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Newspaper
Mitchell Capital
Location
Mitchell, South Dakota, United States of America
Date
Oct 23, 1896
Page
6
A frontier critique argues free coinage would raise grain and meat prices, lowering real wages. It claims wage earners would lose as fiat money shifts wealth, insisting labor creates value and laws cannot enrich workers. Citing Hon. John De Witt Warner, the piece urges opposition to laws raising prices and harming laborers.
Senator Stewart argues the laboring man deserves a gold dollar if earned and that gold remains the universal standard of value. He condemns any attempt to adopt alternate measures or inflate the currency, warning of widespread devaluation and economic harm. He cites global experience with depreciated currencies and urges honesty with the American people.
The piece argues that wage growth lags behind price increases in depreciating currency, with prices rising quickly while wages lag. It claims wage earners always lose when paid in money that depreciates, illustrating the contrast with prices climbing like elevators while wages creep up stair steps.
The Philadelphia Record argues that adopting free silver coinage would equate to confiscating half of a laborer’s wages, savings, a widow’s dower, or a soldier’s pension, drawing an analogy with farmers losing half their harvest or factories losing half their goods.
A heat of reform message urges Chicago Democrats to add a plank restoring the natural zero freezing point. It claims mankind suffers from current temperature standards set by coal barons and quack doctors and argues for unilateral action to lower the freezing point for the masses.
Quote from Hon. John G Carlisle arguing that farmers and mechanics need access to top tools while merchants and bankers require reliable money and credit. He asserts that honest, stable measures of value and of weights are essential to ordinary business, with no argument needed.
Wheat, corn and cotton prices climb while silver falls, contrasting Bryan’s claim that the gold standard clears the dollar and brings hard times. The market mood shifts as farm prices move upward against a backdrop of monetary debate.
Bryan must address questions about wheat and cotton prices and their link to silver, including whether prices rise due to a silver shortage or foreign crops. He could answer easily, as a powerful figure capable of doubling the world’s silver supply, yet he opts to avoid embarrassment.
The speaker defends honest money and government issued paper currency backed by gold or silver, arguing against free coinage and political manipulation. He cites 1878 policy, asserts gold as standard, criticizes silver advocates, and urges integrity as essential to national prosperity. The remarks stress that money must retain value and government backing for trust.
The writer labels Bryan a silver monometalist, arguing that past free coinage at 16 to 1 failed to create true bimetallic money. It contends higher prices from cheaper money hurt workers and questions how wage earners can rely on luck to gain higher wages.
The excerpt recounts Henry Ward Beecher’s 1877 Thanksgiving sermon warning against fiat money and unrestrained paper currency. It denounces tampering with standards, praise for gold as the world’s measure, and condemns those who seek to cheat creditors while condemning financiers as untrustworthy amid national peril. The passage highlights calls to uphold monetary integrity and criticize postwar reliance on foreign capital.
An Unworthy Citizen and Skeptic engage in a heated exchange on free coinage, arguing whether it would boost money supply and influence gold's circulation. The dialogue cites Gresham's law, Bryan, and national sovereignty while railing against opposition as unpatriotic.
A city speaker urged free coinage and a fifty cent dollar, claiming vast gains from silver, but the speaker questions who would accept such dollars at a higher value. The account, from Chicago Times-Herald, notes public confusion over proposed policy to mint half value currency and flood the nation with silver.
The speaker rebukes fellow reformers for incremental price hikes and touts a sweeping “little silver trust” scheme that raises prices across the board. He claims faster action will force the public to see benefits, while accusing rivals of inaction and retaliation from critics.
The piece argues that farmers feeling underpaid should not equate to free coinage improving their fortunes. It likewise warns against following dubious medical advice just because one is unwell, using a rheumatism example to critique overreaching remedies.
The Cordage Journal discusses how proposed laws to limit private contracts threaten freedom of commerce. It argues that contracts enable rope, hemp, and material trades and that restricting payment terms would force archaic barter, raise costs, and harm farmers and consumers. The piece urges business voters to choose a candidate preserving commercial freedom.
Philadelphia Record argues that free coinage of silver would not help farmers or workers. It warns that doubling prices across all goods would erode purchasing power, harm savings, and trigger widespread depreciation and loss of credit. It questions whether depositors should risk poorer money and possible bank outcomes.
Dialogue from the Des Moines speech sketches the conflict over monetary policy. Boies argues free coinage will raise oats prices, but reduce purchasing power. the hired man notes wages would not keep pace and vows to seek an honest dollar for an honest day’s work. Reported in Council Bluffs Nonpareil.
The New York Post notes Weyler's ban on cash value deviation in Cuba, where banknotes issued under martial rule quickly discounted. The Havana Stock Exchange later quoted notes in gold as the regime admitted limits of state control, illustrating the limits of legal price fixing in a small population.
In the House of Representatives on April 9 1872 arguments were given against continuing the silver dollar as currency. Judge Kelley said it is now kept only as a curiosity and not as a circulating coin. Hooper urged declaring the gold dollar the money unit and Stoughton echoed pruning silver in favor of a gold unit.
A fragmented opinion urges mortgage holders to consider foreclosing quickly after an election if free coinage becomes law. The piece asks readers to imagine themselves in the creditor role and anticipates the onset of a cheap money era within six months.
The record traces 18th and 19th century voices on gold and silver as monetary standards. Jefferson and Benton defend gold’s fixed value and market influence. Jackson extols gold’s unchanging nature. 1853 committee argues gold as sole standard, with silver relegated to token status. The Administration Gold Bill seeks a single gold standard, reflecting persistent political split on currency reform.
The Louisville Courier-Journal notes Bryanites aim to shift the United States from the gold standard to silver. It cites per capita circulation figures showing gold standard countries hold about two thirds of world currency with less than one third of population, while silver standard nations have much smaller per capita circulation.
In 1878 farm products fell to postwar lows while greenbackers urged delaying resumption until 1879. Resumption occurred January 1, 1879. Cash wheat rose from 81 2 to 1.0134 by May and 1.383 by December 1879. Corn advanced from 29 3/4? to 43 1/4? by year end. The piece links these facts to political rhetoric urging voters to back a candidate arguing dollar purchasing power is too high.
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