Full text of The Money Question of the 53rd Congress : Silver. The Friend of the Farmer and the Miner. Facts for Farmers : Remarks of Hon. Thomas C. Power of Montana, Debate in the Senate, v.2, I-R

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53D CONGRESS,
1st Session (extra).

>
J

U. S. SENATE.

SILVER.
The Friend of the Farmer and the Miner.
F A C T S FOR

FARMERS.

" Tell the miners far me that I shall promote their interests to the
utmost of mf ability, because their prosperity is the prosperity of the nation; and we shall prove in a very few years
that we are indeed the treasury of the world.' 9
—Abraham Lincoln, the "Liberator*

REMARKS
OP

HON. THOMAS C. POWER,
O F

M O N T A N A ,
IN THE

SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES,




TUESDAY, OCTOBER 3,

WASHINGTON.
1893.

1893.




R E M A K E S
OF

HON. THOMAS 0 .

POWER,

October 3> 1893.
The Senate having tinder consideration the bill (H. R. 1) to repeal a> part
of an act, approved July 14,1890, entitled " An act directing the purchase of silver bullion and the issue of Treasury notes thereon, and for other purposes''—

Mr. P O W E R said:
Mr. PRESIDENT: The debate upon the proposition to repeal the
silver-purchase clause of the so-called "Sherman aGt" has taken
wide range, and the f u r t h e r we proceed in t h e discussion, the
more momentous the issues appear to be.
This is a question not to be idly ignored, nor swept away by the
impatience of the advocates of repeal, or the clamors of such of
the metropolitan press as arrogantly demand t h a t debate shall
be restricted and a vote reached without delay. In this purview, I fancy that certain Senators who originally conceived that
the repeal oi the silver-purchase law was so simple and pressing
a matter as to warrant little if any deliberation on the part of
this great body, now comprehend, or should comprehend, t h a t
the issues presented are broader and more far-reaching than
they at first supposed, and t h a t the economic questions involved
are of paramount importance not only to our own country but to
the civilized world.
Mr. President, we must further consider that what will be determined at this time by the legislative branch is not for a day,
but for all time, and that the discussion of the subject, pro and
con, goes upon the country's record and must stand there as enduring testimony of our own acts, to be judged by all the people
of the country. It seems, to my mind, that these Senators
should give more willing ear to and thereby improve the lessons
of the hour, rather than seek to belittle and brush them aside. In
this connection it may be proper to observe that, as debate has
progressed, a few of the advocates of unconditional repeal seem to
manifest a growing and healthier interest in many of the views
and propositions advanced by their opponents and, were it not
for the unfortunate circumstances by which they are environed,
they might possibly tear off the disguise in which some, at least,
have been forced to masquerade, and echo the words of Agrippa
to Paul, "Almost thou persuadest me!"
W i t h due respect to the distinguished Senators who urge repeal of the silver-purchase law, I must express the profound conviction that the strength, truths and logic of the arguments
533
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hay© been on the side of those Senators contending for the preservation of silver as a money metal, and who demand that the
proposed repeal should be accompanied by appropriate legislation which shall prevent its demonetization. I contend that not
a single argument has been interposed by the supporters of the
pending bill justifying this unconditional repeal.
On the repeal side is seen a possible bare majority, presenting
and pressing the demands of the money centers and banking institutions for the demonetization of silver, and, as a necessary
consequence, seeking to enhance the purchasing power and value
of gold; while on the anti-repeal side, the friends of silver, almost equal in number, contend that the white metal shall be protected in its legitimate function as money, and battle against the
establishment of the single gold standard.
HOW THE REPEAL BILL WAS RAILROADED THROUGH THE HOUSE—THE CONSPIRACY TO DEMONETIZE SILVER.

The influence of aggregated capital has found little difficulty
in engaging the sympathy of the Executive, and the Executive
in turn, with its great power, commands the subservience of
the legislative branch. Impatient of restraint, the self-same
influences were potent enough to narrow the limit of debate to
two weeks on the bill which comes to the Senate, and in which
the speedy concurrence of this deliberative body is demanded..
Picture it! Think of it! Only two weeks' discussion of a subject of immediate and vital importance to 67,000,000 of our people has been permitted to 356 gentlemen of the House, chosen
to represent their interests in the councils of the nation! This
indecent haste, however, is sought to be extenuated by the plea
of the existence of a great financial panic, which could only be
allayed by the prompt and unconditional repeal of the silverpurchase law. This was the sum and substance of the President's message, and obtained large credence on that account.
The projectors of the measure, the conspirators who impregnated the monster and gave it birth, kn'ew better, and they
laughed in their sleeves over the trick they had played. They
manufactured
a spurious alarm by the exportation of gold, and
cried 44 wolf" when there was no wolf. But the wolf did come
when least expected, in the shape of a currency famine, which
hoist them with their own petard; and but for the latitude given
in the construction of the law, by which the banks in New York
and other import cities were permitted to issue clearing-house
certificates to banks and certified checks to depositors in lieu of
currency, collapse would have been inevitable.
Meanwhile, the money-changers and experts, who are always
on the alert to take advantage of financial distresses, "cornered "the currency and profited to the extent of millions by
selling the circulating medium at a premium and cashing certified checks at a discount. Even the despised silver dollar
brought a premium as high as 3 per cent. Thus many were plundered right and left by the vicious schemes of the large money
centers; but happily the end was near. Unable to longer cloak
the conspiracy, the true situation became revealed, and confidence returned even more speedily than it had vanished. Then
it was that the people recognized that the silver-purchase law
had been made a miserable scapegoat, and it is now conceded oa
m




5
all sides (save by a few perverse persons, who either believe they
should cling fast to their idol or conclude that they mast be consistent in their many inconsistencies) that the Sherman act was
in no wise responsible for the panic at any period of its existence.
The Executive can not, in reason, avoid reaching the same conclusion; but as there are none so blind as those who will not see,
the President clings to his original delusion with a zeal worthy
of a better cause. If this stubbornness were only confined to the
Executive it would be powerless for evil, but, unfortunately, his
dictum carries weight with and his commands are obeyed by a
considerable number of gentlemen who are situated so as to be
potential in the crusade against silver. Hence, this debate is
maintained on the silver side with the undisguised but honest
purpose of preventing, if possible, the repetition of the crime of
1873, with its concomitants of wretchedness, of poverty, and of
distress, to be brought upon the farmers, artisans, and wageearners of the country.
FORCING COMPLIANCE WITH PRESIDENTIAL CAPRICE.

The situation that confronts us is simply this: The silverurchase law is shown, by the inexorable logic of events, to have
een but a very small speck in the horizon of the late financial
panic. Nevertheless, the Administration and its supporters insist upon the unconditional repeal of a law which, while it falls
far short of what the friends of free-silver coinage desire, has
nevertheless operated beneficially in aiding in the much-needed
supply of circulating medium. In the meantime, Congress is
kept in session for the distinct purpose of forcing compliance
with Presidential caprice.
The advocates of silver are here not to " cry havoc and let slip
the dogs of war," but to protest against the commission of the
grievous wrong of demonetizing silver, confessedly the objective
purpose of the pending bill. If the President and his followers
be anxious that Congress should disperse, why do they not cease
their efforts to pass this bill? The advocates of the proposed
repeal are the ones who are placed in the attitude of hindering
and delaying, and they are the obstructionists. The opponents
of the pending" measure are employing their best efforts to prevent a recurrence of the panic, which is certain to follow in
vastly increased dimensions should silver be demonetized.
I t is not my purpose, Mr. President, to go over the same ground
and attempt to reenforce what has been so ably, intelligently
and patriotically said by the distinguished Senators who have
addressed this body in opposition to the pending bill. They have
all presented arguments worthy of this great occasion, which
will pass into history as memorable in the discussion of a question than which no more important national issue has arisen in
t h e financi il experience of the country. But this reminds me,
Mr. President, that I have heard like forceful, logical, and eloquent pleas in favor of silver fall from the lips of various Senators and public men of high distinction who now repudiate, here
and elsewhere, their former utterancesj and deny and drive from
^belter their own progeny,

E

633




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THE MOVEMENT IN FAVOR OF GOLD, NOT SILVER, IS A LOCAL ONE.

I now propose, Mr. President, to touch upon certain facts and
conditions seriously involved in the pending question, which I
conceive to be of paramount importance in this discussion. The
distinguished Senator from Ohio [Mr. SHERMAN], in a speech
delivered in this Chamber at the last Congress, made the statement that the movement in favor of silver money was a local one.
Let us see where this charge of locality properly belongs. The
demand for the single gold standard emanates principally from
the older and wealthier States and the chief manufacturing centers, where the money holdings are large and where it is desired
to increase their purchasing value. The financial policy of these
sections, beyond all doubt or cavil, is to strengthen their hold
upon aggregated capital and increase its power by retarding the
advance of other sections on which time and procured legislation
have not so far conferred such signal benefits.
The gold standard or monometallic policy is mainly restricted
to a territory composed of the money centers of New England
and the large cities in the Middle States. The shrewd financiers of these localities, however, have discovered t h a t a very
marked sentiment in favor of free silver coinage has recently
been manifested in their midst, and t h a t the views of the people
inhabiting the vast territory of t h e West and South, reprehending the single gold standard and favoring bimetallism, has found
substantial lodgment among the farmers, artisans and laborers
of the East. I t was the very fear of this encroachment of silver
upon the sacred soil of the single gold standard which has forced
the specious cry that the silver movement was merely local.
The sturdy yeomanry of the East, educated by the principles
of their Western and Southern brethren, now understand t h a t
those who favor contraction of the currency are the capitalists,
well supplied with gold, good debts, and interest-paying mortgages. They see t h a t when the circulation is restricted to a
gold basis the greater is its value and the larger its purchasing
power, while, on the other hand, such contraction can operate
only distressingly upon the farmer and workman by forcing them
to give more and more of their product and labor in order that
they may reach t h e purchasing power. The farmer must barter
two or more bushels for the money which only one bushel commanded before, and the laborer must double his hours of toil in
the effort to live upon the wages he earns.
The theory that as money becomes dearer everything else
becomes cheaper and hence things equalize themselves, is a mischievous fallacy, because the poorer classes must thereby suffer
for the aggrandizement of the capitalist, who not only enjoys
the benefit of the increased purchasing power of his money, but
filches from the farmer and laborer by cheapening the value of
their products. All that the capitalist possesses comes to him
indirectly at the cost of the laborer who must work more, and
the farmer who must, produce more, and the miner who must
bring forth more; and yet they receive only the same measure
of return.
W i t h money scarcer, investment and enterprise almost cease.
533




7
Investment and enterprise comprehend the hiring of labor and
consumption of the products of the soil.. Were all investment
and speculation to cease, not only would the laborers stand idly
by, but the farmer's products perish. Consider the conditions
which have recently come to the States of Colorado, Idaho, Montana and other precious metal producing localities, where, by the
cessation of the mining industry and its accessories, thousands
of industrious, thrifty laborers and good citizens have been
forced, with their families, to the very threshold of starvation,
and made wanderers and tramps.
THE WESTERN FARMER AT THE MERCY OE THE EASTERN MONEY-LENDER.

P e r m i t me, Mr. President, to invite attention to another and
no less important phase of the situation.
The United States is a debtor country, and many of the States,
especially those of the West, are large borrowers, because the
necessities of the advancement of civilization require money for
its development. When a sum of money is borrowed, there is a
moral as well as a legal obligation to repay it with interest for
its use, and the loan is contracted on an apparent and possible
return, under existing circumstances, of, say, 10 or 15 per cent.
Before the debt falls due, the money centers have contracted the
currency and established the single gold standard, and the investment which, at the outset, promised rationally a fair return,
entails an absolute loss. The stringency not only prevents f u r t h e r
loans, but forbids realization upon the investment. Unable to
meet the obligation, bankruptcy ensues.
This has been the common experience in the Western States,
which have been developed largely by men without capital other
than their brawn and muscle and enterprise. They have penetrated the wildernesses of the West, and by their thrift, industry,
and perseverance, erected happy homes and churches and
schoolhouses in localities where, but a brief space since, only t h e
Indian trod and the wild game roamed at will. The naked
prairie was made to give forth the abundance of the harvest and
the stubborn soil to yield to the plow and harrow.
But all this has not been accomplished without pecuniary outlay. Horses, cattle and agricultural implements were necessities of the situation. The average prospective farmer who
enters Government land is compelled to have some ready money
wherewith to carry on his improvements, and he finds it accessible from the agents of some of the numerous land-investment
companies representing the accumulated capital of the Eastern
States, eager to place their money at good interest in mortgages
on improved farms in the West.
When the farm is properly equipped, it is encumbered by
mortgage or deed of trust for say $4,500, based on 320 acres at $15
per acre, at say, 10 per cent interest. The farmer produces wheat.
In 1873, when our mints were open to free coinage of both
silver and gold, he would have been obliged to set aside 344
bushels only wherewith to pay his interest, wheat then commanding $1.31 per bushel. But under present circumstances, when
wheat has fallen in price because of the vicious legislation aimed
at silver, he must sacrifice 688 bushels, double the amount, to>
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8
meet the interest, computing wheat at 65 to 66 cents per bushel,
t h e present highest price. Since wheat can not be produced at
t h a t price without loss, or absence of all profit, the farmer must
go to the wall. The mortgagee forecloses on the farmer's land,
the farm is sold under the hammer, and his wife and children
no longer have a home. All the long years of toil and thrift,
and earnest striving to succeed, have gone for naught, while
the Eastern money-lenders simply augment their gold-standard
holdings. This is no overdrawn picture, Mr. President. It has
been common experience in all localities of the West.
THE PRICE OF WHEAT AND COTTON DEPRECIATED B Y COMPETITION WITH
INDIA—THE IMMENSE SUMS LOST TO AMERICAN FARMERS THROUGH ENGLISH GOLD STANDARD OPERATIONS.

I will go further in the same line of suggestive argument. I
have only instanced the decline in the price of wheat, which
shows an average depreciation since 1873 of about 50 per cent.
In 1873 t h e market value of cottun was 18.8 cents per pound. I t
sells now for 8 cents. In 1873 silver was worth $1.29 per ounce.
Now it is quoted at about 73 cents. Take the combined annual
output from 1873 to 1893, and compute the depreciation of price,
and the figures show that the wheat-producers have lost since
1873 the sum of $1,900,000,000, the cotton-planters $2,900,000,000,
and the miners $100,000,000. These figures are based upon the
statistical report of Mr. Ivan C. Mich els, made to the Senate
Committee on Mines and Mining, computed up to 1890.
T h a t this immense loss to the American producer is clearly
attributable to the organized crusade of the gold standard against
silver is an acknowledged and indisputable fact. The farmers
and planters certainly understand that should the silver-purchase
law be unconditionally repealed, the price of silver must fall as
a consequence of its demonetization.
American wheat and cotton are stable articles of export, and
our great rival in these products is the British possessions in
India. I t is an accepted fact that an ounce of silver bullion will
always purchase a bushel of wheat in India and pay its transportation to Liverpool. To compete with India-grown wheat, the
American farmer must be able to lay down his bushel of wheat
in Liverpool for an ounce of silver. But if this ounce of silver
be worth say 75 cents in gold, then all the American farmer can
realize in gold is 75 cents per bushel, less the cost of freighting
it across the Atlantic. Thus, if the farmer shall deduct the cost
of transporting a bushel of wheat from Chicago to Liverpool
from the price of silver bullion, he will then have approximately
the price of a bushel of wheat at Chicago.
Calculating the cost of transporting wheat from Chicago to
Liverpool, including storage, insurance, and brokerage, to be 15
cents per bushel, and silver bringing 75 cents per ounce, then
wheat in Chicago would be worth 60 cents. But if silver were
at par, as it would be under free coinage, an ounce of silver
would be worth $1.29, and the value of a bushel of wheat in Chicago, less 15 cents cost of transportation to Liverpool, would be
$1.14. Hence, as silver rises or falls above or below 75 cents per
ounce, so must the price of wheat vary in the same proportion.
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9
The deduction from this postulate is clear. The farmer in
East India gets the same price for his wheat now as he did twenty
years ago, while the American farmer does not obtain quite twothirds as much, the loss being considerably over one-third, and
this loss inures to the benefit of the English middlemen, manufacturers, and operators. This process, under English gold
standard manipulation, has stimulated to an enormous degree
the growth of wheat and cotton in India, and its augmentation
in the wheat product has steadily increased, according to accej)ted statistics, from 730,485 bushels exported from India in
1873 (when silver was demonetized here), to the amount of 59,000.000 bushels exported in 1892. The loss to the American
farmers would therefore average not less than from $175,000,000
to $250,000,000 on each of our annual wheat crops.
WHAT THE WHEAT-GROWERS OF THE TWO DAKOTAS, MINNESOTA, AND OREGON HAVE LOST THROUGH DEPRECIATION I N THE PRICE OF SILVER.

While commenting on the subject of loss to the American
farmer by reason of the depreciation in the price of wheat, it
would seem proper to present a striking exhibit showing the extent of this loss to certain wheat-growing sections of the extreme
West. The statistics show that the total wheat production of
the two Dakotas aggregated, from 1883 to 1892, inclusive, a total
of 418,1(34,000 bushels. The average price of wheat on January
1, 1883, was $1.30 per bushel. Up to September 1, 1893, this average had been reduced to 70 cents per bushel, or a loss of 46 per
cent, incurring an estimated loss to the f a r m e r s of the two Dakotas of $19,235,544 for the year ending September 1.
The total wheat production of the State of Minnesota aggregated for the same period a total of 396,756,200 bushels. The reduction in price from $1.30 per bushel in 1883 to 70 cents per bushel,
the current average price on September 1,1893, shows that the
estimated loss to the farmers of Minnesota last year aggregated
$18,250,785.20.
The total wheat crop of the State of Oregon for the same
period was 133,763,400 bushels. Computing the reduction of
price from $1.30 per bushel in 1883 to 70 cents, average in 1893,
we find that the farmers of Oregon were mulcted last year in the
sum of $6,153,116.40. The total estimated loss to the farmers of
these four States last year amounted to $43,639,445.60, as between
the prices of wheat in 1883 and 1893, or within two millions as
much as the value of the total production of gold in the United
States for the same year. Add to this the similar losses sustained by the wheat-producers in the States of Iowa, Missouri,
Nebraska, Kansas, California and Washington, all wheat-growing sections, consequent upon the present depreciated price of
wheat, and it is easily seen that they will aggregate many hundreds of millions of dollars.
Deprive silver of its money function, and paralysis of all the
agricultural industries of the West must inevitably follow, as I
shall undertake to show hereafter. W i t h agriculture thus depressed, what, I ask, will be the effect upon the kindred industries which constitute the intercommerce and transportation of
the country gravitating from the Atlantic to the Pacific?




10
THE EFFECT U P O N COTTON—ENGLAND DESIRES THE RUIN OF THE WHEAT
AND COTTON INDUSTRIES OF AMERICA.

The effect on American cotton is naturally the same as upon
Wheat. A rupee will purchase about 4 pounds of India cotton and
pays its transportation to Liverpool. An ounce of silver, being
equivalent to 21 rupees, will buy 10 pounds of cotton and lay it
down at Liverpool. W i t h silver at $1.29 an ounce, a pound sterling will pay for 40 pounds of cotton delivered at Liverpool, which
would be about 12£ cents per pound for the American product.
A t 75 cents per ounce for silver, a pound sterling will buy over
6 ounces of silver, which, converted into rupees, will pay for over
60 pounds of India cotton delivered at Liverpool. Sixty pounds
of cotton at Liverpool for a pound sterling is about 8 cents per
pound there, or something less than 6 | cents per pound at Memphis. A large crop in India or a short crop in the United States
will, of course, vary these relations, but the general effect of t h e
fall in price of silver is correctly stated.
According to official statistics, the exports of cotton from India have increased in value from $39,570,000 in 1879 to$82,665,000
in 1892, and are still increasing. The immense loss thus entailed
upon our cotton producers is clearly revealed, and fully corroborates the prediction made in 1886 by Sir Robert N. Fowler, M. P.,
the banker and ex-mayor of London, that—
" The effect of the depreciation of silver must finally be the ruin of the wheat
and cotton industries of America, and the development of India as the chief
wheat and cotton exporter of the world."

This is exactly what England has sought to accomplish for the
past quarter of a century, and the efforts of that country to thus
supplant the wheat and cotton producing interests of America
are supplemented, possibly by indirection, possibly by direction,
in the Congress of the United States. It has been, and is now,
the steadfast policy of English financiers and publicists to become practically independent of the wheat and cotton supply
from the United States, so t h a t the balance of trade will be
against us eternally, and the gold which should come back to us
in payment for our exported agricultural products remain in
the vaults of the Bank of England.
HOW ENGLAND SEEKS TO INCREASE HER CARRYING TRADE—STATISTICS
SHOWING THE GREAT INCREASE OF WHEAT EXPORTS FROM INDIA AND
GREAT DECREASE OF WHEAT EXPORTS FROM THE UNITED STATES.

There is another and vastly important moving influence which
intensifies this English policy to which, Mr. President, I venture to direct the earnest attention of the Senate. The consular
reports published at the Department of State show that agriculture in England has gradually diminished until it has become
practically an extinct industry. W i t h the commercial experience and prudence which characterize the business practices of
the English people, their great wealth, thus diverted from agriculture, has been centered into manufactures and in the carrying trade of the seas. To extend the markets for her manufactures the English Government shrewdly subsidizes steamship
lines to her India possessions and other localities in the Eastern
waters, where that country enjoys practically a monopoly of the
commercial trade.
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B u t , in o r d e r to m a k e h e r c a r r y i n g t r a d e profitable a n d stand
a s t h e a l l y t o h e r e x p o r t s of m a n u f a c t u r e s , E n g l a n d f o u n d i t
necessary to secure r e t u r n f r e i g h t s , since it would not pay to
confine these f r e i g h t s to outward-bound bottoms and h a v e t h e
ships come back largely in ballast. T h e r e f o r e it was d e t e r m i n e d
t o s t i m u l a t e t h e g r o w t h of w h e a t a n d c o t t o n i n I n d i a a n d t h u s
furnish freights to the ships returning home. To accomplish
t h i s e n d i t b e c a m e n e c e s s a r y t o d e p r e c i a t e t h e p r i c e of s i l v e r a n d
f u r n i s h c h e a p s i l v e r t o t h e I n d i a m i n t s , so t h a t t h e e n h a n c e d
p u r c h a s i n g p o w e r of t h e c o i n e d r u p e e m i g h t o p e r a t e t o d r i v e
o u t t h e c o m p e t i t i o n of A m e r i c a n w h e a t a n d c o t t o n . H e n c e , a s
t h i s p r o c e s s f o s t e r e d t h e p r o d u c t i o n of w h e a t a n d c o t t o n i n I n d i a , t h e p r o f i t s of t h e c a r r y i n g t r a d e , o u t w a r d a n d h o m e w a r d ,
were secured.
I t is e v i d e n t t h a t if o u r s u r p l u s w h e a t a n d c o t t o n w e n t a b r o a d
a t t h e p r i c e s t h e y w o u l d b r i n g w i t h s i l v e r a t $1.29 p e r o u n c e ,
t h e s a m e q u a n t i t y w o u l d n e t u s o v e r 40 p e r c e n t m o r e , o r p a y 40
p e r cent m o r e debt, a n d t h u s t h e r e would be t h a t m u c h less bala n c e of t r a d e a g a i n s t u s t o b e p a i d i n g o l d . A s t h e v a l u e of g o l d
i n c r e a s e s , so t h e v a l u e of s i l v e r d i m i n i s h e s , a n d r e l a t i v e l y t h e
v a l u e of e v e r y t h i n g e l s e f a l l s . B u t , o w i n g t o t h e p e c u l i a r r e l a t i o n s of s i l v e r t o t h e t r a d e of I n d i a , A m e r i c a n w h e a t a n d c o t t o n
m u s t s u f f e r i n p r o p o r t i o n t o t h e d e g r a d a t i o n of s i l v e r , a n d h e n c e
t h e f a r m e r s of A m e r i c a a r e s u b j e c t e d t o i m m e n s e l o s s e s .
T h e f o l l o w i n g c o m p a r a t i v e t a b l e s s h o w t h e e x p o r t s of w h e a t
f r o m I n d i a a n d t h e U n i t e d S t a t e s f r o m 1881 t o 1891, i n c l u s i v e .
It
w i l l b e o b s e r v e d t h a t t h e e x p o r t of w h e a t f r o m I n d i a i n c r e a s e d
f r o m 13,876,166 b u s h e l s i n 1881 t o 50,951,600 b u s h e l s i n 1891, w h i l e
t h e e x p o r t of w h e a t f r o m t h e U n i t e d S t a t e s d i m i n i s h e d f r o m
150,712,509 b u s h e l s i n 1881 t o 55,131,948 b u s h e l s i n 1891, a l o s s of
o v e r 95,000,000 b u s h e l s a n d a d i m i n u t i o n i n v a l u e f r o m $167,845,956 t o $5.1,426,272, r e p r e s e n t i n g a m o n e y loss t o o u r f a r m e r s of
$116,419,684 f o r 1891 a s a g a i n s t 1881. I w i l l a s k l e a v e t o i n s e r t
t h e f o l l o w i n g t a b l e w i t h m y r e m a r k s , t a k e n f r o m r e p o r t s of t h e
Agricultural Department.
T h e P R E S I D I N G O F F I C E R ( M r . GALLINGER i n t h e c h a i r ) .
W i t h o u t objection, leave will be g r a n t e d .
Table showing exports of wheat from India and from United States, for the years
1881 to 1891, inclusive.
[From the report of the Department of Agriculture.]
India.

Year.

Bushels.
1881
1882 . . .
1883
188 4
1885
188 6
188 7
1888
1889
1890
1891
533




-

United States.
Value,

13,896,166 512,783,972
37,148, 543
33,618,241
26,495,024
23, 502,820
39,202,630
34,070,957
29,586,445
23,874,549
39,328,658
28,579,032
41,558,765
29,845,910
25,271,249
18,467,079
32, 874,628
24, 300,192
25,764,123 . 19,231,481
50,951,600

Bushels.
150,712,509
95,962,407
107,352,342
70,450,007
84,935,183
58,105,141
102,330,395
66,279, 993
46,635, 624
54,558,144
55,131,948

Value.
$167,845,956
113,827, 376
120,837,129
75,130,427
73,188,060
50,558,862
91,002,474
56,627,546
41,846,064
45,387,931
51,420,272

12
STATISTICS SHOWING THE EFFECT OF DIMINISHED VALUE OF SILVER UPON
THE MARKET VALUE OF WHEAT AND COTTON—ROBERT P. PORTER'S EDITORIAL IN THE NEW YORK " P R E S S . "

Mr. P O W E R . Let us see what effect the diminished value of
silver exercises upon the market value of wheat and cotton.
The following table shows the value of silver per ounce and the
market value, of cotton per pound and wheat per bushel from 1872
to 1893, inclusive:
Comparative table showing decline in prices of silver, cotton, and wheat.
Year.

Silver. Cotton. Wheat.

$1.32
1.29
1.27
1.24
1.15

1872.
1873.
1874.
1875.
1876.
1877.
1878.
1879.

1.20

1.15
1.12
1.14
1.13
1.13

1880.

1881.
1882.

Cents.
19.3
18.8

15.4
15.0
12.9
11.8
11.1

9.9
11.5
11.4
11.4

Year.

11.47
1.31
1.43

1883
1884
1885

1.24
1.17
1.34
1.07
1.25

1887
1888
1889
1890
1891
1892
1893

1.12

1.11

1.19

1886

Silver. Cotton. Wheat.

$1.11
l.Ot
1.06

.99
.97
.93
.93
1.04
.90

.86

.75

Cents.
10.8

10.5
10.6

9.9
9.5

10.1
10.0

8.7
7.0

I t will be observed from the foregoing figures that cotton and
wheat suffered loss in price almost in exact proportion to the
diminution in price of silver.
I am aware, Mr. President, that this proposition is sought
to be explained by the contention that too much wheat has been
and is produced, and t h a t therefore the laws of supply and demand govern the rise and fall of prices. This view, however, is
wholly untenable, because, as has been clearly and forcibly
shown by the senior Senator from North Dakota [Mr. HANSBROUGH], that, according to the official reports of the Department of Agriculture, the world's supply of wheat and its prices
have steadilv diminished since the great crop of 1887, which aggregated 2,266,331,368 bushels. In 1888 the crop was 45,000,000
bushels less; the crop in 1889 was 191,000,000 bushels less than
in 1887; in 1890 it was 94,000,000 bushels less than in 1887; in 1891
it was 61,000,000 bushels less than in 1887; in 1892 it was 49,000,000 bushels less than in 1887, and in 1893, it is estimated, the crop
will be 166,000,000 bushels less than in 1887, the average export
price of wheat that year being 89 cents. Prices have steadily
diminished from 89 cents in 1887 to about 60 cents in 1893, while
in North Dakota, as the Senator from that State has explained,
wheat has been down as low as 40 cents per bushel.
While upon this subject, I send to the Secretary's desk to be
read an editorial from the New York Press of September 15, of
the present year, which I regard as peculiarly significant, coming as it does from the pen of Robert P . Porter, the editor of
t h a t journal. Surely some light is breaking in upon New York
journalism.
533




13
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, the Secretary will read as requested.
The Secretary read as follows:
HAS GOLD APPRECIATED?

Contention is made by some of the advocates of the single gold standard
that the value of gold is a permanent quantity, and that the quality which
peculiarly commends the metal as a measure of value is that it is stable—it
stands; in short, that it is unchangeable. We venture the assertion that
there are few men of reputation in financial science in this or any other
country who would express such an opinion.
An examination of the subject will prove that the theory of the stability of
gold is completely untenable. If there were but two kinds of flesh food, beef
and mutton, and a law should be passed forbidding mutton to be used as
food, what would be the effect upon beef? The price would at once rise. If
there are but two money metals in the world, silver and gold, and the law
should deprive silver of its money function, its debt-paying quality, is it not
equally certain, the demand being concentrated upon gold, that gold would
rise in value? In that event, what phenomenon with respect to the prices of
commodities would be observed? Must they not decline, and for the reason
that the volume of metallic money having been reduced by one-half, more
commodities would be required to obtain possession of gold? And, as the
volume of business expanded, in a time of profound peace, creating a continuously increasing demand for gold, would not prices persist in falling all
along the line?
These results could have been clearly foreseen in 1873 by any thoughtful
man. They are results that may be observed now by any man who will
merely open his eyes. Prices of all the staple commodities have been falling steadily for twenty years. The decline began in the year 1873, when silver was demonetized here and in Europe, and it is attributable chiefly to
the fact that the material in which all other values are measured has itself
advanced in value. If further proof were required, it may be found in the
fact that prices in silver-using countries have not declined, but silver today buys as much of any other commodity as it bought two decades ago.
It is asserted that this theory is not sound because the price of labor has
not fallen. But labor is not a mere inanimate commodity. It has a resisting force and that force has been made effective by organization against the
influence which would thrust down wages. It is urged that mechanical inventions and improvements in processes have put prices down. But there
has been no great labor-saving invention of a revolutionary character since
1873. The cost of producing wheat in some regions has been reduced, but in
no such degree as to account for a 60 per cent fall in the value of the cereal.
Cotton has declined nearly 50 per cent; but in what particular are cotton
culture and cotton picking any less costly than they were twenty years ago?
No evidence can be produced to sustain the claim that the planter has anyconsiderable advantage now that he did not have then.
Every gold monometallist insists that the full remonetization of silver
would decrease the value of existing debts. This, indeed, is the main argument used against remonetization. But, if to remonetize silver in 1893
would be to decrease debts, was not the result of demonetization in 1873necessarily to increase them? Can it be seriously held that the argument is
good in one case and not in the other? Why would silver remonetization
decrease debt? Because it would depreciate gold. Why did silver demonetization increase debt? Because it appreciated gold? Suppose gold should
be demonetized, as silver was, and silver should be made the sole standard?
Who will venture to urge that the value of gold would remain stable? Beyond dispute it would fall far below the value of silver, for silver would at
once advance. It is possession of the money function that gives value to
gold, and the loss of it that depreciates silver.
With the question of the morality of decreasing the dimensions of debt by
legislative action we do not propose now to deal. But the man who contends that it would be immoral to remonetize silver for that reason must
confess that it was equally immoral to demonetize it in 1873. The truth is
that every creditor is benefited by that which increases the general prosperity of debtors. The man in New York who holds Kansas mortgages can not,
in the long run, profit by a system that urges his debtors toward bankruptcy. What the wealth producers of all lands require is that there should
be such stability of values as will permit no change for or against the creditor or debtor, and that stability can be had only by resort to bimetallism.
533




14
CENSUS STATISTICS SHOWING THE INCREASE II<7 THE NUMBER OF AGRICULTURISTS I N THE MINING STATES THE LARGEST PER CENTAGE OF INCREASE
I N THE UNITED STATES—AGRICULTURE AND MINING GO HAND IN HAND.

Mr. P O W E R . Mr. President, the North Atlantic division,
consisting of the States of Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont,
Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania, contains, according to the Eleventh Census (1890), a population of 17,401,545, of which, it is estimated,
1,225,892 adult males are engaged in agricultural pursuits. In 1880
these States contained apopulation of 14,507,407, of which.1,039,601 were agriculturists, being increases in 1890 of 2,894,138 in
population and 186,291 in the number of agriculturists, or an increase in the latter class of 15.19 per cent.
The population of the South Atlantic division, consisting of
the States of Delaware, Maryland, District of Columbia, Virginia, West Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia,
and Florida, contains a population of 8,857,920, of which 1,892,696
are agriculturists. In 1880 these States contained a population
of 7,597,197, of which 1,618,391 were agriculturists, being increases in 1890 of 1,260,723 in population, and 274,305 in the number of agriculturists, or an increase in the latter class of 14.50
per cent.
The North Central division, consisting of the States of Ohio,
Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Iowa, Missouri, North Dakota, South Dakota, Nebraska, and Kansas, contains a population of 22,362,279, of which 3,555,018 are agriculturists.
In 1880, these States contained a population of 17,364,111, of
which 2,716,810 were agriculturists, being increases in 1890 of
4,998,168 in population and 838,208 in the number of agriculturists, or an increase in the latter class of 23.53 per cent.
The South Central division, consisting of the States of Kentucky, Tennessee, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, Texas, Indian Territory, Oklahoma, and Arkansas, contains a population
of 10,972,893, of which 2,610,180 are agriculturists. In 1880 these
States contained apopulation of 8,919,371, of which 2,116,570 were
agriculturists, being increases in 1890 of 2,053,522 in population
and 493,610 in the number of agriculturists, or an increase in
the latter class of 18.90 per cent.
The Western division, consisting of the States and Territories
of Montana, Wyoming, Colorado, New Mexico, Arizona, Utah,
Nevada, Idaho, Washington, Oregon, and California, contains a
population of 3,027,613, of which 325,029 are agriculturists. In
1880 these States contained a population of 1,767,697, of which
179,121 were agriculturists, being increases in 1890 of 1,259,916
in population and 145,908 in the number of agriculturists, or an
increase in the latter class of 44.89 per cent.
The following is a comparative table showing by divisions the
increases in population and in the number of agriculturists, approximately, in 1890 and 1880, with percentages of increase in
the number of persons engaged in agricultural pursuits:
533




15
Comparative table showing, by divisions, increase in population and in the number of agriculturists, approximately, 1890 and 1880, zt^A percentage of increase
in number of agriculturists.
Population.
Divisions.
1890.

North Atlantic.
South Atlantic.
North Central
South Central..
Western

17,401,545
8,857,920
22,362,279
10,972,893
3,027,613

1880.

Increase.

Number of agriculturists.
1890.

1880.

14,507,407 2,894,138 1,225,892 1,039,601
7,597,197 1,260,723 1 892,696 1,618. 391
17,364,111 4,99S, 168' 3, 555,018 2,716^ S10
8,919,371 2.053, 522 2,610,180 2,116,570
1,767,697j 1,259,916 325,029 179,121

Increase
Inof
agcrease. riculturists.

186,291
274,305
838,208
493, 610
145, 908

Per ct.
15.19
14.50
23.53

18. 90
44.89

The figures in the foregoing table reveal some very interesting
statistical facts. The population of the North and South Atlantic divisions, or Atlantic Coast States, aggregates 26,259,465,
while that of the North and South, Central and Western divisions, lying west of the Apalachian range, aggregates 36,362,785,
or an excess of 10,103,320. The number of persons, adult males,
engaged in agricultural pursuits in the United States, aggregates
9,608,815, of which 3,118,588 are located in the North and South
Atlantic divisions, and 6,490,227 west of the Apalachian range,
or an excess of 3,371,639 of the latter over the former. These
figures show that, while the excess of population of the entire
West over the East is less than three-fifths, the excess of persons
engaged there in agricultural pursuits is more than double, or
over 100 per cent.
The table also shows that while the gross percentage of increase in 1890 over 1880 in the number of persons engaged in
agriculture in the North and South Atlantic divisions aggregates 29.69 per csnt, the increase in the North and South Central and Western divisions aggregates 87.32 per cent, or an excess of about 66 per cent. The remarkable fact, however, is exhibited that the Western division, which comprises all the
mining States and Territories, increased in the number of persons engaged in agricultural pursuits from 179,121 in 1880 to
325,029 in 1890, an augmentation of 145,908 or 44.89 per cent.
This is 15.20 per cent more than the combined percentage increase in the number of agriculturists of the great North and
South Atlantic divisions and 2.46 per cent more than the aggregated percentage increase of the immense North and South Central divisions, the great farming belt of the United States.
In 1880, Montana had but 4,513 persons engaged in agriculture.
I n 1890, this number had increased to 15,230. In Wyoming the
number increased from 1,639 to 4,785; in Colorado from 13,539 to
28,718; in New Mexico from 14,139 to 18,162; in Arizona from
3,435 to 5,064; in Utah from 14,550 to 21,011; in Idaho from 3,858
to 9,983; in Washington from 12,781 to 59,449; in Oregon from
27,091 to 48,637, and in California from 79,396 to 110,918.
These figures demonstrate that the mining industries have operated to develop agricultural interests, and that mining and
agriculture have progressed hand in hand. To destroy or im533




16
pair the mining' industry. as contemplated by the pending bill,
is to destroy or impair agriculture. The laws of demand and
supply operate in this instance with marked effect. The mining
population must have food, and this necessity is supplied by the
farmers.
The more prosperous the mining industry, t h e more prosperous is agriculture, the products of which find immediate and
well-paid markets. The precious metals, produced by the brave
and hardy miners from the bowels of the earth, furnish employment to the artisans and laborers engaged in the great allied industries. The transportation of ores supplies freights to the
transcontinental railroad carriers and t r u n k lines. I t must be
considered, also, in reviewing these conditions, that agriculture
in the Western division is confronted with many difficulties. In
most localities irrigation is absolutely necessary, and to irrigate
requires the employment of large capital for the construction
and maintenance of water-way ditches, which give employment
to laborers who, in turn, must be supplied with the necessaries
of life at the hands of the farmer.
A REMARKABLE TRIBUTE TO THE WEALTH OF THE MINING REGION FROM
THE PEN OF HON. JOSEPH NIMMO, JR., LATE CHIEF OF THE B U R E A U OF
STATISTICS, UNITED STATES TREASURY DEPARTMENT.

In this connection, Mr. President, I take the liberty of sending to the Secretary's desk and request to have read a noteworthy communication from Hon. Joseph Nimmo, jr., published
in the'Washington Post of September 15, last. I t is hardly necessary to state t h a t Mr. Nimmo was for many years chief of the
Bureau of Statistics under the Treasury Department, and is recognized as standard authority, both in the United States and
abroad, on many of the questions entering into or allied with the
science of political economy. Mr. Nimmo's discussion of the
particular relations existing between the mining and agricultural interests of t h e Western division and the interests of the
common country is stated with most commendable vigor and corFQCtnCSS
T h e PRESIDING OFFICER. W i t h o u t objection, the Secretary will read as requested.
The Secretary read as follows:
THE SILVER QUESTION—CERTAIN COMMERCIAL CONSIDERATIONS INVOLVED
WHICH HAVE BEEN OVERLOOKED.

EDITOR POST : There are certain commercial considerations closely related
to the present discussion of the silver question and having an important
bearing upon the just and beneficent settlement of that question, but which
during the present discussion appear to have been overlooked.
The silver product of the United States, with the small exception of about
1 per cent, is the product of the arid region, an area extending from the
western parts of the Dakotas, Nebraska, Kansas, and Texas at the East to
the Coast Range and the Sierra Nevada Range on the Pacific Slope. The
dimensions of this area are about 1,200 miles from north to south and 1,300
from east to west. Its chief mineral products are gold, silver, copper, and
lead—almost all of which is exported to States outside of that region.
The agriculture of the arid region, in so far as relates to the culture of the
soil, is dependent entirely upon irrigation. But irrigation, although profitable, involves large expenditures. The arid region is, however, a vast and
exceedingly productive pastoral region, yielding an enormous annual exportable product of horses, cattle, sheep, and wool. In consequence of the
large preponderance of the mining and pastoral interests of this vast area
over those of agriculture, every State and Territory of the arid region Is a
533




17
large Importer of grain, hay, lumber, vegetables, provisions, and breadstuffs. Machinery and general merchandise are also imported in large
quantities from other parts of the country. The total annual value of such
imports is about $200,000,000.
The total value of the annual exports of tfce arid region amounts to about
$240,000,000, of which silver stands at the head, amounting to about $75,000,000.
But silver mining sustains to the commerce and productive industries of
the arid region relations far transcending its arithmetical proportion of the
value of the total surplus products of that region. Silver is the primary
source of the commerce, agriculture, and industrial prosperity of that vast
area. Strike it down and you paralyze the business interests of that whole
area.
The total value of the commerce of the arid region with the other States of
the country, including imports, $200,000,000, and exports, $240,000,000, amounts
to the enormous sum of about $440,000,000 annually. This exceeds by $100,000,000 the total value of the combined commerce of the United States with
Mexico, Central America, South America, and the West India islands. This
commerce centers at St. Paul, Milwaukee, Chicago, St. Louis, Boston, New
York, Philadelphia, and many other poipts at the East.
Stop for a moment and consider the enormous import of these facts. For
several years the country has been deeply concerned about reciprocity with
the countries of Central and South America and the West Indies, and about
the project of an intercontinental railroad to connect those southern countries with the United States. But here is a vast region in the very heart of
our own country which sustains a much larger commercial relation to the
rest, and which is bound to. us by the most intimate relations of transportation facilities—six transcontinental railroads, with numerous branches extending into every part of a region peopled by fellow-countrymen, who are
alive to every common impulse of our splendid civilization.
Besides, the present development of the resources of that area is small in
comparison with its evident possibilities. The mighty empires of Nineveh
and Babylonia were reared under just such conditions as prevail in this vast
Rocky Mountain region—an arid region in which agriculture is carried on
by means of artificial irrigation. The same conditions characterize India
to-day, with its population of 250,000,000.
It is not my purpose at the present time to enter upon the discussion of
the silver question, but I do want to say a word in favor of a great and promising branch of our internal commerce, and in favor of the people of the
Rocky Mountain States and Territories and of the Pacific slope, who, during
the last thirty years, by their own strong arms, brave hearts, and indomitable enterprise have rescued a vast territory from hostile Indian tribes, overcome what appeared to be insuperable natural obstacles, and subdued to
the arts of civilization an area which constitutes about two-fifths of the entire territory of the United States, exclusive of Alaska.
Three times I have in person investigated the resources of this vast region, and I feel an intense interest in its prosperity.
J O S E P H N I M M O , JR.

WASHINGTON, September 13.
SOME SIGNIFICANT ILLUSTRATIONS OF THE TRUTH AND JUSTICE OF MR.
NIMMO'S VIEWS CONCERNING THE VAST INDUSTRIES OF THE MINING
REGION.

M r . P O W E R . I t m u s t not b e supposed, Mr. P r e s i d e n t , t h a t
t h e r e p r e s e n t a t i v e s of t h e m i n i n g S t a t e s a r e h e r e solely i n t h e
i n t e r e s t of m i n i n g i n d u s t r i e s . O n t h e c o n t r a r y , w e c l a i m t o r e p r e s e n t i n p a r t all of t h e g r e a t i n d u s t r i e s of o u r c o u n t r y , t h e l e a d i n g o n e b e i n g , b e y o n d q u e s t i o n , t h a t of a g r i c u l t u r e . O u r r e g i o n ,
a s s u g g e s t e d b y M r . N i m m o , is a v a s t a n d e x c e e d i n g l y p r o d u c t i v e
pastoral territory, producing an enormous annual exportable
p r o d u c t of h o r s e s , c a t t l e , s h e e p , a n d wool, a n d t h e c o m m e r c e i n
t h e s e a r t i c l e s is i m m e n s e . E v e r y b r a n c h , a v e n u e a n d c h a n n e l
of t h e o t h e r i n d u s t r i e s a r e so i n t i m a t e l y c o n n e c t e d w i t h t h e p r o d u c t i o n a n d u s e of s i l v e r t h a t , w e r e s i l v e r d e m o n e t i z e d a n d dep r i v e d of i t s p u r c h a s i n g p o w e r a s a m o n e y m e t a l , w i d e s p r e a d
r u i n w o u l d s u r e l y follow.
Mr. N i m m o states but a self-evident proposition, a simple
demonstration which every intelligent person ought to compre533

2




18
hend without effort, and which Senators should deeply consider before lending themselves to the assassination of silver, that
" silver mining sustains to the commerce and productive industries of the arid region relations far transcending its arithmetical proportion of the value of the total surplus products of that
region. Silver is the primary source of the commerce, agriculture, and industrial prosperity of that vast area. Strike it
down," says Mr. Nimmo, "and you paralyze the business interests of that whole area."
I go further than Mr. Nimmo, because I appreciate from practical experience that, should the business interests of the Western division unhappily become thus paralyzed, the business interests of the rest of the country would receive the greater
shock, especially in and about Chicago, Boston, ^New York,
Philadelphia, Baltimore and 'other metropoli, from which recovery would probably be problematic, certainly very remote.
Detach the silver keystone which holds together the arch of
prosperity of the territory west of the Missouri and west of
the Mississippi at the intersection of the two rivers, and the
measure of ruin which must follow is beyond comprehension.
Permit me, Mr. President, to cite a few significant illustrations.
The total railroad mileage of the United States, as reproduced
from Poor's Manual in the Statistical Abstract for 1892, issued by the Bureau of Statistics, is given at 170,601.18 miles.
The total capital and funded debt, stock and bonds, of these railways in 1891, is estimated by the same authority to aggregate
$9,930,572,487. The gross earnings of operated roads are estimated at $1,125,534,815, the freight earnings being $754,185,910.
The total estimated investment of capital in the railroads of the
Gulf and Mississippi States, the Southwestern States,the Northwestern States, and Pacific States, is$3,614,919,276, or something
more than one-third of the total capital investment in the entire
railroad property of the United States. The value of equipment
is estimated at about $3,000,000,000. The railroad mileage in
these States is estimated at 87,674.26 miles, all of which is utilized for the transportation of freight and passengers to and from
the West, and intimately connected with the agricultural, pastoral, mining, and kindred industries of these sections.
What has been the result to these railroad carriers as a consequence of the low price of agricultural products, the depreciation in the value of silver and the associated metals, and the fall
in the price of cotton? The business of the great continental
roads and their auxiliaries and feeders has fallen off in such
large measure as not only to cripple them financially, but caused
the discharge of thousands of employes with consequent suffering and distress to them and their families. The industry represented by the transportation lines is suffering in all directions,
and when the wheels of railway cars cease to turn,' the com-'
mercial world, embracing the outer as well as the inter commerce
of the country becomes embargoed. This condition was illustrated with immense financial loss and distress to individuals,
communities, and the common country on the occasion of the
railroad strike some few years since. If the losses incident to a
mere labor strike inflicted such an amount of injury, what would
533




19
be the effect should the great West, with her vast agricultural,
mineral, and other resources, be driven to the verge of bankruptcy by the domination of the Eastern money power?
THE BULLS AND BEARS

OF WALL STREET—WHAT CURRENCY IS TO TAKE
THE PLACE OF SILVER?

I have wondered, Mr. President, whether the money magnates
of the East ever reflected seriously upon the fearful consequences
likely to retroact upon themselves should they be successful in
demonetizing silver. Do they suppose that the great cities of
Boston, New York, Philadelphia, and Baltimore can live upon
and consume themselves for all time, free from and independently
of the great producing areas of the West? W h a t market will
they have for their manufactures when the demand for them
ceases or is largely restricted in the West because of the lack of
or diminution in the purchasing power? W i t h no paying market
for Eastern manufactures, the factories must shut down and the
operatives, male and female, be left to suffer privation. Ships
would rot at their wharves, and all commerce lie prone in the
great cities were they cut off from the business revenue which
flows to them from the West. The West is the great feeder of
the East, but the East, which has ridden roughshod over the
West for so many years and reveled in the cruel abuse of its
money power, seems blind to the fact that it is surely " k i l l i n g
the goose that lays the golden egg."
W h a t is to be the result in the East from the dej3reciation in
railway securities caused by crippling the railroad carriers of
the West? The '' bulls " and '' bears " of Wall street may gamble
and hold high carnival in the Stock Exchange, but the actual
possessors of the stocks and bonds, the capitalists of the East, and
their domestic and foreign clients, will come to understand in
due time that the umbilical cord binding the commerce of the
East with that of the West can not be severed without the greater
injury resulting to the East. The money centers are treading
on dangerous ground when they seek to establish the single gold
standard and thrust silver aside. True, such action may practically bankrupt a territory comprising three-fifths of the area
of the United States, and paralyze the agricultural industry in
which 50 per cent of our adult male population is employed. But
can this ruin be accomplished without involving the whole
country? W h a t divinity hedges the gold-standard localities that
they may escape the whirlwind and the earthquake?
W h a t is to take the place of silver when deprived of its money
function? W h a t currency is to supply its place in the circulating medium? Can our opponents suggest something? I pause
for an intelligent reply. Surely it is not contemplated to again
create a currency famine. I t is admitted on all sides that even
with a gold standard a gold circulation is absolutely impossible.
W h y ? Because the total world's production of gold for the past
hundred years amounts to only $5,633,908,000. Of this amount
$3,711,845,000 only are in circulation, leaving gold to the value
of $1,922,063,000 used in the arts or destroyed, being about 34 per
cent of the gross total production of gold subtracted from the
circulating medium.
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In mining for silver it is estimated that about 33 per cent of
gold is produced. In Montana it is 40 per cent. Now, if the industry of mining for silver be checked or destroyed, it checks
or destroys relatively the production of gold to the percentage
named. The supply of gold, of course, is limited, and its use in
the arts will continue, possibly to greater extent than before.
Hence with this drain upon gold, something must take its place.
W h a t shall it be? Our opponents say it shall not be silver.
Shall it be paper, coined from Government or State bonds? Shall
there come another irruption of "wild c a t " money and counterfeit bank-note detectors, to be carried in the pockets of the farmer
and artisan, and a return to the antebellum times when no one
knew what the value of a bank note might be from one day to the
other? And yet it is proposed to demonetize or take from the
circulation over one-half of its medium of currency.
THE PEOPLE OF MONTANA AND WHAT THEY HAVE ACCOMPLISHED—THE
RESOURCES OF MONTANA AND WHAT HAS BEEN CONTRIBUTED TO THE
INCREMENT OF NATIONAL WEALTH.

Owing to circumstances not necessary to explain on this occasion it so happens, Mr. President, that I temporarily represent
on the floor of the Senate, singly and alone, the interests of the
people of the flourishing State of Montana, and therefore I speak
particularly for the welfare of my fellow-citizens of that State,
although none the less mindful of the welfare of the common
country.
The people of Montana are brave, conscientious, intelligent, enterprising, and patriotic, and in all that goes to make up the sum
total of exemplary American citizenship they are the peers of
any in the land. If any person imagines that the people I have
t h e honor to represent do not fully align with the advanced intelligence of the age, or are in anywise inferior in the essentials
of education, culture, and integrity to the people inhabiting the
older settlements of the East, a brief sojourn in our mountains
and valleys will soon operate to undeceive him. Although some
of our New England friends would have it otherwise, I venture
to assert t h a t the intelligence and education of the American
Republic are not restricted by any means to the eastern money
centers. The people of Montana, in common with their fellowcitizens inhabiting the great Western and Southwestern empire,
comprehend with as much acuteness as those abiding East of the
Alleghanies the importance and proprieties underlying our national legislation, and the effect, for good or ill, of such legislation upon the country.
Mr. President, the people of Montana, almost without exception, whether engaged in mining, agriculture, or other pursuits,
are utterly hostile to any legislation which may operate to discredit silver or exile it from its long possessed vantage as a
money metal accredited with full purchasing and debt-paying
function. They have arrived at this conclusion neither hastily
nor inconsiderately, but base their views upon reason and justice.
They feel, as do the people of the vast area lying west of the
Mississippi and Missouri, t h a t no greater national crime can be
committed than the assassination of silver. I am here sharing
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21
in and voicing their sentiments on this great issue, and I would
be recalcitrant did I omit the performance of any duty within
my feeble capacity which might operate to defeat the passage
of the pending bill.
W h e n Montana was provided with a Territorial government
in 1864, her boundaries carved out of the then Territory of Idaho,
it was practically an unpenetrated wilderness, inhabited by hostile tribes of Indians and inaccessible anywhere by railroad.
Thither emigrated the hardy sons of America, pioneers and
pathfinders, following the " Star of Empire " which takes its way
westward, all seeking to better their condition, establish homes,
and thus advance the general prosperity of the nation. The
early settlers of this region took their lives in their hands when
they entered this then unknown land, for the savages were
bloody-minded and relentless, and at that period the military
garrisons were few and remote and afforded little or no protection from Indian incursion.
The area of Montana is 146,080 square miles, equivalent to an
acreage of 93,491.200 acres, being a Territory 8,370 square miles,
larger tiian the entire areas of the six New England States, and
the States of New York, New Jersey, Delaware and Maryland
combined. I t is therefore easily perceived that t h e settlement
of such a vast territory must have been attended with great
difficulties. The first census taken in 1870 showed a population
of 20,595. In 1880, the population had increased nearly 48 per
cent. In 1890, after the admission of Montana as a State in the
Union, notwithstanding the immense physical obstacles and embarrassing conditions incident to the settlement of a semi-arid
and mountainous region, the population had increased 70 per
cent.
Let us consider what American enterprise has accomplished
in developing the increment of national wealth from out the
barren wilds of Montana. The city of Butte, situated on the
west side of the Rockies, is the largest mining center in the
world, and has risen from out the barren slopes of a mountain
range into a flourishing city of about 35,000 people, all this accomplished within the past decade. The city of Great Falls,
situated at the head of the great falls of the Missouri River, has
sprung within the last five years from a "prairie-dog town "into
a'metropolis containing 10,000 people. Here the great waters
of the Missouri River have been bridled, and furnish power more
than sufficient to manufacture for the whole northwestern country, and where the rich ores, wrested from the recesses of the
Rockies, are reduced to silver, gold, and copper, the latter prepared for market in all conditions. I t is hardly necessary to indicate the older and flourishing cities, such as Helena, Missoula,
Bozeman, Livingston, and others, the progress of which has
passed into the history which chronicles the creditable advancement of our civilization.
So far as agricultural wealth is concerned, Montana is the fifth
State in order of rank in the industry of sheep raising and wool
producing. The assessed valuation for 1893 of sheep in Montana
this year is, in round numbers, $6,000,000. The assessed valuation of horses this year in Montana is $4,500,000. The assessed
533




22
valuation of her cattle aggregates $14,300,000. The total assessed valuation of all live stock aggregates $24,860,000, which
probably is about 30 per cent less than its actual value. Montana exports in live stock and wool alone to the value of about
$20,000,000 annually.
According to reports of the Director of the Mint, the mines of
Montana produced last year gold to t h e value of $2,891,386, and
silver to the coining value of $22,432,323, a total of $25,323,709.
The amount of copper produced last year in Montana aggregates
164,300,000 pounds, estimated to be worth $19,105,500.
The lead" produced aggregated 25,715,197 pounds, valued at
$990,000. The Director of the Mint, in his last annual report,
estimates the value of the total output of minerals mined in
Montana during the calendar year of 1892 a t $45,565,626. T h u s
it will be seen that the value of the current stock and mining
industries of Montana alone aggregate t h e immense sum of $70,425,626, outside of all other industries, agricultural, manufacturing, and otherwise.
I t may be proper to remark, when silver is alluded to in connection with the mining interests of t h e West, the word " s i l v e r " comprehends all the other associated metals, since in our
production of silver, gold, copper, and lead are component parts
Of silver mining.
STATISTICS OF THE PRODUCTION OF MINERALS FROM THE MINING STATES
AND TERRITORIES.

I will include in my remarks certain official tables certified by
the Acting Director of the Mint, showing the approximate distribution, by producing States and Territories, of the production of gold and silver in the United States for the calendar year
1892; also t h e production of copper in the United States for t h e
years 1890, 1891, and 1892. They are as follows:
T R E A S U R Y DEPARTMENT, O F F I C E OF THE SECRETARY,

Washington, D. (7., September 22,1893
SIR: Herewith are inclosed statements of the production of gold and silver by States for the year 1892, and world's production of gold and silver for
the last century. Also the production of copper in the United States for
the years 1890, 1891, and 1892, as estimated by R.' P. Rothwell (The Mineral
Industry, its Statistics, Technology, and Trade for 1893, pages 107-165), editor Engineering and Mining Journal.
Respectfully yours,
R. E. PRESTON,
Acting Director of the Mint.
Hon. T. O. POWER, United States Senate.
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23
Approximate distribution, by producing States 'and Territories of the product of
gold and silver in the United States for the calendar year 1892, as estimated by
the Director of the Mint.
Gold.
State or Territory.

Silver.
Fine
ounces.

Value.

Coining
value.

$10,343
48,375 $1,000,000
8,000
51,761 1,070,000 1,062,220 1, 373,375
465,455
580,500 12,000,000
360,000
256,387 5,300,000 24,000,000 33,030,303
517
4,583
94,734
400
83, 271 1,721,364 3,164,269 4, 091,176
77,576
3, 386
70,000
60,000
139,871 2,891,388 17, 350,000 22,432,323
76, 021 1,571,500 2,244,000 2,901,333
45,956
950,000 1,075,000 1,389,899
11,636
3,800
78,560
9,000
64,646
67,725 1,400,000
50,000
517
5,968
123,365
400
77,576
178,987 3,700,000
60,000
400,808
310,000
31,936
660,175 8,100,000 10,472,727
193,939
150,000
18,071
373,561

Alaska
Arizona
California
Colorado
Georgia
Idaho
Micliicran
Montana
Nevada
New Mexico.
North Carolina
Oregon
South Carolina
South Dakota
Texas
Utah
Washington
Alabama
Maryland
Tennessee
Virginia
Vermont
Wyoming
Total

Fine
ounces.

J-

-

500

1,000

10,336

1,293

Total
value.
$1,010,343
2,443,375
12, 465,455
36, 330,303
95,251
5,812,540
147,576
25,323,709
4,472,833
2,339,899
90,196
1,464,646
123,882
3,777,576
400,808
11,132,902
567,500
11,629

1,597,098 33,014,981 58,004,289 74,995,442 108,010,423

BUREAU OF THE MINT, September

22,1893.

The production of copper in the United States for the years 1890,1891, and 1892.
[As estimated by R. P. Rothwell, editor Engineering and Mining Journal,
New York.]
States.

Arizona
California
Colorado
Michigan
Montana
New Mexico
Utah
Eastern and Southern States
All others
Total domestic production
From foreign ores
Total production
BUREAU OF THE MINT, September

533




1890.

1891.

Pounds.
34,900,000
1,600,000
6,000,000
100,695,000
110,996,000
870,000
600, 000
4,200,000

Pounds.
39,700,000
3,750,000
7,000,000
114,400,000
113,200,000
1,600,000
1,700,000
1,309,000
5,450,000

Pounds.
38,000,000
3,200,000
7,250,000
107,428,160
164,300,000
500,000
2, 000,000
1,300,000
1,201,840

259,861,000
6,017,000

286,100,000
11,500,000

325,180,000
10,200,000

265,878,000

297,600,000

335,380,000

22,1893.

1892.

R. E. PRESTON,
Acting Director.

24
INCIDENTAL DEBATE ON THE COST OF PRODUCING SILVER—INTERESTING
PACTS SHOWING THIS COST—STATEMENTS FROM THE GRANITE MOUNTAIN
AND BIMETALLIC MINES, OF PHILLIPSBURG. THE LEXINGTON, OF BUTTE
CITY, AND MONTANA LIMITED, OF MARYSYILLE, MONT.

Mr. P E F F E R . If it will not interfere with the line of argument of the Senator from Montana, I should like to make an inquiry of him.
The VICE-PRESIDENT. Does the Senator from Montana
yield to the Senator from Kansas?
Mr. P O W E R . W i t h pleasure.
Mr. P E F F E R . I should like to inquire of the Senator, in view
of the fact that he has been giving us some very important information, whether he is able to inform the Senate what is the
approximate cost of mining silver per ton, or per hundred pounds,
or per hundred ounces, as the case may be? There is a good
deal of interest manifested in the country generally as to what
silver costs the people who produce it. • I think it is a very important matter, and should be pleased to hear what the Senator
has to say about it.
Mr. P O W E R . Mr. President, some time since I wrote to Mr.
L. M. Rumsey, president of the Granite Mountain Mining Company, to inform me officially, as the president of the company, how
much silver that company produced and what it cost per ounce to
produce it. The vice-president, Mr. Paul Fusz, in the absence of
Mr. Rumsey, informed me that they produced altogether up to
the 1st of July, 1893, 22,024,178 ounces of silver, and from the
Bimetallic Mine 6,618,170.94 ounces. I will read from his letter.
He says:
The cost of production is, as near as we can compute it, a little over 80
cents per ounce. No charge is included for interest or cost of plant.

That letter is dated July 12, 1893. Then I have a letter dated
St. Louis, September 28, 1893, from Mr. Rumsey, the president
of t h e company, in which he says:
I have just returned to St. Louis, and am now for the first time able to
answer your inquiry as to the cost per ounce of fine silver taken from the
Granite Mountain Mine of Montana. The company's books show that during the year, July 31, 1892, to July 31, 1893, this company produced 1,349,270
ounces of fine silver at a net cost to the company of 93.422 per fine ounce.

I will ask the Secretary to read the letter of the general manager of the Lexington Mine at Butte City, Montana, which is
owned in Paris, France. The letter is brief and shows the amount
of money and the proportion of that amount in labor expended
in silver mining, and also the cost of producing silver per ounce.
The VICE-PRESIDENT. The Secretary will read as requested.
The Secretary read as follows:
SOCIETE ANONYME DES MINES DE LEXINGTON,

Butte City, Mont., July 25,1893.
DEAR SIR: The statistics regarding the Lexington Company's operations
were as follows:
The initial capital investment of the Lexington Company in purchase of
property, working plant, and preliminaries of organization was about $1,850,000. To pu,y 6 per cent interest only and sinking fund on the investment for
ten years' life of the enterprise, the annual net earnings would have to be
about $296,000.
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The expenditures of the Lexington Company in ten years of mining and
milling, exclusive of the original investment, have been about $6,140,000, not
counting hundreds of minor items which are inseparable from the business.
Forty-six per cent of this expenditure was paid for labor directly, mostly in
Butte. The other 54 per cent has been paid for supplies, etc., at least 27 per
cent of which value also went to labor indirectly. Directly and indirectly,
therefore, this enterprise has contributed about 73 per cent of its entire expenditures to labor, or about $4,500,000 in ten years.
We have produced in that time 6,700,000 ounces of silver, and the average
cost for all has been 92 cents per ounce. Even last year (1892) the average
cost per ounce was 90 cents.
But for the fortunate occurrence of gold in the ore In considerable quantity, the business would evidently have been unprofitable. As it is, a low interest only was realized on the investment.
The Lexington enterprise fairly presents a normal example of silver mining. It belongs neither to the phenomenal bonanzas nor to the discouraging failures. The belief is common that it has been extremely profitable,
which illustrates the superficiality with which such things are judged.
Yours, truly,
CHAS. C. RUGER,
General Manager.
Senator T. C. POWER, Helena, Mont.

Mr. P O W E R . The Lexington mine is being operated now,
as the general manager of the company states, on account of
gold being associated with silver. The Granite Mountain and
its associate, the Bimetallic mine, are two of the greatest producing mines that have been discovered in the Northwest.
These mines are not in operation now; they had to close down.
These two mining industries, the Granite Mountain and Lexington, represent about the average large mines in Montana. I
could mention a number of other mines if it did not take too
much time.
Mr. F R Y E . In these reports is not the entire cost of the production of both silver and gold charged to the production of
silver?
Mr. P O W E R . No, sir.
Mr. F R Y E . When it is said that silver costs 92 cents an ounce,
have they not included in that all the expenditures which they
have made when, in making those expenditures, they have produced a certain amount of gold?
Mr. P O W E R . They credit the proceeds of the gold the same
as they do the proceeds of the silver in the net receipts. I t is
subtracted from the expenditure in the profits. I know that is
the situation in the Lexington mine, because the statements
are published in Paris, and that is the reason I have been given
permission to use this information. These statements come out
semiannually. The manager of the company says if it were
not for the gold they could not work that mine to-day, and the
gold produced and sold is credited the same as the silver. That
is more forcibly shown by the Granite Mountain and Bimetallic
Company, which are the largest silver mines in the country.
They have no gold, and consequently they can not run, and have
closed down.
I have a statement here from another mine within 15 miles
of Helena, called the " Montana Limited," owned in London,
which presents definitely the figures covering the amount they
have expended in the last ten years for labor and supplies, amounting to $6,519,000. These statements are officially published semiannually by their board in London. Their production was, dur533




26
ing the last ten years, 302,000 ounces of gold which, figured at
$18, would be $5,440,000. Their silver supply was a little less
than 3,000,000 ounces. Senators can see that the gold, figuring
the value, was nearly double. The manager of the company did
not tell me what the silver cost an ounce. He could not very
well say what it cost, and he does not state it. He merely states
they are now just barely making expenses on account of silver
being low. The gold product is about 55 per cent more than the
silver, and the gold carries them through, so that they can go
on and work their mine.
W h e n silver was down to 60 cents an ounce Mr. R. T. Bayliss^
the manager, told me if the price did not advance, his company
would have to close their mine.
Mr. McPHERSON. May I ask the Senator a single question*
as he is an expert on this subject? I was not in when he was
referring to it. I ask what he estimates to be the cost per ounce
for the production of silver in Montana?
Mr. P O W E R , l have given here the cost in two of the largest
mines in the State, one the Lexington and the other the Granite
Mountain mine; the latter is owned in St. Louis. Senators here
know of, and have heard of it, as it has been quoted in this
Chamber. I t has been circulated that silver did not cost more
than 20 cents an ounce. Mr. Rumsey gives officially the cost
last year at 93.422.
Mr. McPHERSON. If I am not inte rfering with the Senator's statement, at the present ratio of 16 to 1 but little profit
would be left to the silver-miner in the production of silver, and
if we were to proceed to free coinage, under the terms of t h e
Democratic platform, which is to make silver and gold intrinsically and exchangeably equal and bring them into agreement,
it would require to-day a ratio of 28 to 1. Then, I understand
by the Senator's statement, the mines would necessarily be
closed.
Mr. P O W E R . W i t h fair legislation for silver the mines will
not close; but pass the pending bill, demonetize silver, and the
mines will absolutely close. From the effects of fair legislation
they will not close.
Mr. McPHERSON. W h a t does the Senator call " f a i r legislation"?
Mr. P O W E R . To recognize silver.
Mr. McPHERSON. How?
Mr. P O W E R . Recognize it by free coinage.
Mr. McPHERSON. Upon what ratio?
Mr. P O W E R . Upon the ratio of 16 to 1 absolutely. W e do
not want any change of ratio. A change of ratio is a scheme
t h a t would necessitate the recoinage of all our silver circulation,
consequently not feasible.
THE GOLD STANDARD COHORTS, FOREIGN A N D DOMESTIC, THE VERY BARBARIANS OF THE NINETEENTH CENTURY.

The area of the territory west of the Missouri and the one hundredth parallel aggregates 1,826,040 square miles, as against 1,197,630 square miles comprising the area of the States east of t h a t
line, a difference in favor of the western portion of 628,410 square
miles. This computation does not include the area of Alaska.
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27
I t would thus seem, in view of the proposed legislation, that
an area west of the one hundredth meridian, exceeding by 628,410 square miles that of the territory east of that parallel, or an
excess of over 50 per cent, is sought to be crushed and laid prone
in all of its material industries by the domination of the money
centers of New England and the Middle States, with English
allies reenforcing them.
I have not referred to the more productive industries of other
States and Territories comprised within the area west of the one
hundredth meridian, which have been brought to the attention of
the Senate far more ably than is possible for me to do. But, Mr.
President, we stand together as a solid phalanx against the conspiracy to demonetize silver, upon which metal depend nearly
all the commerce and prosperity of t h a t vast region. Protesting against the crusade of the East against the West, we rally
on a common center to protect our homes and firesides and the
heritage of our children against the depredation of the cohorts
of the gold standard, foreign and domestic—the very barbarians
of the nineteenth century.
THE "DEVELOPMENT INWARD "—DARKER AMERICA MADE LIGHT B Y THE
EX-SOLDIERS, FEDERAL AND CONFEDERATE—WHAT ABRAHAM LINCOLN
WROTE ABOUT THE MINERS.

Mr. President, when the war for the preservation of the Union
had been fought to conclusion, the surviving soldiers of both Federal and Confederate armies returned to their homes to commence life over again in the pursuits of peace. The veterans
soon discovered that meantime their places had been filled by
the rising generation, and that, during the four or five years of
their absence, the youth were grown to manhood, and all had
undergone a change. These soldiers were participants in great
events, and had shared defeat and victory on many a hard-fought
field.
The dull, plodding cares and monotony of the old home life
became unbearable to them. Under such circumstances they
.were unable to assimilate themselves to the conditions in which
they had previously lived and moved. A t this juncture, Mr.
President, the great "development i n w a r d " was inaugurated,
and thousands upon thousands of these soldiers of both armies
bade adieu to home and kindred and turned their faces westward
toward the comparatively unknown and unexplored land. Under
the auspices and energy of these courageous men, the highest
type of American manhood, the great transcontinental railroads
were constructed, and, as time progressed, the imjnense resources of " D a r k e r America" were revealed.
The magnificent success attending this great development of
civilization in the far West is attested by and forms the brightest
page in our national history. In this connection, I beg to direct
attention to the following interesting letter from Abraham Lincoln, which reveals the intense interest taken by the g r e a t " Liberator " in this " development inward." I should like to have
the Secretary read the letter.
The VICE-PRESIDENT. The Secretary will read as indicated.
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The Secretary read as follows:
On the day of his assassination, April 14,1865, President Abraham Lincoln wrote the following letter to Hon. Schuyler Colfax, who was then visiting the coast. It was one of, if not the last, letters that he ever penned,
and it illustrates his views of the possibilities of the West. It will now be
read with interest by all in this section, especially his message to the miners.
"I shall promote their interests to the best of my ability because their
prosperity is the prosperity of the nation."
The letter is as follows:
" MR. COLFAX: I want you to take a message from me to the miners whom
you visit. I have very large ideas of the mineral wealth of our nation. I
believe it practically inexhaustible. It abounds all over the Western country, from the Rocky Mountains to the Pacific, and its development has
scarcely commenced. During the war, when we were adding a couple of
millions of dollars every day to our national debt, I did not care about encouraging the increase in the volume of our precious metals. We had the country to save first.
"But now that the rebellion is overthrown, and we know pretty nearly the
amount of the national debt, the more gold and silver we mine will pay the
payment so much easier. Now, I am going to encourage that in every possible way. We shall have hundreds of thousands of disbanded soldiers, and
many have feared that their return home in such numbers might paralyze
industry by furnishing, suddenly, a greater supply of labor than there will
be a demand for. I am going to try to attract them to the hidden wealth of
our mountain ranges, where there is room enough for all.
"Immigration, which even the war has not stopped, will land upon our
shores hundreds of thousands more per year from overcrowded Europe. I
intend to point them to the gold and silver waiting for them in the West.
Tell the miners for me that I shall promote their interests to the utmost of
my ability, because their prosperity is the prosperity of the nation; and we
shall prove, in a very few years, that we are indeed the treasury of the world."
THE FRIENDS OE SILVER " PUT THEMSELVES UPON THE COUNTRY "—PERORATION.

Mr. POWER. Mr. President, these are not the times, nor is
it the occasion to mince words. If the silver column in the Senate can maintain its equilibrium, and is not prostrated by the
assaults of the money changers of Wall street and their coparceners, but shall, by every legitimate and proper means, prevent
the passage of the pending measure and save silver from being
strangled, we shall have performed only our simple duty to the
country—no more, no less.
Senators on the other side have alluded to their responsibilities, and challenge the criticism of their constituents touching
their action, even those who have hitherto occupied opposite
positions on this issue. It is not for me to question the sincerity
of any of my colleagues of the Senatorial body, but, Mr. President, the extent of the responsibilities of the friends of silver on
this floor are not to be measured by the questionable standard of
the money centers. We represent the voice of the people, and
the voice of the people, according to the maxim, is the voice of
God.
The tenet of the silver faith to which we cling, is free silver
coinage at the ratio of 16 to 1, or at least such legislation on this
basis as will restore silver to its former place with gold as a money
of the Constitution. This is the shibboleth of the friends of silver, and on this we "put ourselves upon the country."
Mr. President, I view with grave apprehension the evil results
to follow the demonetization of silver, not to the Western section
alone, but to the whole country, and therefore share the deep
solicitude in this behalf so eloquently and feelingly expressed by
533




29
the senior Senator from Colorado [Mr. TELLER]. Our mining
industries have been prostrated by this senseless, cruel warfare
upon silver, and all the kindred occupations, commercial and agricultural, must suffer in relative proportion. When the pick
and spade of the miner cease to perform their function; when
the husbandman has no market for the foods which his toil has
produced; when the merchant sits idly in his deserted store;
when no freighted steamers plow our inland waters and the long
line of empty railway cars are shunted off on side tracks; when
our mills and factories are silent as if in death; when our houses
are tenantless and falling to ruin and real estate finds no sale;
when capital is diverted to other investment, and when all t h a t
has been won and accomplishedj through long years of energy
and thrift, by our enterprising and loyal communities shall have
become intangible and as Dead Sea fruit, little wonder is it, Mr.
President that, in the hope of averting these threatened calamities, the friends of silver rise in indignant protest against
the terrible sacrifice.
It is not within the letter nor spirit of American institutions
that one narrow section of our broad domain may, for selnsh interest, dominate and ruin all the rest. I maintain that the commercial and financial interests of the whole country are so interwoven and dependent on each other, they form a mosaic from
which, if one essential piece be taken or lost, the whole fabric
falls to pieces.
533




o