Show MISGUIDED MAXUFACTUIEJI Albert A Pope the bicycle manufacturer manufac-turer is very much given to writing for the papers Some of his letters such as those on the subject of Good Roads are good and some are wretched The following just received by The Herald from him belongs in the latter category Hartford Conn October 1 1896 I Dear Sir The currency question of today is it seems to me the most important im-portant national issue that has arisen since the close of our civil war The question squarely put is Shall we have good or bad money though through the sophistry of skillful agitators I agi-tators it has been so twisted as to read Shall we have a gold standard or free coinage of silver I want a dollar that even when melted into bullion will buy a dollars worth of produce in the open markets of the world and this is the only way we can have a nonchangeable unit of value just as the yard is a standard and not an elastic measure I I Experience is always the best I I teacher and experience has demonstrated demon-strated the fact that all monetary values 1 val-ues have been referred to gold as a I standard whether in gold countries or in regions where the free coinage of silver has been legally established I Fiftythree cents worth of the white metal stamped at the mints of the United States is nothing more or less I than 4 United States demand note to pay to the bearer fortvscven cents I plus the market value of the coin No decree of any nation on earth can create cre-ate value A man In business life is worth what his assets will bring and not the face value of the notes he may have circulated in the market I with the limited coinage of silver its value relative to has ls gold constantly con-stantly decreased it is certainly logical log-ical to conclude that under the free coinage of silver there would be a still greater disparity of values The unlimited use of silver as a coin I would in my judgment bring about the greatest financial calamity that has visited the United States over Isled and would be followed by distress among all classes such as we have never seen I would bear very heavily upon the workingman and cause a gradual rise In the price of necessities nor would it make a proportional advance in the pay of the wageearner We are running our factories and have on our payroll over 2000 men because we believe that the commonsense common-sense < jf the American people will bring about the right solution of this question and that the poll of next November will demonstrate this fact I I thought Bryan would be elected on the free silver platform I should feel I my duty to close down our factories fac-tories tomorrow thus throwing out of employment hundreds of worthy men by a stop which would be necessary to protect ourselves for we believe that with the free silver party In power we have enough stock made up to last along a-long time Personally I am an independent ard have voted three times for Grover 1 Cleveland but this fall my ballot will be cast for the Republican ticket because be-cause I believe in honest money Your truly ALBERT A POPE If Mr Pope desires to maintain his reputation as an adviser of the ubllc he should confine himself to road building II I build-ing and other matters that he understands under-stands and not dip into the financial subject upon every principle of which he is plainly Ignorant When Mr Pope states that all monetary mon-etary values have been referred to gold as a standard he states a half truth that Is the worst kind of falsehood false-hood Since gold was made the sole standard values have been referred to and measured by it but when we had the bimetallic standard it regulated values I was the change from the bimetallic to the single standard that brought about the shrinkage of all values other than that of gold In so far as Mr Pope seeks to Infer that values have always been referred to gold as a standard he falls Into grievous griev-ous error but in so far as he expresses the fact that values are now referred to that standard he expresses a truth that Is at the foundation of the case of the bimetallists and that is very commonly denied by the gold men I a bimetallist were to make the statement state-ment to one of Mr Popes gold standard stand-ard associates that prices are referred to that standard and consequently shortened in proportion the assertion would at once be denied and the silver sil-ver man would be told that wages or something else other than gold measures meas-ures prices Again the Hartford manufacturer asserts that since silver declined in price under limited coinage it would certainly register a greater decline under un-der unlimited coinage A more preposterous pre-posterous statement has not been made since the controversy opened I Mr Pope had a limited demand for bicycles bi-cycles he would not be surprised if the price should fall but if an unlimited demand should open up he would expect ex-pect an Immediate return to the maximum max-imum figure I is clear that Mr Pope does not or will not understand the financial issue that he assumes to discuss I is reasonable rea-sonable to suppose that he is honestly Ignorant I he understood the subject sub-ject he would realize that so far from being a menace to his business free coinage would be a boon to him He has to depend upon the great middle class to absorb the bulk of his product prod-uct Bimetallism would greatly Increase In-crease the prosperity of this class and enormously add to the number of wheels purchased by them I will not be six months after the establishment of free coinage until the wheel manufacturers manu-facturers will find themselves more have crowded with orders than they ever been in the vast Mr Pope should consult his own and his operatives interests in-terests in this matter rather than the interests of those who live upon the I proceeds of bonds and mortgages u The Heralds Ephraim correspondent says some voters are being lured into the McKinley camp by the argument that it is not certain that Bryan will do anything for silver if elected while McKinley in the event of his being chosen will positively do something for protection Those who are beguiled by such an argument cannot understand I that Mr Bryan is one of the sincerest one of the most earnest men we hiV 1 ever had in public life If he is elected the chances are that a free coinage I majority will be returned to congress I at the same time On the other hand tme te it is not at all probable that McKinley i would go into power with a majority I at his back in both houses the senate now being against protection with no I probability of a change of control Therefore if there were anything in I such argument the application would 1 be exactly the reverse of that made in Sanpete I I |