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About The Corvallis gazette. (Corvallis, Or.) 1862-1899 | View Entire Issue (Sept. 3, 1896)
M'KINLEY'S LETTER. One of the Brightest, Brainest Documents Ever Presented to the American People, The Moses That Will Lead the Oat of the Land of Misery aad Want, Into the ' Bright galleys of Happiness and Pros perity. CANTON. O.. Aug. 27. John M. Thurston and Other Members of the . Notification Committee of the Republl can National Conventions-Gentlemen: In pursuance of the promise made to your committee when notified of my nomination as the Republican candl- ' date for President. I beg; to submit this formal acceptance of that high honor and to consider in detail the questions at Issue In the pending; campaign. . Perhaps this might be considered "un necessary in view of any remarks on that occasion and those I have made to delegations that have visited me since the St. Louis Convention, but in view of the momentous importance of the prop er settlement of the Issues presented on vour future prosperity and standing as a nation, and considering only the wel fare and happiness of our people, I could not be content to omit again cas ing attention to the questions which, in my opinion, vitally affect our strength and position among the governments of the world, and our morality, integri ty and patriotism aa citizens of that Re public which, for a century past,' has been the best hope of the world and the V inspiration of mankind. " We" must not now prove false to our own high stand ards In government, nor unmindful of the noble example and wise precepts of our fathers, or of the confidence and trust which our conduct in the past has always inspired. THE FREE COINAGE OF BUJYEZC or the first time since 1868, If aver fore, there la presented to the Amer ican people this year a clear and direct Issue as to our monetary system, ot vast importance in its effects, and upon . the right settlement of which rests largely the financial honor and pros perity of the country. It is proposed by .one wing of the Democratic party and its allies, the People's and Sliver par- . ties, to inaugurate the free and unlim ited coinage of silver by independent action on the part of the United States at a ratio of sixteen ounces of silver to one ounce of gold. The mere declara tion of this purpose Is a menace to our financial and Industrial interests, and has already created, universal' alarm. .It involves great peril to the credit and business of the country a peril so grave that conservative men every- . where are breaking away from their old party associations and uniting with other patriotic citizens in emphatic protest against the platform of the Democratic National Convention as an assault upon tne raitn ana honor or tne - Government and the welfare of the peo- - pie. We have bad few questions in the lifetime of the Republic more serious than the one which is thus presented. NO BENEFIT TO LABOR. The character of the money which shall measure our values and exchanges and settle our balances with one anoth ' er and with the nations of the world is . of such primary importance and so far reaching in its consequences as to call - for the most painstaking- investigation, . and in the end a sober and unprejudiced Judgment at the polls. We must not be mlBled by phrases, nor deluded by false - theories. Free . silver would not mean that silver dollars if ere to be freely had without cost of labor. It would mean the free use of the mints of the United States for the few who are owners of sliver bullion, but would make silver coin no freer to the many who are en gaged in other enterprises. It would, not make labor easier, the hours of la bor shorter or the pay better. It would not make farming less laborious or more profitable. It would not start a " factory nor make a demand for an ad ditional day's labor. It would create no new occupations. It would add nothing to the comfort of the masses, the capi tal of the people or the wealth of the nation. It seeks to introduce a new measure of value, but would add no value to the thing' measured. It would not conserve values. On the contrary, it would derange all existing values. It would not restore business confidence, but Its direct effect would be to destroy the little which yet remains. V WHAT IT MEANS. "." The meaning of the coinage plank adopted at Chicago is that any one may take a quantity of silver bullion -now worth 63 cents to the mints of the United States, have it coined at the ex pense of the Government and receive - for it a silver dollar which shall be legal .. tender for the payment of all debts, public and private. The owner of the bullion would get the silver' dollar. It belongs to him and nobody else. Other people would get it only by their labor, . the products of their land or something of value. The bullion owner, on the basis of present values, would receive the silver dollar for 63 cents' worth of silver, and ether people would be re- quired to receive it as a full dollar In the payment of debts. The Govern ment would get nothing, from the trans action. It would bear the expense of coining the silver, and the community would suffer loss by its use. THE DOLLARS COMPARED. We have coined since 1878 more than 400,000,000 of silver dollars, which are maintained by the Government at par ity with gold and are a full legal tender for the payment of all debts, public and private. How are the silver dollars now In use different from those which would be in use under free coinage? They are to be of the same weight and fineness; they are to bear the same stamp of the Government. Why would they not - be of the same- value? I answer: . The silver dollars now in use were coined on account of the Government and not for private account or gain, and the Government has solemnly agreed to keep them as good as the best dollars we have. The Government bought the silver bullion at its market value and coined it - Hav ing exclusle control of the mintage it only coins what It can hold at a parity with gold. The profit reoresentlne the Aitrr- between the commercial value of the " ow" uvTCIUlusnt for the benefit of the people. The Gov ernment bought the silver bullion con tained in the silver dollar at very much less than its coinage value. It paid it out to its creditors and put In circula tion among the people at its face value of 100 cents or a full dollar. It required the people to accept it as a legal tender and is thus morally bound to maintain it at a parity with gold, which was then, as now, the recognized standard with us, and the most enlightened nations of the world. The Government having is sued and circulated the sliver dollar, it must In honor protect the holder from loss. This obligation it has so far sa credly kept. Not only is there a moral obligation but there is" a legal obliga tion expressed in public statute to maintain the parity. THEY COULD NOT BE KEPT AT PAR. These dollars In the - particulars I have named are not .the same as the dollars which would be Issued under free coinage. They would be the same in form but different in value. The Government would have no part in the transaction except to coin the sliver bullion into dollars. It would share in no part oY the profit. It would take upon Itself ho obligations. It wpuld not put the dollars into circulation. - It could only get them as any citizen would get them by giving- something for them. It would deliver them to those who deposited the silver, and its connection with the transaction would there end. Such are the silver dollars which would be issued under free coin age of silver at a ratio of 16 to 1. Who would then maintain the parity? What would keep them at par with gold? There would be no obligation resting upon the Government to do it, and if there were it would be powerless to do It. The simple truth Is, we would bo driven to a silver basis to silver momowetallism. - These dollars, there fore, would stand upon their real value. If the free and- unlimited coinage of sil ver at a raUo-of sixteen ounces of sil ver to one ounce of gold would, aa some of its advocates assert, make ES cants' i vir ii f 1 1 iu t" trnaa rit ,n. 1.. in silver worth 100 cents, and the silver dollar equal to the gold dollar then we . would have no oheaper money thu'Aow MnA 4 wAiilil .. , . . -K"aw easier to get. out tQiVsucn-would be the result is against reason, and is contradicted by expsri- ones in au tunes and In all lands It meane the debasement of our currency by the amount of the difference between the commercial and coin value of the silver dollar, which Is ever changing, and the effect would be to reduce prop erty values, entail untold financial loss, destroy confidence. Impair the obliga tions of existing contracts, further im poverish the laborers and producers of the country, create a panic of unparal leled severity, and Inflict upon trade and commerce a deadly blow. To any such policy I am unalterably opposed. BIMETALLISM. Bimetallism cannot be secured by in dependent action on our part. It can not be obtained by the opening of our mints to the unlimited coinage of the sil ver of the world at a ratio of sixteen ounces of sliver to one ounce of gold, when the commercial ratio is more than thirty ounces of silver, to one ounce of gold. Mexico and China have tried the experiment. Mexico has free coinage of silver and gold at a ratio slightly in excess of sixteen and one-half ounces of silver to one ounce of gold, and while her mints are freely open to both met als at that ratio, not a single dollar in gold bullion is coined and circulated as money. Gold has been driven out of circulation In these countries, and they are on a silver basis alone. Until an in ternational agreement is had it is the plain duty of the United States to main tain the gold standard. It is the recog nized and sole standard of the great commercial nations of the World with which we trade more largely than any other; - Eighty-four percent of our for eign trade for the fiscal year 1895 was with gold-standard countries, and our trade with other countries was settled on a gold basisr - ; WE NOW HAVE MORE SILVER THAN GOLD. ,". .: - Chiefly by means of legislation during and since 1878 there has been put in cir culation more than $624,000,000 of sliver or its representative. This has been done In the honest effort to give silver, if possible, the same bullion and coin age value, and encourage the concur rent use of both gold and sliver as mon ey. Prior to that time there had been less that 9,000,000 silver dollars coined in the entire history of the United States, a period of eighty-nine years. This leg islation secured the largest use of sli ver consistent with financial safety and the pledge to maintain its parity with gold. We have to-day more silver than gold. This has been accomplished at times with grave peril to the public credit. The so-called Sherman law sought to use all the silver production of the United States for money at its market value. From 1890 to 1893 the Govern ment purchased 4,600,000 ounces of sil ver a month, or 64,000,000 ounces a year. This was one-third of the product of the world and practically all Of this coun try's product. It was believed by those who then and now favor free coinage that such use of silver would advance Its bullion value to its coinage value,. but this expectation was not realized. In a few months, notwithstanding the unprecedented market for the silver produced in the United States, the price of silver went a own - very rapiaiy. reaching a point lower than ever before. Then, upon the recommendation of President Cleveland, both political par ties united in the repeal of the purchne inc clause of Uu Hhnnaiui law. , wsoaa- Si, hn, - mm,?rcJaI valua of tne will require the concurrent law of ha "! v.er. b,ul.1.1?? the Ylue of the tir,n to reinstate and sustain if not wren samy engags m nuuia m perlments in this direction. THE DOUBLE STANDARD. On August 22, 1891, in a public address I said: "If we could have an Interna tional ratio, which all the leading .na tions of the world would adopt, and the true relation be fixed between the two metals, and all agree upon the quantity of silver which should constitute a dol lar, then silver would be as free and un limited In its privileges of coinage as : gold is to-day. But that we have not been able to secure, and with the free and unlimited coinage of silver adopted in the United States at the present ra-. tlo, we would be still further removed from any International agreement. We may never be able to secure it if we en ter upon the isolated coinage ot stiver. The double standard Implies equality at a ratio, and that equality can only be established by the concurrent law of na tions. It was the concurrent law of na Uons that made the double standard; it IT -FAVORS THE USE OF SILVER - MONET. The Republican party has not been, and is not now, opposed to the use of silver money, as its record abundantly shows. It has done all that could be done for its Increased use with safety and honor by the United States, acting apart from other governments. - There are those who think it has already gone beyond the limit of financial prudence. Surely we can go no- further, and we must not permit false lights to lure us across the danger line. MORE THAN ANT COUNTRT. -V-. . We have much more silver In use than any country in the world, except India or China $600,000,000 more than Great Britain, $160,000,000 more than France, $400,000,000 more than Germany, $323, 000,000 less than India, $126,000,000 less than China. The Republican party has declared in favor of an international agreement, and, if elected President, it will be my duty to employ all proper means to promote it. The free coinage ' of sliver in this country would defer, if not defeat. International bimetallism. and until an international agreement can be had every interest requires us to maintain our present standard. - Independent free coinage of silver at" a ratio of sixteen ounces of sliver to one ounce of gold would insure the speedy contraction of the volume of 'our cur rency. It would drive at least 600,)00,000 of gold dollars which we now have per manently from the trade of the country and greatly decrease our per capita circulation.- It is not proposed by the Re- fmbllcan party to take from the circu ating medium of the country any of the silver we now have. On the contrary, it is pro' ed to keep all of the - silver , money .low in circulation on a parity with gold by maintaining the pledge of ' the Government that all of It shall be equal -co goto. This oas "been tne un broken policy of the Republican party since 1873. It has inaugurated no new policy. ,It will keep in circulation and as good" as gold all of the silver and paper money .which are now included In the currency of the country. It will main' tain their parity. - It will preserve their ttra<t?-in--&e future as it has always . . . ... m " 1 ... ... auue m we pan. at wurw-vi " put this country on a silver basis, "xiuch would inevitably follow Independent free coinage at a ratio of 16 to L. It will . oppose the expulsion of gold from our circulation. FARMERS AND LABORERS SUF FER MOST. If there is any one thing which should : be free from speculation and fluctua tion, it is the money of the Country., It ought never to be the subject of mere partisan contention. When we part with our labor, our products, or our property, we should receive in return money which is aa stable and unchanging in value as the ingenuity of honest men can make it. Debasement of the cur rency means destruction of values. . No one suffers so much from cheap money as the farmers and laborers. They are the first to feel its bad effects and the last to recover from them. , This has been the uniform experience of all countries, and here, as elsewhere, the : poor and not the rich are the greater sufferers from every attempt to debase our money. It would fall with alarming severity upon investments - already made; upon Insurance companies and their policy holders; upon savings banks and their depositors; upon building and loan associations and their members; upon the savings of thrift; upon pen sioners and their families, and upon wage-earners and the purchasing power of their wages. UNLIMITED IRREDEEMABLE PA PER MONET. The sliver question is not the only issue affecting our money in the pending con test. Not content with urging the free coinage of silver, its strongest cham pions demand that our paper money snail oe issued directly-tfy tne urowrn-' ment of the United States. This is the Chicago Democratic declaration. The St. Louis People's party declaration to that "our national money shall be issu ed by the General Government . only, without the intervention of banks of is sue, be full legal tender for the payment of all debts, private and public, and be distributed direct to the people and through lawful disbursement of the Government." Thus, in addition to the free coinage of gold and sliver, we are asked to en ter upon an era of unlimited irredeem able paper currency. - The question which was fought out from 1866 to 1875 is thus to be reopened, with all its cheap money experiments of every conceiv able form foisted upon us. This indi cates a most startling reactionary pol icy, strangely at variance with every requirement of sound finance; but the declaration shows the spirit and pur pose of those who, by combined action, are contending for the control of. the Government. Not satisfied with the de basement of our coin, which would In evitably follow the free coinage of sil ver at 16 to 1. they would still further degrade our currency and threaten the public honor by the unlimited Issue of an Irredeemable paper currency. A graver menace to our financial standing and credit could hardly be conceived, and every patriotic citizen should - be aroused to promptly meet and effectu ally defeat it . IN THE HIGHEST DEGREE REPRE- . SENSIBLE. ia a cause for painful regret and so- llcltude that an effort is being made by those high in the councils of the allied parties to divide the people of the coun try into classes and create distinctions among us, which, in fact, do not exist and are foreign to our form of Ooveru- Theae anneals to passion aba to prejudice are oeneatn tne spirit and in telligence of a free people and should be met with stern rebuks by those they are sought to influence, and I believe they will be. Every attempt to array class against class, "the classes against the masses," section against section, labor acainst canltal. the j)oor against the rich, or interest against interest.' m tne United States is in the highest degree reprehensible. 'It is opposed to the na tional Instinct and interest, and should be resisted by every citizen. We are not a nation of classes, but of sturdy, free. -Independent and honorable people, de spising the demagogue and never capit ulating to dishonor. This everrocurring effort endangers popular government, and is a menace to our liberties. It is not a new campaign device or party appeal. It Is old as government among men, but was never more "un timely - and unfortunate than now. Washington warned us against it, and Webster said in the Senate, in words which I feel are singularly appropriate at this time: "I admonish the people against the object of outcries like these. 1 admonish every industrious laborer of this country to be on his guard against ' such a delusion. I tell him the attempt to place his passion against his interest and to prevail on him, in the name of liberty, to destroy all the fruits of lib erty." - - - ... -PROTECTION OF SUPREME IM r PORTANCB. - ; . An issue of supreme importance is that of protection. The peril of free sil ver is a menace to be feared; we are al ready experiencing the effect of partial free trade. The one must be averted; the other corrected. The Republican party is wedded to the doctrine of protection and was never more earnest in its sup port and advocacy than now. If argu ment were needed to strengthen Its de-. votlon to the American system, or in crease the hold of that system upon the party and people, it is found In the les son and experience of the past three years. Men realize In their own daily lives what before was to many of them only report, history or tradition. They ' have had a trial of both systems and know what each has done for them. DEMANDED BT THE PUBLIC EXI GENCIES. Washington, in his farewell address, September 17, 1796, a hundred years ago, saldj "As a very important source of StTengtn ana ' security, cnentm purine credit. One method of preserving it is -to use It as sparingly as possible; avoir the .accumulation of debt, not only by shunning occasions of expense, but by vigorous exertions in time of peace to discharge the debts which unavoidable -wars may have occasioned, not ungen- ' erously throwing upon posterity the burden whioh we ourselves - ought to bear." : - .. To facilitate the enforcement of. the maxims which he announced, he -de- , claredt "It Is essential that you should practically bear in mind that toward the payment of debts there must be rev- ' enues; that to have revenue there must be taxes: that no taxes can be devised which are not more or less inconvenient -or unpleasant; that the intrinsic em barrassment inseparablfrfeQaj"IEe1 selec-' tlon of properjefeiscts (Which is always a choie-67. difficulties) ought to be a de-" Clsive motive for a candid construction of the conduct of the Government In" making it and for a spirit of acquies cence in the measures for obtaining rev enue which the public exigencies may at ' any time dictate." - Animated by like sentiments the peo- -pie of the country must now face the conditions whioh beset them. "The publlo exigencies demand prompt pro tective legislation which will avoid the accumulation of further debt by pro- . vldlng adequate revenues for' the ex- Ssnses of the Government. This is man eetly the requirement of duty. If elect ed President of the United States it will be my aim to vigorously promote this object and give that ample encourage ment to the occupations of the Ameri can people which, above all else, is Im peratively demanded at this Juncture of our national affairs. - OUR CONDITION. In December, 1892. President Harrisou sent his last message to Congress. : It ; was an able and exhaustive review of the condition and resources of the coun- try. It stated our situation so accurate ly that I am sure that it will not be amiss to recite his official and valuable testimony. - "There never has been a time in our history." said he. "when work was so aDunaant, or wnen wages were so nign, whether measured by the currency in which they are paid or by their power to supply the necessaries and comforts of life. The general average of prices has been such as to give to agriculture a fair participation in the general pros perity. The new industrial plants estab lished since October 6, 1890, and up to October 22, 1892, number 845, and the ex tension of existing plants 10S. The cap ital invested amounts to $40,446,070, and the number of additional employes 37, 285. During the first six months of the present calendar year 135 new factories were built, of which forty were cotton mills and forty-eight knitting mills, twenty-six woolen mills, fifteen silk mills, four plush mills and two linen mills. Of the forty cotton mills twenty one have been built In the Southern States." This fairly describes the happy condition of the country in December, 1892. What has It been since? And what is it now? : OUR CONDITION EIGHT MONTHS -.-,-:.'-.. LATER. . The messages of President Cleveland from the beginning of his second ad mlnistratlon to the present time abound with descriptions of the deplorable in dustrial and financial situation of the country. While no resort to history or official statement is required to advise us of the present condition .and that which has prevailed during the past three years, I venture to quote from President Cleveland's first message, August 8, 1893, addressed to the Fifty third Congress, whioh he called togeth er In extraordinary session: . "The existence of an alarming and ex traordinary business situation," said he, Involving the welfare and prosperity of all of our people has constrained me to call together in extra Session the peo ple's representatives in Congress, to the end that through wise and patriotic ex ercise of legislative duties with which they solely are charged, the present evils may be mitigated and dangers threatening the future may do averted. Our unfortunate financial plight is not the result of untoward events nor - of -conditions reiatea to our nacunu re sources. Nor is it traceable to any of the affliction which frequently check na tional arowth aad prosperity With ronsv ga apannant jrmi of remunerative production ana manu - facture, with unusual invitation to in vestment and with satisfactory assur ances to business enterprises, suddenly financial distrust and fears have sprung up on every side. Numerous moneyed ' Institutions have suspended because abundant assets were not immediately available to meet the demands fright ened depositors. Surviving corpora Uons and individuals are content to . keep In hand the money they are usu ally anxious to loan, and those engaged in legitimate business are surprised to find that the securities they offer for loans, though heretofore satisfactory, are no longer accepted. Values supposed to be fixed are fast becoming conjectur al and loss and failure have invaded every branch of business." THE CAUSE OF THE CHANGE. What a startling and sudden change within the short period of e?ht months, from December, 1892,-to August, 1393. What had occurred? A change of ad ministration. All branches of the Gov ernment had been intrusted to the Democratic party, which was commit ted against the protective policy that had prevailed uninterruptedly for more than thirty-two years and brought un exampled prosperity to the country, and firmly pledged - to its complete over throw and 'the substitution of a tariff fon revenue only. The change having : been decreed by the elections of No vember, its effects were at once antici pated and felt. We cannot close our eyes to these altered conditions, nor would it be wise to exclude from con templation and investigation the causes which produced them. They are facts which we cannot, as a people, disregard, and we can only hope to improve our present condition by a study of their causes. : In December, 1893, we had the same currency and practically the same vol ume of currency that we liave now. It aggregated, in 1892, $2,372,599,601;- in 1893. $2.323000.000; in 1894, $2,323,442,362 and in Decejnber, 1896, $2,194,000,030. The per capita of money has been practically the same during this Whole period. The -quality of the money has been Identical, all kept equal to gold. There is nothing connected with our money, therefore, to account for this sudden and aggravat ed Industrial change. Whatever is to be deprecated in our finances, it must be everywhere admitted that our money has been absolutely good and has brought neither loss nor Inconvenience to its holders. A, depreciated currency . has not existed to further vex the trou bled business situation. GOOD MONET NEVER MADE THE " TIMES HARD. It is a pretense to attribute the hard times to the fact that all our currency is on a gold basis. . Good money never made times bard. Those" who assert thai our present industrial and financial depression is the result of a gold stand ard have- not read American ' history aright or -been careful students of the -events of recent years. - We never had . greater prosprity in this country in every field of employment and industry than in the busy years from 1880 to 1892, -fturlni aU o whl'. time this country was on a gold basis and employed more gold In its fiscal and business opera tions than ever before We had, too, a protective tariff, under which ample revenues were collected for the Govern ment and accumulating a surplus, which' was constantly applied to the payment of the public debt. Let us hold fast to that which we know is good. It to not more money we want. - What we want is to put the money we already have at work. When money to employed men are employed. Both have always been steadily and re muneratively engaged during all the years of protective tariff legislation. When those who have money lack con fidence in the stability of values and Investments they will not part with their money. Business is stagnated, the life blood of trade is checked and con gested. We cannot restore public con fidence by an act which would revolu tionize all statutes, or an act which en tails a deficiency in the public revenues. We cannot inspire confidence by advo cating repudiation or practicing dis honesty. We cannot restore confidence either to the Treasury or to the people without a change in our present tantf legislation.. -. ... THE TARIFF OF 1891. The only measure of a general nature that affected the Treasury and the em ployment of our people passed by the Fifty-third Congress was the general tariff act. which did not receive the ap proval of the President. Whatever vir tues may be claimed for that act there Is confessedly - one which it does not possess; it lacks the essential virtue of its creation, the raising of revenues suf ficient to supply the needs of the Gov ernment. It has at no time provided enough revenue for such needs, but It has caused a constant deficiency in the Treasury and a steady, depletion in the earnings of labor and lands. It has con tributed to swell our national debt more than $262,000,000, a sum nearly as great as the debt of the Government from Washington to Lincoln, including all our wars from the Revolution to the Rebellion. Since its passage work at home has been diminished, prices of agricultural productions have fallen, confidence has been arrested and want Is seen on every hand. THE TASD7F OF 1890 AND 1894 CON TRASTED. The total receipts under the tariff act of 1894 of the first twentytwo months of Its enforcement, from September, 1894, to June, 1896, were $567,616,828 and the expenditures $640,418,362, or a deficiency of $82,808,036. The decrease in our ex ports of agricultural products and man ufactures during the first fifteen months of the present tariff, as contrasted with the exports of the first fifteen months of the tariff of 1890, was $220,353,320. The excess of exports over Imports during the first fifteen months of the tariff of 1890 was $213,972,968. but only $66,758,42$ under the first fifteen months of 1894, a loss under the latter of $157,214,345. The net loss in the trade balance of the United States has been $196,983,607 dur ing the first fifteen months' operating of the tariff of 1894 as compared with . the first fifteen months of the tariff of 1890. The loss has been larre, constant and steady, at the rate of $13,130,000 per month, or $500,000 for every business day of the year. . - .:-. ... r-:,- --ii;-LOSING IN BOTH DIRECTIONS. 4 We have either been sending too much money out of the country or getting too little in, or both. We have lost steadily In both directions. Our foreign trade has been diminished and our domestic has suffered incalculable loss. Does not this suggest the rwise of our present daoreasloa and indicate it remedy ? uonnaence in nome enterprise iim at- aran wuouy .aisappearea. vjur snap are closed or running on half time at re- -duced wages and small profit, if not ac tual loss. Our men at home are Idle, " -and while they are idle, men abroad are occupied in supply us with gooda 'Our . unrivaled home market of the farmer has also greatly suffered because they . who constitute It, the great army of wage-earners, are without the work and wages they formerly had. If they cannot earn wages they cannot buy products. - They cannot earn if they .. have no employment, and. when they don't earn the farmers' koma market is . lessenea ana impairea, ana tarn m w " felt by both producer and consumer. The loss of earning power alone In this ; country in the past three years is sufll--'- dent to have produced our unfortunate -business situation. If our labor was ' Vol 1 AmnlmMil and AmnTnv.4 nfr a m. muneratre wages as in 1892 In a few ' months every farmer !a the land would ' ter prices which he would receHre. NOT OPEN MINTS, BUT - OPEN . MILLS. . -- It to not Increase In the ' volume of money which is the need of the time, but -an increase in the volume of business. -Not an increase of coinage, but an in crease of confidence;' not more coinage, -but a more active use of the money coined; not open mints for the unlimlt- -ed coinage of the silver of the world, but -1 open mills for the full and unre strict- ; ed labor of American workmen. The-" employment of our mints for the coin- -age of the silver of the world would not - ' bring the necessaries and comforts of life back to our people. This will only ' come with the employment of the mass- r es, and such employment is certain to follow the re-establishment of a wise protective policy which shall encourage - manufacturing at home. Protection has , lost none of its virtue and Importance. - The first duty of the Republican ; . party, If restored to power in the coun try, ' will be the enactment of a tariff law which will raise all the money ne cessary toconduct the Government eco nomically and honestly administered, " and so adjusted as to give the prefer ence to home manufacturers and ade quate protection to home labor and the home market. We are not committed ' to any special schedules or rates of duty. They are and will be always sub- , , Ject to changes to meet new conditions; but the principle upon which rates of duty are imposed remains the same. ' Our duties should always - be high -enough to measure the difference be-; " tween the wages paid labor at home and - in competing countries, and to ade- ' quately protect American Investments and American enterprises. -. Our farmers have been hurt by the changes in our tariff legislation as se- -verely as our laborers and maaufactur era, badly as they have suffered. Ths ' Republican platform wisely declares in favor of such encouragement to our su gar Interests as will lead to the "pro duction on American soil of all sugar which the American people use." It " -promises to our wool and woolen Inter- . . est -"t!l most ample protection," a guass-r-antee thai ought to.cxmznendVtself to every-patriotic citizen. . Never was. more grevious "wrong done the farmers of our country than that so unlustly in- fllcted during the past three years upon " the woolgrowers of America. Although among our most Industrious and useful Citizens, their Interests have been prac- -tically destroyed and our woolen man ufacturers involved in similar disaster.' . At no time in the past thirtysix years. . and perhaps even during any previous period, have so many of our woolen fac tories been suspended as now. The Re- ?. publican party can be relied upon to correct these great wrongs if again in- : ' trusted with the control of Congress RECIPROCITT. Another declaration of the Republic an platform that has my most cordial Support is that which favors reciprocity. ?he splendid results of the reciprocity arrangements that were made under ' authority of the tariff law of 1890 are T. striking and suggestive. The brief peri- ' od that they were in force, in most cases - only three years, was not long enough -to thoroughly teat their great value, but sufficient was shown by the trial to con- . -cluslvely demonstrate the Importance and wisdom of their adoption. In 1892 the export trade of the United States attained the highest point in our his tory. The aggregate of our exports that year reached the Immense sum of $1, 030,278,148, a sum greater by tlOU.00O.C00 . than the exports of any previous year. In 1893. owing to Tne rnreat or unfriend. ly tariff legislation, the total dropped to $847,665,190. Our exports of domestic merchandise decreased $189,700,000, but reciprocity still secured us a large trade in Central and South America and a larger trade with the West Indies than we had ever before enjoyed. The In crease of trade with the countries with ' whioh we had reciprocity agreements was $3,660,515 over our trade In 1S92 and $16,440,721 over our trade in 1891. - The only countries to which the Unit ed States showed increased exports in ' 1893 were practically those with which we had reciprocity arrangements. The reciprocity treaty between this country and Spain touching the markets of -'u-" ba and Costa Rica were announced Sep tember 1, 1891. The growth of our trade with Cuba was phenomenal In 1891 we sold that com, try but 114,441 barrels of flour, in 1892, 366,175; in 1893, $16,406. and in 1894, 662,248. Here was a growth of nearly 600 per cent. While our export a tlons of flour to Cuba for the year end ing June 30, 1895, the year following the repeal of the reciprocity treaty, fell to 879,856 barrels, a loss of nearly half our trade with that country. The value of our total exports of merchandise from the United States to Cuba in 189L the year prior to the negotiation of the re ciprocity treaty, was $12,224,08$; In 1892, $17,953,579; in 1893, $24,167,608; In 1894. $20,125,821, but in 1896. after the annul ment of the reciprocity agreement. It fell to only $12,887,661. . Many similar examples might be giv en of our Increased trade under recip rocity with other countries, but enough has been shown of the efficacy of the legislation of 1890 to Justify the speedy restoration of its reciprocity provisions. In my Judgment, Congress should Im mediately restore the reciprocity section of the old law, with such amendments, if any. as time and experiec sanction as wise and proper. The underlying principle of this legislation must, how ever, be strictly observed. It- is to af ford new markets for our surplus agri cultural and manufactured products without loss to the American laborer of a single day's work that be might other wise procure. -..-.. CesHsnsd oa $d fage, . " '