The Athena press., August 07, 1896, Image 2

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All communications should be addressed to
he PRESS, Athena, Oregon.
ATHENA AUGUST 7,1896.
for president:
WILLIAM J. BRYAN,
OF NEBRASKA.
FOR VICE president:
ARTHUR SEWALL,
OF MAINE.
'Wo Crown , of Thorns,
No Cross of Gold."
BLAINE ON SILVER.
Here is another extract from
Blaine's speech in favor of silver.
The speech was made February 7,
1878, in the senate during the de
bate on. the bill for the recoinageof
the silver dollar and to fix its stan
dard value. Among other things.
Mr. Blaine said:
"The responsibility of re-establishing
silver in its ancient and
honorable place as money in Europe
and America, devolves really upon
the congress of the United States,
f we act here with wisdom and
firmness, we shall not only success
fully remonetize silver, and bring
it into general use as money in our
own country, but the influence of
our example will be potential among
'Suropean nations, with the possi
ble exception of England. Indeed)
our annual indebtment to Europe is
o gieat that, if we have the right
to pay it in silver, we necessarily
coerce those nations, by the strong
est of all forces, self-interest, to aid
us in upholding the value of silver
as money. But if we attempt the
remonetization on a basis which is
obviously below the fair standard
of value ns it now exists, we incur
all the evil consequences of failure
at home, and the certainty oi suc
cessful opposition abroad. We are,
and shall be, the greatest producers
of Bilver in the world, and we have
a larger 6take in its complete
monelization than any other
country. The difference to the
United States, between the general
acceptance and the general destruc
tion of silver as money in the com
mercial world, will possibly within
the next half century equal the en
tire bonded debt of the nation.
But to gain the advantage, we must
make it actual money, the accepted
equal of gold in the markets of the
world. Remonetization here, fol
lowed by general remonetization in
Europe, will secure to the United
States the most 6table basis for its
currency that we have ever enjoyed,
and will effectually aid in solving
all the problems by which our
financial situation is surrounded.
"On the much vexed question of
a bimetallic standard, my own
views are sufficiently indicated in
the remarks I have made. I be
lieve tho struggle now going on in
this country, and in other countries,
for a singlogold standard, would,
if successful, produce disaster in
the end throughout the commercial
world. Tho destruction of silver
as money, and the establishment of
gold as the sole unit of value,
must have a ruinous effect upon all
forms of property except those in
vestments which yield a fixed re
turn in money. These would be
enormously enhanced in value, and
would gain a dispioportionate, and
therefore unfair, advantage over
every other ppecies of property. If
ii k the most reliable statistics affirm
there are nearly seven thousand
millions of coin bullion in the
world, not very unequally divided
between gold and silver, it is im
possible to strike out of existence
as money without results which
will prove distressing to millions,
and utterly disastrous to tens of
thousands. Alexander Hamilton,
in his able and invaluablo teport
in 1791, on the establishment of a
mint, declared that 'to annul the
use of either gold or Bilver as
money is to abridge the quantity
of circulating medium, and is li
able to all the objections which
arise from a comparison cf the ben
efits of full circulation with the
evils of a scanty circulation.' I
take no risk in saying that the ben
efits of a full circulation, and the
evils of a scanty circulation, are
both immeasurably greater today
than they were when Mr. Hamilton
uttered these weighty words, al
ways provided that the circulation
is one of actual money, and not of
depreciated 'promises to pay.'
"In the report from which I have
already quoted, Mr. Hamilton ar
gues at length in favor of a double
standard, and all tbe subsequent
experience of ninety years has
brougnt out no clearer statement of
the case, or developed a more com
plete comprehension of this subtle
and difficult Bubject. 'On the
whole,' says Mr. Hamilton, 'it seems
most advisable not to attach the
unit exclusively to either of the
metals, because this cannot be done
effectually without destroying the
office and character of one of them
as money, and reducing it to the
situation of mere merchandise.'
Mr. Hamilton wisely concludes
that this reduction of either of the
metals to mere merchandise (I
again quote his exact words) 'would
probably be a greater evil than oc
casional variations in the unit
from the fluctuations in the iela-
tive value of the metals, especially
if care be taken to regulate the
proportion between them, with an
eye to their average commercial
value.' I do not think that this
country, holding so vast a propor
tion of the world's supply of silver
in its mountains and its mines, can
afford to reduce the metal to the
'situation of mere merchandise.'
If silver ceases to be used as money
in Europe and America, the mines
of the Pacifij Blope will be closed
and dead. Mining enterprises of
the gigantic scale existing in this
country cannot be carried on to
provide backs for mirrors, and to
manufacture cream pitchers and
sugar bowls. A source of incalcul
able wealth to this entire country
is destroyed the moment Bilver is
permenantly disused as money. It
is for us to check that tendency
and bring the continent of Europe
back to the full recognition of the
value of the metal as a medium of
exchange."
FALSE PROPHETS.
In 1878 when the Bland-Allison
law was being discussed, the op
ponents of silver, dtclared that if
more than fifty millions of silver
dollars were coined, gold would be
driven from the country, and we
would be ruined. But there were
two hundred millions of these dol
lars coined, and there was no ex
pulsion of gold, but largo imports.
When the Sherman law was re
pealed, Mr. Sjierman is reported to
have said, "In ten days the skies
will brighten, buisnoss will resume
its ordinary course, and the clouds
that lower upon our house will be
in the deep bosom of the ocean
buried." We all know how com
pletely that prophecy has failed.
When Blackburn was defeated
in Kentucky, the gold advocates
claimed that the "silver craze"
was dead, and they pretended to
be full of enthusiasm about the
prosperity that they saw coming
on angel's wings to bless the
country. It is still "coming."
Now they say it is the "threat of
free silver," and, if Bryan is de
feated and McKinley is elected"
tho whole land, we are assured
will literally flow with milk and
honey.
As prophets, the gold champions
have been discredited and con
demned by the utter failure of
every prophecy they have made
since the silver agitation began.
Let the people now do a little
independent thinking for them
selves, disregard the mournful
croakings of the money lender,
elect Bryan and Sewall and try
the effect of a genuine American
policy for the American people.
It is to be feared that indirect
losses due to the failure of the fruit
crop in the Northwest this season
will bo greater than the direct
losses. The inevitable tendency of
hard times is to deteriorate farming
and even if there had been a good
crop of fruit this year tho orchards
would not have received as thorough
care as is essential to securing the
best results. In addition to the i
effects of hard times we have the
discouragement resulting from the
failure of the crop, and in consequ
ence a great proportion of orchards
are badly cared for this year. The
permanent damage which will re
sult from this neglect can not easily
be estimated, but it will be great.
The grower who does not allow
himself to become discouraged but
gives his orchard just as good care
as if it was bringing him good re
turns, will get his reward in time.
There is a prevailing impression
that the 400,000,000 silver dollars
in circulation in the United States
is backed up by gold in which they
can be redeemed at will. This im
pression is erroneous. The treas
ury department has given out the
information that "standard silver
dollars are not exchangeable for
United States notes (greenbacks)
nor treasury notes. They may be
deposited and"" silver certificates
taken out therefor. They are not
redeemable in anything." So the
silver dollar is not a fifty-three-cent
dollar after all. It does not
require gold to go its security to
make it worth its face. The gov
ernment receives it in payment of
its dues and make it a legal tender
and that is ample to give circulat
ing value. East Oregonian.
The goldbugs are chuckling a
good deal because they have all
the money on their side, and are
tauntingly asking the silver men,
"Where are you going to get your
campaign funds?" Uucle Dick
Bland answers it effectively. He
says: "This Campaign for silver
is a movement of the common
people. We need no boodle. We
are not afraid of boodle. See how
the free silver cause has spread
from farm to farm, - from town to
town, from state to state, until it
embraces every part of the country
All this happened without the use
of money. We are right. That is
our campaign fund." Scout.
The gold standard men say free
coinage will benefit the silver mine
owner by giving him $1.29 for his
ounce of silver, and at the same
time say our dollar under free coin
age will be worth only 53 cents
And in this contradicting them
selves the silver men gain strength
they could not otherwise obtain.
The gold men were silver men too
long and too recently to be consist
ent thus early in the campaign.
EaBt Oregonian.
Above the din of political con
vention at home is heard a voice
from Cuba announcing that the
Spanish government will strike
that decisive blow before this sum
mer expires. It is doubtful, though
that the announcement will effect
the value of Cuban securities in
any way.
" Do not make up your mind to
vote until you investigate and find
out whom all the trusts and com
bines will support tor president.
If all the railway combinations
and deadbeat politicians and cor
poration tools are for a man, the
poople must vote solidly against
him.
The man that votes for Bryan,
votes for home and country as be
lieved by all patriotic people in this
broad land of ours. The man who
votes against Bryan, votes for
monopoly, trust and combinations
of capital, against all the industries
and laboring men of this country.
" The newspapers now in revolt
against the silver cause were al
ways there. They never for a
moment were otherwise than under
the thumb of the gold syndicate,
and as this becomes generally
known their influence will vanish
as mists before the sun.
An Eastern paper accuses Bryan
of stopping at a $2 a day hotel
during the Chicago convention.
Certainly that was a creditable
fact. McKinley was probably pay
ing several times that amount.
Brvan i3 not an aristocart.
So long as we want her to do it
England will manage our money
system for us, and we may depend
on her having an eye on England's
interest while she is at it. '
Wanted at Once.
Active agents for each conntv. E
elusive control and no risk. Will clear
12 to 25 hundred dollars a year. Enclose
stamp for full particulars or 25c for $1
sample. Big Rapids Mineral Water Co.,
Big Rapids, Mien.
The Democratic Platform.
Tbe platform which has been heralded
to the people of these United States by
the democratic party in convention as
sembl id, on which it ii predicted the
brilli .at Bryan will be swept to victory
by a tidal wave is as follows:
We, the democrats of the United States,
in national convention assembled, do re
affirm oar allegiance to these great essen
tial principles of justice and liberty upon
which oar institutions are founded, and
which the democratic party has main
tained from Jefferson's time to onr own-
freedom of speech, freedom of the press,
freedom of conscience, the preservation
of personal rights, the equality of all
citizens before tbe law, and tbe faithful
observance of constitutional limitations.
Recognizing that tbe money question
is paramount to all others at this time,
we invito attention to the fact that the
federal constitution names silver and
gold together as tbe money metals of the
United States, and that the first coinage
law passed by congress nnder the consti
tution made the silver dollar the unit of
value and admitted gold to free coinage.
at a ratio measured by tbe silver dollar
unit.
We declare that the act of 1873 de
monetizing silver without the knowledge
or approval of the American people has
resulted in tbe appreciation of gold and
a corresponding fall in the prices of
commodities produced by the people ; a
heavy increase in the burden of taxation,
and of all debts, public and private ; the
enrichment of tbe money-lending classes
at home and abroad ; paralysis of indus
tries and impoverishment of the people.
We are unalterably opposed to the sin
gle gold standard, which has locked fast
the prosperity of an industrious people
in the paralysis of hard times. Gold
monometallism is a British policy,
founded upon British greed for gain and
power, and its general adoption has
brought other nations into financial ser
vitude to London. It is not only un
American, but anti-American, and it can
be fastened upon the United States only
by the stifling of that indomitable spirit
and love of liberty which proclaimed our
political independence in 1776 and won
it in the war of the Revolution.
We demand the immediate restoration
of the free and unlimited coinage of gold
and silver at tbe pretient legal ratio of 16
to 1, without waiting for tbe aid or con
sent of any other nation. We demand
that the standard silver dollar shall be a
full legal tender, equally with gold, for
all debts, public And private, and we
favor such legislation as will prevent the
demonetization of any kind of legal
tender money by private contract.
We are opposed to tbe policy and practice
of surrendering to holders of obligations of
the United states any option reserved by
law to the government of redeeming such
obligations in either silver coin or goiu
coin.
We are opposed to the issuing of
interest bearing bonds of the United
States in time of peace, and condemn
trafficing with banking syndicates which,
in exchange for bonds at an enormous
profit to themselves, supply the federal
Paintin
In all Branches
Neatly done by Chapman.
HOUSE PAINTING AND DECORATING.
J. W. CHAPMAN, Athena.
Ay .
J.UUiUl.UUJUJ..JUJ.UU
i crviv j mnj:..-m
ATHBNA PRBSS
iiL
HAMILITOK-RQURKE
m A TEAM
GRAIN AND COMMISSION MERCHANTS
Dealers in
Grain, Grain-bags and do a general Warehouse and Commission busi
ness; pay the highest prices for all kinds of grain. Handle grain on
eitner roaa at me same price.
EE SURE YOU SEE THEM BEFORE
DAQID TAYLOR, Agent,
all. THE PRESS
treasury with gold to maintain a policy '
of gold monometallism.
Congress alone has power to coin and
issue money and President Jackson
declared that this power could not be
delegated to corporations or individuals.
We therefore demand that the power
to issue notes be taken from the banks
and that all paper shall be issued direct
ly by the treasury department. We
hold that tariff duties should be levied
solely for the purpose of revenue and
that taxation should be limited by
the needs of the government, boneetly
and economically administered. We
denounce as disturbing to business
the republican threat to restore the Mc
Kinley law, which has twice been con
demned by the people in national
elections, and which, enacted nnder tbe
false plea of protection to home industry,
proved a prolific breeder of trusts and
monopolies, enriching the few at the ex
pense of the many, restricted trade and
deprived the producers of the great Amer
ican staples of access to their natural
markets. Until the money question
is settled, we are opposed to any agitation
for further changes in our tariff laws ex
cept such as are necessary to make the
deficit in revenue, caused by the ad
verse decision of the supreme court
as to the income tax.
There would have been no deficit in
the federal revenue during tbe last two
years but for the annulment by the
supreme court of the income tax law,
placed upon the statute books by a demo
cratic congress. The obstruction to an
income tax, which the supreme court dis
covered in the constitution after it had
laid hidden for a hundred years, must be
removed, to the end that accumnlated
wealth may be made to bear its just share
of the burden of the government. We,
therefore, favor an amendment to the
federal constitution that will permit the
levy of an income tax. We bold that the
efficient way of protecting American
labor is to prevent the importation of
foreign pauper labor to compete with the
home market, and that the value of the
Home market to our American farmers
and artisans is greatly reduced by a
vicious monetary system which depresses
the prices of their product below the cost
of production, and thus deprives them of
the means of satisfying their needs. We
denounce the profligate waste of the
money wrung from the people by oppres
sive taxation and lavish appropriations
of recent republican congresses, which
have kept taxes high, while the laborer
that pays them is unemployed, and pro
ducts of the people are depressed in price
until they no longer repay the cost of
production. We demand a return to that
simplicity and economy which best befits
a democratic government, and a reduc
tion in the number of useless offices, the
Balaries of which drain the substance of
tho people. Confiding in the justice of
our cauBO and the necessity of its success
f.t the polls, we submit the foregoing
declaration of principles and purposes to
the considerate judgment of the American
people. We invite the support of all
citizens who approve them and who de
sire to have them made effective through
legislation for the relief of the people
and the restoration of the country's
prosperity.
lUIUlUiWUaililiUmii.
WAREHOUSE SYSTEM
YOU BUY SACKS OR SELL CRAIN.
Athena, Oregon,
"touches the spot."
Notice to
(9. & & v a Q) s) yJD
You can purchase our Drapers and Extras for all Headers
Threshers and Horse-powers from Will Mosgrove, Athena,
.Oregon. "
(9. aTGTeKy & o) & efiD
GILBERT HUNT & COMPANY, Walla Walla, Wash.
Machine Shop . . .
Zeiger'a Shop, at Helix, can repair Ma
chinery. General Blacksmithing.
W. L. ZEIGER,
W. D. HANSFORD & CO.,
svN Dealers In w"Avy,
Ma.rdwa.re...
and Stoves
TIN AND COPPER WARE.
Pumps, Pipe, etc., - - - - Baker Barbed Wire.
PLUMBING A SPECIALTY. ALL WORK GUARANTEED.
629 Main Street. Pendleton, Oregon.
J W SMITH,
ATHENA, UKEGUN,
W. P. LEACH,-
LEADING FURNITURE DEALER
Hi
111
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Carpet Store
Largest Stock ever brought to Pendleton. Better
Goods and cheaper Prices. Agent for the Standard
and White Sewing Machines. Carpets and machines at
about half former prices., Come and be convinced.
JESSE FAILING, Pendleton, Oregon.
II
1
THE ATHEM MARKET
FRANK BEAL, proprietor. '
AFRESH MEAT e ALWAYS ON-V-HAND
Highest Cash Price paid We buy for Cash and sell foi
for Butcher's Stock. Cash strictly
YOU GET THE VERY BEST AND LOTS OF IT,
WHEN YOU SPEND MONEY WITH
BEALE
Main Street,
FIRST MTIOML
BjSM . .'
OF ATHENE.
Pays
E, L.
lit
A.t . . .
FISCHER'S NEW HARNESS SHOP
On both Harness and Collar,
You can save the dollar;
WJiile the pennies take care of themselves.
Jvorth side Main Steeet.
$1.60 per year
Farmers
- - Helix, Or
NOTARY
PUBLIC
-SUCCESSOR TO
-N. A. MILLER,
THE
-Hi
lit
HI
HI
III
Athena, Oregon
South side Main Street. "
CAPITAL STOCK,
$ 50000
$21,000
ISUBPLTJS,
interest on time deposits. Proper attention
given to collections. Deals In foreign and
domestic exchange,
Barsett Cashier, . . Athena, Oregon
Athena, Oregon
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