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Show SILVER AND THE ORIENT. In three years after 1898 this country drew in trade balances from the outside world's necessities, necessi-ties, two thousand millions of dollars. There was an abundance of food in this countr y, there was a food famine all around the outside world. That rush of money to our shores caused a boom from sea to sea, and stopped the telling argument ar-gument of the silver men that the scarcity of money made the need of the restoration of silver Imperative. Now the "statesmen" of the East proclaim not only that the silver question is dead, but that its advocacy during the hard times was both foolish and dishonest. The facts, however, remain as of old. The demonetization de-monetization of silver was due to a most wicked conspiracy; it was simply the carrying out of a plan to give the creditor classes increased purchasing pur-chasing power for the money they collected Jn interest, in-terest, it was sharp banking in contradistinction to statesmanship. Even now, when there is an abundance of money for all purposes in this country, the mistake mis-take of demonetizing silver is just as apparent as ever. We have heard very much of the "open door" with China, Jim Hill tells us that if the Chinese would take of our products only $5 each per annum, an-num, it would amount to two thousand millions of dollars annually. But China does not take that amount, or any other considerable amount. Why? She is more friendly to the United States than to any other country, but she does not buy American Ameri-can goods. The reason is because she has 'no money with which to buy. Again the daily transactions of her people cannot be computed in gold. They are too small. She has always been obliged to rely upon silver and copper. A man who has a little land but no money is a poor patron of the country store. He can at best cultivate but a few acres. But if a small inheritance comes to him, he at once buys new equipments, employs laborers and his bills are a fl joy to the merchant. fl When Senators Cannon, Dubois and Pettigrew B were in China, three years ago, the foremost fl statesman of that country told them how crippled B China was for want of money. He wanted to B borrow 100,000,000 ounces of silver, and said that B could China borrow that amount annually for B twenty years, it would give the people but $5 per B capita. fl Is it not clear that even now could our fl "statesmen" have their visions cleared enough to B accept silver as money as some fixed ratio, this B country could loan to China two thousand mil- B lions in silver in the next fifteen years, and ab- B solutely command the trade of that great empire? B There is the same trouble with the currency B of the Philippines. B Is not our country big enough to correct a X palpable mistake? fl Asia needs all the silver that the world can B spare. Why cannot the United State supply It B and command her trade? |