COMMITTED, SENATORS JONES AND STEWART OF NEVADA, THE PRESENT HIGH PRIESTS IN THE SILVER MOVEMENT WERE THE CHIEF CONSPIRATORS, FOR THEN, AS NOW, THEY WERE AMONG THE LARGEST SILVER MINE OWNERS IN THE UNITED STATES, AND THEY VOTED FOR THE BILL. Prior to 1873 we had coined in this country, all told, about 8,000000 of silve
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CONSISTENT FRIEND OF SILVER.
CONSISTENT FRIEND OF SILVER.
T HE REPUBLICAN PARTY HAS EVER BEEN THE CONSISTENT FRIEND OF SILVER AND TO-DAY IS IRREVOCABLY COMMITTED TO THE DOCTRINE OF INTERNATIONAL BIMETALLISM, BUT IS UNALTERABLY OPPOSED TO SILVER MONOMETALLISM. For one, I am not willing to see all the gold in this country driven out of circulation and the purchasing power of silver reduced to its bullion value. In other words, I am not ready to see the per capita of money in this country reduced fully one-half and our nation doing business on a Mexicaniz
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DO NOT DEMAND BIMETALLISM.
DO NOT DEMAND BIMETALLISM.
W hat "Coin" Harvey and the advocates of free silver demand is not bimetallism, but the unlimited coinage of the silver dollar, not at the just ratio of 32 to 1, but at the unjust ratio of 16 to 1, not on government account, but on private account. To-day the government—the people—are receiving the benefit of the 48 cents on each silver dollar coined, that being the difference between the cost of the bullion and the face value of the dollar. The government—the people-will lose these 48 cents if
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FREE TRADE SHOULD BE UNDONE.
FREE TRADE SHOULD BE UNDONE.
E ight years ago, and again four years ago, through the influence of the Cobden Club, England attempted to subdue America. She succeeded in prostrating our industries, impoverishing our people, and increasing our public debt, but let us hope that the intelligence of American citizens will rise up in its full might and undo the free trade blunder of 1892. It now looks to me as if there was a gigantic trust of silver kings and English capitalists attempting to again subdue free America. Evidently
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GOES AFTER BRYAN.
GOES AFTER BRYAN.
W illiam Jennings Bryan tells us in his Knoxville, Tennessee, speech, that there is no danger of a silver flood. "Coin" Harvey makes the same statement, notwithstanding the world's production of silver for the year 1894, at only about 63 cents an ounce, amounted to the fabulous sum of $216,000,000, a greater annual production than ever before in the history of the world, and only exceeded by the output of silver for the year of 1805, which amounted to $235,000,000, and still he claims there is n
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IMPROVED HARVESTING METHODS.
IMPROVED HARVESTING METHODS.
T he old-fashioned methods of reaping the yellow fields of wheat has also been ousted by the conspiracy of the late improved harvester and binder. The old fashioned cradle has been decradleized. Why not form an alliance all over this country to recradleize the cradle, and make common warfare against the up-to-date binder? Even the old McCormick reaper has been dereaperized and the succeeding invention, the header, has been deheaderized, and who shall not say in this onward march of progress, in
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WHY ARE THEY NOT HONEST?
WHY ARE THEY NOT HONEST?
I f these men are not demagogues, pure and simple, why do they not inform the "dear people" why prices fell more during the eight years precedent 1873 than they have ever fallen since? "COIN" HARVEY HAS NEVER EXPLAINED WHY, AND IF HE DID, HIS THEORY WOULD VANISH LIKE THE MIST BEFORE THE RISING SUN OF TRUTH. For example, cotton fell from $1.01 1/2 in 1864, to 17 cents a pound in 1871. Or wheat for instance. The average farm price of wheat in the United States for the year 1874 was 94 cents a bush
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SHALL PRICES BE RESTORED.
SHALL PRICES BE RESTORED.
T he question is, do the people of the United States want these prices restored? WE ARE WILLING AS AMERICANS THAT AMERICAN INDUSTRIES AND HOME COMPETITION SHALL ADJUST PRICES, BUT WE ARE NOT WILLING THAT PRICES OF LABOR SHALL BE ADJUSTED IN THIS COUNTRY BY AMERICAN WORKMEN ENTERING INTO COMPETITION WITH THE PAUPERIZED LABORERS OF EUROPE. From the same reliable statistics and undoubted authority we find that wages have materially advanced in this country during the last third of a century. The in
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PROTECTIVE TARIFF THE REMEDY.
PROTECTIVE TARIFF THE REMEDY.
M y friends, a tariff that protects; reciprocity that opens up a market for our surplus articles from the American farm and the American factory; a sound currency, and the business confidence which will follow, are the remedies for the unfortunate condition of bankruptcy into which the country has been submerged by political stupidity....
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THE QUESTION IS SIMPLY ONE OF HONESTY OR DISHONESTY.
THE QUESTION IS SIMPLY ONE OF HONESTY OR DISHONESTY.
Shall thrift and economy be rewarded by robbery? Shall the widow's mite and the savings deposited in the banks of this country be cut in two by changing our money to silver monometallism? Shall the two and a half billions of school bonds from all over the country, held by English and American capitalists and payable in gold, be doubled, and a double tax fall upon the shoulders of the tax payers of this nation? Shall the toilers of this land, the wage-earners on farm and in factory, be robbed eve
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LABORERS SHALL BE HONESTLY REWARDED.
LABORERS SHALL BE HONESTLY REWARDED.
N O. THIS BLOT OF REPUDIATION SHALL NOT SMIRCH THE UNTARNISHED ESCUTCHEON OF AMERICAN PATRIOTISM, NEITHER SHALL THE TOILING MASSES RECEIVE AS THEIR REWARD FOR HONEST LABOR A "MESS OF DEPRECIATED SILVER POTTAGE." We are now asked to desert the old ship of state that has carried this nation through many storms, through many conflicts, and invariably anchored us in the snug harbor of safety and maintained our country on the map of the world, and added many stars to the old flag. We are asked by the
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A PRINCIPLE UPHELD BY STATESMEN.
A PRINCIPLE UPHELD BY STATESMEN.
I t is not in any exulting spirit that we refer to a protective tariff, but rather because it is a great and underlying principle of national prosperity; a principle bequeated to this nation by Washington, upheld by Henry Clay, fostered by Abraham Lincoln, championed by William McKinley, and supported by the reciprocity of James J. Blaine. Prior to the free trade crime of 1892, we heard nothing about a diminished gold reserve. IN THOSE HALCYON DAYS CONFIDENCE FLEW ABROAD IN THE LAND ON THE WINGS
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ENGLAND HAS BEEN SERVED.
ENGLAND HAS BEEN SERVED.
I F ENGLAND HAD HAD A POLITICAL PARTY MANUFACTURED TO ORDER BY THE MOST SKILLED ARTISANS OF THE EARTH, SHE COULD NOT HAVE HAD ONE MADE THAT WOULD MORE FAITHFULLY SERVE HER COMMERCIAL PURPOSES THAN HAS THE PRESENT ADMINISTRATION. Let us briefly inquire into the cause. Take, for instance, the sheep and wool industry, which a few years ago was a prominent one in your state. Under the stimulus of protection, we had in this country in 1884, 50,500,000 sheep. Then Grover Cleveland was elected presiden
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HE TALKS OF WOOL.
HE TALKS OF WOOL.
N ow let us talk for a few moments about the price of wool. For ten years preceding the repeal of the McKinley law, the average price of Ohio X.X.Washed wool in the Boston market was a little over 31 1/5 cents per pound. April 1, 1896 wool was quoted in the same market at 18 cents a pound. Such a startling contrast in prices needs no comments. As millions of our sheep were slaughtered we were compelled to import wool and woolen textiles into this country sending our money abroad, which should ha
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WHAT THE RECORD IS.
WHAT THE RECORD IS.
N ow, let us look at Mr. Cleveland's record for the fifteen months ending December 1, 1895—this, you will remember, was under the Wilson bill. We find the balance of trade, instead of being in our favor, was against us to the enormous amount of $70,494,044, or an average of $4,699,603 per month, or $153,653 per day. That, fellow citizens, is a pretty good sized daily loss. That is what we call remarkably poor business methods, and so does every one within the hearing of my voice who is disposed
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SPIRIT OF REVOLUTION.
SPIRIT OF REVOLUTION.
I t cannot be denied that a spirit of wantonness and revolution prevailed at the Chicago convention, repudiation was openly advocated on the floor of the convention hall and made a part of the platform adopted. The red hand of anarchy grappled the throats of all who dared oppose the extreme measures advocated by that seething sea of restless agitators. I wish to draw a line of demarkation, clear and distinct, between the old Simon-pure democracy of Hamilton and Jefferson, and this new degenerate
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PROUD OF BEING A REPUBLICAN.
PROUD OF BEING A REPUBLICAN.
F ellow citizens, I am a Republican and proud of my party's history. The history of the United States has been made rich and resplendent with victories and achievements of our party. We are proud of our nation's history from its earliest dawn down to the present, and for the valuable lessons it has taught. We would not expunge or obliterate a single line. We accept it as a whole, from Plymouth Rock to Bunker Hill, from Bunker Hill to Fort Sumter, from Fort Sumter to Appomattox, and from Appomatt
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MARCHING TO GREATEST VICTORY.
MARCHING TO GREATEST VICTORY.
F ollowing the leadership of our gallant standard bearer, that brave civilian soldier on the field of battle, that statesman without a peer, that friend of the toiling millions, that companion of every old soldier, that invincible leader of men, Major McKinley, we are advancing proudly on to the greatest political victory of modern times. In the life of Major William McKinley, we find nothing but purity and ability, bravery and compassion, and I promise you that on the fourth day of next March h
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