14
THE BATTALION.
is the men of money. But even if the debtor class were
the poorer class, the employes constitute the larg-er part
of the poorer class. Then, if we diminish the value of our
money one-half, immediately all articles of commerce and
for sale will go up according to the per cent, of the de
crease of the value of the money. And then, the poor
laboring class, that have scarcely been able to support
themselves and their wives and children, now find that
clothing and articles for the table have gone up to a double
value, while labor, as has always been in such a case,, is
much slower to go up.
How would the professors of the A. & M. College like
for the purchasing power of their wages to be diminished
50 per cent?
Even with sound money, we have many strikes. The
strike of the coal miners was a severe one, and it was
brought on because their wages were not not sufficient to
support themselves and their wives and children. The
railroad strikes of ’92 were far worse. Free coinage of
silver at the ratio of 16 to 1 would undoubtedly bring war
between employer ayid employe. The hungry strikers
would be worse than the howling mobs of Paris under
Louis XV, or the hungry peasantry under Edward III.
The debt of the United States is SI,800,000,000. How
are ever to pay that enormous sum with a money worth
only 50 cents on a $1, unless the government would rob the
men she borrows money from? No gold standard nation
would accept silver as pay only in more than double the
amount specified. Therefore for us to pay our debt we