would remain the same from year to year, and this can only be secured by having the quantity of money keep pace with the demand for money. Not only do the advocates of the gold standard omit all reference to purchasing power in defining an honest dollar, but they do not seem to understand that the law gives to gold money the one characteristic which they praise. Why does the gold lose nothing by melting? Simply because the law provides for the free and unlimited coinage of gold bullion into gold dollars. If we had the free and unlimited coinage of silver as we have of gold, there would be no difference between the coinage value and the bullion value of silver. You have doubtless heard the gold standard advocates talk of the melting-pot test. A debate once occurred in our State something like this: The gold bug, in order to prove the superiority of gold, said: "If a man has in his house $1,000 in paper, $1,000 in silver, and $1,000 in gold, and his house burns down, the paper will be destroyed, the silver will be melted and worth one-half, and the gold, although melted, will be worth as much as it was before. Therefore gold is the only good money." His opponent replied: "That is true if a man puts his money in his house and the house burns down; but suppose he puts his money in a boat and the boat turns over? Then the gold and silver will go to the bottom and be lost, while the paper will float. Therefore paper is the only good money." One argument is just as good as the other, but both speakers erred in trying to prove the value of money by an unusual and extraordinary use of money. (A voice-"If I buy silver at the present price, 65 cents an ounce, into how much money can I have it coined?") Under the present law you cannot have it coined at all. Under free coinage you can have it coined, but then you cannot buy it for 65 cents an ounce. Just remember that under free coinage no man will sell his silver for less than a dollar, because he can get it coined at any time into a dollar. The above question has often been asked, and the fallacy lies in the fact that the questioner supposes the purchase of the silver to be made under monometallism, and then supposes it to be coined under bimetallism, ignoring entirely the change which takes place upon the passage of the free coinage law. In order to illustrate the absurdity of the argument that under free coinage a person could buy silver at 50 cents and have it coined into a dollar, I have often told a story which I found in a book written by Hon. Ignatius Donnelly. Two men were discussing the silver question in a car, when some one asked the silver advocate, "Do you think it is right to pass a law which will enable a man to buy my silver at 50 cents and coin it into 100 cents and make the difference?" The silver advocate replied, "Under free coinage any person owning 4121 grains of standard silver can have it coined into one dollar without charge for mintage. That being the case, is there any one in this car who, under free coinage, would sell that much silver for less than 100 cents and let the purchaser make the profit?" There was silence for a moment, and then some one answered, "I would." The reply came from a young man who was sitting by his mother, and she protected him from further inquiry by saying, "Never mind him; he is an idiot. I am just taking him to the asylum." Sunday was spent upon the shores of the Kennebec. Church occupied our attention in the forenoon, and in the afternoon Mr. Sewall took me to Small Point, fourteen miles away, the favorite ocean resort of the people of that village. The visit to Maine was enjoyed by the entire party, and I found the correspondents, like myself, sorry when the time for departure arrived. While in the State I met ex-Governor Plaisted, and his son Fred W., who was the Maine member of the Notification Committee. Leaving Bath about midnight we arrived at Lynn, Mass., in time for breakfast. At this place we met a number of very ardent supporters of bimetallism, one of whom since the election has been made mayor by a plurality of nearly 2,000, in spite of the fact that the city gave the Republican electors something like 3,000 plurality. Passing through Boston, our next stop was at Providence, where, in a brief speech, I quoted the definition of "honest money" given by Prof. Andrews, of Brown University, in his recent work upon that subject, and assured the audience that the silver advocates of the West were in entire accord with their distinguished townsman. With an hour's stay at New London, and a few other stops still more brief, we bade adieu to New England, and re-entered New Jersey. CHAPTER XXXVIII. TAMMANY HALL AND VICINITY. TH HE latter part of Tuesday was spent in New Jersey. Early in the evening an outdoor meeting was held at Paterson, the home of the Republican candidate for the Vice-Presidency. The interest was so intense here that I was led to expect a stronger support than the election showed. During the meeting the electric light went out, and we were left in the dark for a few minutes. I quote below an extract from the Paterson speech: Paterson Speech. Money is a creature of law, and if the laws do not create enough money, then there will not be enough in circulation. If you want more wheat, you can go out and raise wheat; if you want more of any kind of manufactured goods, you can produce them; but if the people want more money, they cannot bring money into existence. If a man attempts to add one dollar to the volume of the nation's currency, he is called a "counterfeiter" and imprisoned in the penitentiary. Our opponents seem to act upon the theory that by making the total volume" of currency less they can increase the amount which each individual has of it. This is a new principle, unknown to the arithmetic we studied when we were young. The last meeting of the day was held at Newark, in a very large hall at Caledonia Park. Mr. J. Randolph Woodruff, of the Essex County Committee, introduced Hon. Joseph A. Beecher as temporary chairman, and Mayor James N. Seymour as permanent chair man. An extract from the speech made at this place will be found below: Newark Speech. We are in the midst of a campaign which will be memorable in history. No matter on which side of the money question you may stand, you must admit that much depends upon its settlement. Deep feeling is aroused on both sides. We are combating a system of finance which is entrenched behind strong bulwarks and able to call to its support all those influences which have been in the habit of dominating politics. We realize what it will mean to lose this campaign and to declare-this nation has never so declared before-the inability of this nation to conduct its own business. Year after year the two great parties have declared for bimetallism. This year, for the first time, one party has thrown its influence on the side of gold as the only standard money. We have hitherto sent representatives abroad to try to secure international bimetallism, but have always reserved for ourselves the right to act alone. I beg you to weigh well your action before you cast your vote on the side of gold. If you have been Republicans when that party was declaring in favor of bimetallism, it is not your duty to stay with that party when it deserts bimetallism. If there was a reason sufficient to lead you into the Republican party when that party endorsed bimetallism, there is sufficient reason now to lead you out of that party. We, as a people, have our own welfare to consult; no nation stands in the same attitude that we do. The Republicans tell us that we ought to have the gold standard because England has it. I reply that we cannot have the gold standard because so many nations have already adopted it that they have forced up the price of gold, and for us to join them is to commit murder upon others while we commit suicide upon ourselves. The bimetallic system is defended by arguments which cannot be answered. You never find one who turns from bimetallism to gold except when he does so from fear. Such conversion is not conversion at all. You cannot convert a man by terrorizing over him with a rod. If you will go among your acquaintances you will not find any man who has thought his way from bimetallism over to the gold standard. You may find a few Democrats who now talk for gold, but if you do you will find them tied to some special interest. Truth alone is invincible. I am called a dangerous man; but it is simply because any man is dangerous who plants himself upon a truth and tries to defend that truth. Whether I live or die is a matter of little consequence, but the truth will never die; it will go marching on forever. I believe that bimetallism will succeed because it is right; I have another reason for believing that it will succeed. The gold standard makes the rich richer and the poor poorer; it decreases the number of those who are happy, and increases the number of those who are in distress, and the poor and the distressed are on our side. If we have not a majority now, it is only a question of time when we will have, if the gold standard continues. When you can prove to me that the Creator intended civilization to lapse again into the dark ages; when you can prove to me that the few should ride upon the backs of those who toil, then, and not until then, can you convince me that the gold standard will prevail. When you can prove to me that the syndicates should be permitted to run the country; that trusts should be permitted to ruin business men and then prey upon society, then, and not until then, will I admit that the gold standard will prevail. What hope does the Republican platform hold out to the people? Only the hope that foreign nations will be more kind to the American people than the Republican convention was. The night was spent in New York City, at the Bartholdi. and the officers of the National Committee, while a speech at Jersey City occupied the afternoon-perhaps I should say two speeches, since I addressed both a meeting indoors and an overflow meeting on the outside. I had intended to spend the day in rest, but the entreaties of ex-Sheriff Robert Davis were too earnest to be withstood; hence the Jersey City meetings. The Tammany Hall demonstration of that evening was one of the important events of the campaign. The wigwam was densely packed from the rear of the stage to the top of the gallery. Lord Chief Justice Russell, of England, with his wife and a party of friends, entered the hall, but they were unable to reach the seats assigned them, and finally withdrew before the meeting opened. John W. Keller, Esq., was chairman of the meeting. John R. McGoldrick, Esq., read resolutions endorsing the National and State tickets, and they were adopted unanimously. I may add here that Tammany Hall is entitled to great credit for the gallant fight made in behalf of the principles set forth in the national platform. The work of this society stands out the more conspicuously when it is remembered that New York City is not only the money center of the nation, but the seat of those financial forces which have for so many years dominated the affairs of the United States. Notwithstanding the enormous disadvantage under which the advocates of free silver labored in New York City, the Republicans only carried the city by a small majority, considering the large number of votes cast. Without meaning to discriminate against any one not mentioned, I might suggest that Hon. John C. Sheehan, Congressman Amos J. Cummings, Hon. Henry D. Purroy, and Hon. Thomas F. Grady were especially active in their efforts to secure the indorsement of the national ticket and platform by the Tammany Society. The following is an extract from the Tammany Hall speech: Tammany Hall Speech. I acknowledge my gratitude to the Tammany Society for the privilege which it has afforded me of speaking to the people here assembled. I appreciate the value of an organization like this, trained and compact, ready to do effective service at a moment's notice, and I am glad to carry back to the West-although it is not news to any one who reads the papers or knows the history of the organization-that the Tammany Society is in earnest in its efforts to give effective support, not only to the Chicago ticket, but to the Chicago platform upon which the ticket stands. The Tammany Society is required, by its constitution, to celebrate each recurring Fourth of July, and upon that day it is directed by its organic laws to have read in the presence of those assembled |