{
  "schema": "tga.work.v1",
  "identifier": "dresden:vol-9:chicago-and-new-york-gold-speech",
  "slug": "chicago-and-new-york-gold-speech",
  "title": "The Chicago and New York Gold Speech",
  "subtitle": "On the monetary question, 1896.",
  "excerpt": "Ingersoll's last major political address — delivered in Chicago and New York on behalf of the gold standard during the Bryan-McKinley campaign of 1896.",
  "year": 1896,
  "volume": 9,
  "category": "Political",
  "author": {
    "name": "Robert G. Ingersoll",
    "wikidata": "Q360326",
    "viaf": "44331023"
  },
  "isPartOf": {
    "title": "The Works of Robert G. Ingersoll",
    "edition": "Dresden Edition",
    "publisher": "C. P. Farrell",
    "year": 1900
  },
  "license": "https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/mark/1.0/",
  "url": "https://thegreatagnostic.com/works/chicago-and-new-york-gold-speech/",
  "wordCount": 11869,
  "body": "• \"This world will see but one Ingersoll.\"\n    Such was the terse, laconic, yet potent utterance that came\n    spontaneously from a celebrated statesman whose head is now\n    pillowed in the dust of death, as he stood in the lobby of\n    the old Burnet House in Cincinnati after the famous\n    Republican Convention in that city in 1876, at which Colonel\n    Robert G. Ingersoll made that powerful speech nominating\n    Blaine for the Presidency, one which is read and reread to-\n    day, and will be read in the future, as an example of the\n    highest art of the platform.\n    That same sentiment in thought, emotion or vocal expression\n    emanated from upward of twenty thousand citizens last night\n    who heard the eloquent and magic Ingersoll in the great\n    tent stretched near the corner of Sacramento avenue and Lake\n    street as he expounded the living gospel of true\n    Republicanism.\n    The old warhorse, silvered by long years of faithful service\n    to his country, aroused the same all-pervading enthusiasm as\n    he did in the campaigns of Grant and Hayes and Garfield.\n    He has lost not one whit, not one iota of his striking\n    physical presence, his profound reasoning, his convincing\n    logic, his rollicking wit, grandiloquence—in fine, all the\n    graces of the orator of old, reenforced by increased\n    patriotism and the ardor of the call to battle for his\n    country, are still his in the fullest measure.\n    Ingersoll in his powerful speech at Cincinnati, spoke in\n    behalf of a friend; last night he plead for his country. In\n    1876 he eulogized a man; last night, twenty years afterward,\n    he upheld the principles of democratic government. Such was\n    the difference in his theme; the logic, the eloquence of his\n    utterances was the more profound In the same ratio.\n    He came to the ground floor of human existence and talked as\n    man to man. His patriotism, be it religion, sentiment, or\n    that lofty spirit inseparable from man's soul, is his life.\n    Last night he sought to inspire those who heard him with the\n    same loyalty, and he succeeded.\n    Those passionate outbursts of eloquence, the wit that fairly\n    scintillated, the logic as Inexorable as heaven's decrees,\n    his rich rhetoric and immutable facts driven straight to his\n    hearers with the strength of bullets, aroused applause that\n    came as spontaneous as sunlight.\n    Now eliciting laughter, now silence, now cheers, the great\n    orator, with the singular charm of presence, manner and\n    voice, swayed his immense audience at his own volition.\n    Packed with potency was every sentence, each word a living\n    thing, and with them he flayed financial heresy, laid bare\n    the dire results of free trade, and exposed the dangers of\n    Populism.\n    It was an immense audience that greeted him. The huge tent\n    was packed from center-pole to circumference, and thousands\n    went away because they could not gain entrance. The houses\n    in the vicinity were beautifully illuminated decorated.\n    The Chairman, Wm. P. McCabe, in a brief but forcible speech,\n    presented Colonel Ingersoll to the vast audience. As the old\n    veteran of rebellion days arose from his seat, one\n    prolonged, tremendous cheer broke forth from the twenty\n    thousand throats. And it was fully fifteen minutes before\n    the great orator could begin to deliver his address.\n    In his introductory speech Mr. McCabe said:\n    \"Friends and Fellow-Citizens: I have no set speech to make\n    to-night. My duty Is to introduce to you one whose big heart\n    and big brain is filled with love and patriotic care for the\n    things that concern the country he fought for and loved so\n    well. I now have the honor of introducing to you Hon. Robert\n    G. Ingersoll.\"—The Intrr-Ocean, Chicago, 111., October 9th,\n    1895.\n\n1896.\n\nLADIES and Gentlemen: This is our country.\n\nThe legally expressed will of the majority is the supreme law of the\nland. We are responsible for what our Government does. We cannot excuse\nourselves because of the act of some king, or the opinions of nobles. We\nare the kings. We are the nobles. We are the aristocracy of America, and\nwhen our Government does right we are honored, and when our Government\ndoes wrong the brand of shame is on the American brow.\n\nAgain we are on the field of battle, where thought contends with\nthought, the field of battle where facts are bullets and arguments are\nswords.\n\nTo-day there is in the United States a vast congress consisting of the\npeople, and in that congress every man has a voice, and it is the duty\nof every man to inquire into all questions presented, to the end that he\nmay vote as a man and as a patriot should.\n\nNo American should be dominated by prejudice. No man standing under our\nflag should follow after the fife and drum of a party. He should say to\nhimself: \"I am a free man, and I will discharge the obligations of an\nAmerican citizen with all the intelligence I possess.\"\n\nI love this country because the people are free; and if they are not\nfree it is their own fault.\n\nTo-night I am not going to appeal to your prejudices, if you have any.\nI am going to talk to the sense that you have. I am going to address\nmyself to your brain and to your heart. I want nothing of you except\nthat you will preserve the institutions of the Republic; that you will\nmaintain her honor unstained. That is all I ask.\n\nI admit that all the parties who disagree with me are honest. Large\nmasses of mankind are always honest, the leader not always, but the mass\nof people do what they believe to be right. Consequently there is no\nargument in abuse, nothing calculated to convince in calumny. To be\nkind, to be candid, is far nobler, far better, and far more American. We\nlive in a Democracy, and we admit that every other human being has the\nsame right to think, the same right to express his thought, the same\nright to vote that we have, and I want every one who hears me to vote\nin exact accord with his sense, to cast his vote in accordance with\nhis conscience. I want every one to do the best he can for the great\nRepublic, and no matter how he votes, if he is honest, I shall find no\nfault.\n\nBut the great thing is to understand what you are going to do; the great\nthing is to use the little sense that we have. In most of us the capital\nis small, and it ought to be turned often. We ought to pay attention, we\nought to listen to what is said and then think, think for ourselves.\n\nSeveral questions have been presented to the American people for their\nsolution, and I propose to speak a little about those questions, and I\ndo not want you to pretend to agree with me. I want no applause unless\nyou honestly believe I am right.\n\nThree great questions are presented: First, as to money; second, as\nto the tariff, and third, whether this Government has the right of\nself-defence. Whether this is a Government of law, or whether there\nshall be an appeal from the Supreme Court to a mob. These are the three\nquestions to be answered next Tuesday by the American people.\n\nFirst, let us take up this money question. Thousands and thousands of\nspeeches have been made on the subject. Pamphlets thick as the leaves\nof autumn have been scattered from one end of the Republic to the other,\nall about money, as if it were an exceedingly metaphysical question, as\nthough there were something magical about it.\n\nWhat is money? Money is a product of nature. Money is a part of nature.\nMoney is something that man cannot create. All the legislatures and\ncongresses of the world cannot by any possibility create one dollar, any\nmore than they could suspend the attraction of gravitation or hurl a\nnew constellation into the concave sky. Money is not made. It has to be\nfound. It is dug from the crevices of rocks, washed from the sands of\nstreams, from the gravel of ancient valleys; but it is not made. It\ncannot be created. Money is something that does not have to be redeemed.\nMoney is the redeemer. And yet we have a man running for the presidency\non three platforms with two Vice-Presidents, who says that money is the\ncreature of law. It may be that law sometimes is the creature of money,\nbut money was never the creature of law.\n\nA nation can no more create money by law than it can create corn and\nwheat and barley by law, and the promise to pay money is no nearer money\nthan a warehouse receipt is grain, or a bill of fare is a dinner. If you\ncan make money by law, why should any nation be poor?\n\nThe supply of law is practically unlimited. Suppose one hundred people\nshould settle on an island, form a government, elect a legislature. They\nwould have the power to make law, and if law can make money, if money\nis the creature of law, why should not these one hundred people on the\nisland be as wealthy as Great Britain? What is to hinder? And yet we are\ntold that money is the creature of law. In the financial world that\nis as absurd as perpetual motion in mechanics; it is as absurd as the\nfountain of eternal youth, the philosopher's stone, or the transmutation\nof metals.\n\nWhat is a dollar? People imagine that a piece of paper with pictures on\nit, with signatures, is money. The greenback is not money—never was;\nnever will be. It is a promise to pay money; not money. The note of the\nnation is no nearer money than the note of an individual. A bank note is\nnot money. It is a promise to pay money; that is all.\n\nWell, what is a dollar? In the civilized world it is twenty-three grains\nand twenty-two one hundredths of pure gold. That is a dollar. Well,\ncannot we make dollars out of silver? Yes, I admit it, but in order to\nmake a silver dollar you have got to put a dollars worth of silver in\nthe silver dollar, and you have to put as much silver in it as you can\nbuy for twenty-three grains and twenty-two one-hundredths' of a grain\nof pure gold. It takes a dollar's worth of silver to make a dollar.\nIt takes a dollar's worth of paper to make a paper dollar. It takes a\ndollar's worth of iron to make an iron dollar; and there is no way of\nmaking a dollar without the value.\n\nAnd let me tell you another thing. You do not add to the value of gold\nby coining it any more than you add to the value of wheat by measuring\nit; any more than you add to the value of coal by weighing it. Why do\nyou coin gold? Because every man cannot take a chemist's outfit with\nhim. He cannot carry a crucible and retort, scales and acids, and so\nthe Government coins it, simply to certify how much gold there is in the\npiece.\n\nAh, but, says this same gentleman, what gives our money—our silver—its\nvalue? It is because it is a legal tender, he says. Nonsense; nonsense.\nGold was not given value by being made a legal tender, but being\nvaluable it was made a legal tender. And gold gets no value to-day from\nbeing a legal tender. I not only say that, but I will prove it; and I\nwill not only prove it, but I will demonstrate it. Take a twenty dollar\ngold piece, hammer it out of shape, mar the Goddess of Liberty, pound\nout the United States of America and batter the eagle, and after you get\nit pounded how much is it worth?\n\nIt is worth exactly twenty dollars. Is it a legal tender? No. Has its\nvalue been changed? No. Take a silver dollar. It is a legal tender; now\npound it into a cube, and how much is it worth? A little less than fifty\ncents. What gives it the value of a dollar? The fact that it is a legal\ntender? No; but the promise of the Government to keep it on an equality\nwith gold. I will not only say this, but I will demonstrate it. I do not\nask you to take my word; just use the sense you have.\n\nThe Mexican silver dollar has a little more silver in it than one of our\ndollars, and the Mexican silver dollar is a legal tender in Mexico. If\nthere is any magic about legal tender it ought to work as well in Mexico\nas in the United States. I take an American silver dollar and I go\nto Mexico. I buy a dinner for a dollar and I give to the Mexican the\nAmerican dollar and he gives me a Mexican dollar in change. Yet both of\nthe dollars are legal tender. Why is it that the Mexican dollar is worth\nonly fifty cents? Because the Mexican Government has not agreed to keep\nit equal with gold; that is all, that is all.\n\nWe want the money of the civilized world, and I will tell you now that\nin the procession of nations every silver nation lags behind—every one.\nThere is not a silver nation on the globe where decent wages are paid\nfor human labor—not one. The American laborer gets ten times as much\nhere in gold as a laborer gets in China in silver, twenty times as much\nas a laborer does in India, four times as much as a laborer gets in\nRussia; and yet we are told that the man who will \"follow England\" with\nthe gold standard lacks patriotism and manhood. What then shall we\nsay of the man that follows China, that follows India in the silver\nstandard?\n\nDoes that require patriotism?\n\nIt certainly requires self-denial.\n\nAnd yet these gentlemen say that our money is too good. They might as\nwell say the air is too pure; they might as well say the soil is too\nrich. How can money be too good? Mr. Bryan says that it is so good,\npeople hoard it; and let me tell him they always will. Mr. Bryan wants\nmoney so poor that everybody will be anxious to spend it. He wants money\nso poor that the rich will not have it. Then he thinks the poor can get\nit. We are willing to toil for good money. Good money means the comforts\nand luxuries of life. Real money is always good. Paper promises and\nsilver substitutes may be poor; words and pictures may be cheap and may\nfade to worthlessness—but gold shines on.\n\nIn Chicago, many years ago, there was an old colored man at the Grand\nPacific. I met him one morning, and he looked very sad, and I said to\nhim, \"Uncle, what is the matter?\" \"Well,\" he said, \"my wife ran away\nlast night. Pretty good looking woman; a good deal younger than I am;\nbut she has run off.\" And he says: \"Colonel, I want to give you my idea\nabout marriage. If a man wants to marry a woman and have a good time,\nand be satisfied and secure in his mind, he wants to marry some woman\nthat no other man on God's earth would have.\"\n\nThat is the kind of money these gentlemen want in the United States.\nCheap money. Do you know that the words cheap money are a contradiction\nin terms? Cheap money is always discounted when people find out that it\nis cheap. We want good money, and I do not care how much we get. But we\nwant good money. Men are willing to toil for good money; willing to\nwork in the mines; willing to work in the heat and glare of the furnace;\nwilling to go to the top of the mast on the wild sea; willing to work\nin tenements; women are willing to sew with their eyes filled with tears\nfor the sake of good money. And if anything is to be paid in good money,\nlabor is that thing. If any man is entitled to pure gold, it is the man\nwho labors. Let the big fellows take cheap money. Let the men living\nnext the soil be paid in gold. But I want the money of this country as\ngood as that of any other country.\n\nWhen our money is below par we feel below par. I want our money, no\nmatter how it is payable, to have the gold behind it. That is the money\nI want in the United States.\n\nI want to teach the people of the world that a Democracy is honest. I\nwant to teach the people of the world that America is not only capable\nof self-government, but that it has the self-denial, the courage, the\nhonor, to pay its debts to the last farthing.\n\nMr. Bryan tells the farmers who are in debt that they want cheap money.\nWhat for? To pay their debts. And he thinks that is a compliment to the\ntillers of the soil. The statement is an insult to the farmers, and the\nfarmers of Maine and Vermont have answered him.\n\nAnd if the farmers of those States with their soil can be honest, I\nthink a farmer in Illinois has no excuse for being a rascal. I regard\nthe farmers as honest men, and when the sun shines and the rains fall\nand the frosts wait, they will pay their debts. They are good men, and I\nwant to tell you to-night that all the stories that have been told about\nfarmers being Populists are not true.\n\nYou will find the Populists in the towns, in the great cities, in\nthe villages. All the failures, no matter for what reason, are on the\nPopulist's side. They want to get rich by law. They are tired of work.\n\nAnd yet Mr. Bryan says vote for cheap money so that you can pay your\ndebts in fifty cent dollars. Will an honest man do it?\n\nSuppose a man has borrowed a thousand bushels of wheat of his neighbor,\nof sixty pounds to the bushel, and then Congress should pass a law\nmaking thirty pounds of wheat a bushel. Would that farmer pay his debt\nwith five hundred bushels and consider himself an honest man?\n\nMr. Bryan says, \"Vote for cheap money to pay your debts,\" and thereupon\nthe creditor says, \"What is to become of me?\" Mr. Bryan says, \"We will\nmake it one dollar and twenty-nine cents an ounce, and make it of the\nratio of sixteen to one, make it as good as gold.\" And thereupon the\npoor debtor says, \"How is that going to help me?\" And in nearly all the\nspeeches that this man has made he has taken the two positions, first,\nthat we want cheap money to pay debts, and second, that the money would\nbe just as good as gold for creditors.\n\nNow, the question is: Can Congress make fifty cents' worth of silver\nworth one dollar? That is the question, and if Congress can, then I\noppose the scheme on account of its extravagance. What is the use of\nwasting all that silver? Think about it. If Congress can make fifty\ncents' worth of silver worth a dollar by law, why can it not make one\ncent's worth of silver worth a dollar by law. Let us save the silver and\nuse it for forks and spoons. The supply even of silver is limited—the\nsupply of law is inexhaustible. Do not waste silver, use more law. You\ncannot fix values by law any more than you can make cooler summers by\nshortening thermometers.\n\nThere is another trouble. If Congress, by the free coinage of silver,\ncan double its value, why should we allow an Englishman with a million\ndollars' worth of silver bullion at the market price, to bring it to\nAmerica, have it coined free of charge, and make it exactly double the\nvalue? Why should we put a million dollars in his pocket? That is too\ngenerous. Why not buy the silver from him in the open market and let the\nGovernment make the million dollars? Nothing is more absurd; nothing is\nmore idiotic. I admit that Mr. Bryan is honest. I admit it. If he were\nnot honest his intellectual pride would not allow him to make these\nstatements.\n\nWell, another thing says our friend, \"Gold has been cornered\"; and\nthousands of people believe it.\n\nYou have no idea of the credulity of some folks. I say that it has not\nbeen cornered, and I will not only prove it, I will demonstrate it.\nWhenever the Stock Exchange or some of the members have a corner on\nstocks, that stock goes up, and if it does not, that corner bursts.\nWhenever gentlemen in Chicago get up a corner on wheat in the Produce\nExchange, wheat goes up or the corner bursts. And yet they tell me there\nhas been a corner in gold for all these years, yet since 1873 to the\npresent time the rate of interest has steadily gone down.\n\nIf there had been a corner the rate of interest would have steadily\nadvanced. There is a demonstration. But let me ask, for my own\ninformation, if they corner gold what will prevent their cornering\nsilver? Or are you going to have it so poor that it will not be worth\ncornering?\n\nThen they say another thing, and that is that the demonetization of\nsilver is responsible for all the hardships we have endured, for all the\nbankruptcy, for all the panics. That is not true, and I will not only\nprove it, but I will demonstrate it. The poison of demonetization\nentered the American veins, as they tell us, in 1873, and has been busy\nin its hellish work from that time to this; and yet, nineteen years\nafter we were vaccinated, 1892, was the most prosperous year ever known\nby this Republic. All the wheels turning, all the furnaces aflame,\nwork at good wages, everybody prosperous. How, Mr. Bryanite, how do you\naccount for that? Just be honest a minute and think about it.\n\nThen there is another thing. In 1816 Great Britain demonetized silver,\nand that wretched old government has had nothing but gold from that day\nto this as a standard. And to show you the frightful results of that\ndemonetization, that government does not own now above one-third of\nthe globe, and all the winds are busy floating her flags. There is a\ndemonstration.\n\nMr. Bryan tells us that free coinage will bring silver 16 to 1. What is\nthe use of stopping there? Why not make it 1 to 1? Why not make it equal\nwith gold and be done with it? And why should it stop at exactly one\ndollar and twenty-nine cents? I do not know. I am not well acquainted\nwith all the facts that enter into the question of value, but why should\nit stop at exactly one dollar and twenty-nine cents? I do not know. And\nI guess if he were cross-examined along toward the close of the trial he\nwould admit that he did not know.\n\nAnd yet this statesman calls this silver the money of our fathers. Well,\nlet us see. Our fathers did some good things. In 1792 they made gold and\nsilver the standards, and at a ratio of 15 to 1. But where you have two\nmetals and endeavor to make a double standard it is very hard to keep\nthem even. They vary, and, as old Dogberry says, \"An two men ride of a\nhorse, one must ride behind.\" They made the ratio 15 to 1, and who did\nit? Thomas Jefferson and Alexander Hamilton. Jefferson, the greatest\nman, with one exception, that ever sat in the presidential chair. With\none exception. [A voice: \"Who was that?\"] Abraham Lincoln. Alexander\nHamilton, with more executive ability than any other man that ever\nstood under the flag. And how did they fix the ratio? They found the\ncommercial value in the market; that is how they did it. And they went\non and issued American dollars 15 to 1; and in 1806, when Jefferson was\nPresident, the coinage was stopped. Why? There was too much silver in\nthe dollars, and people instead of passing them around put them aside\nand sold them to the silversmiths.\n\nThen in 1834 the ratios changed; not quite sixteen to one. That was\nbased again on the commercial value, and instead of sixteen to one they\nwent into the thousands in decimals. It was not quite sixteen to one.\nThey wanted to fix it absolutely on the commercial value. Then a few\nmore dollars were coined; and our fathers coined of these sacred dollars\nup to 1873, eight millions, and seven millions had been melted.\n\nIn 1853 the gold standard was in fact adopted, and, as I have told you,\nfrom 1792 to 1873 only eight millions of silver had been coined.\n\nWhat have the \"enemies of silver\" done since that time? Under the act\nof 1878 we have coined over four hundred and thirty millions of these\nblessed dollars. We bought four million ounces of silver in the open\nmarket every month, and in spite of the vast purchases silver continued\nto go down. We are coining about two millions a month now, and silver is\nstill going down. Even the expectation of the election of Bryan cannot\nadd the tenth of one per cent, to the value of silver bullion. It is\ngoing down day by day.\n\nBut what I want to say to-night is, if you want silver money, measure it\nby the gold standard.\n\nI wish every one here would read the speech of Senator Sherman,\ndelivered at Columbus a little while ago, in which he gives the history\nof American coinage, and every man who will read it will find\nthat silver was not demonetized in 1873. You will find that it was\ndemonetized in 1853, and if he will read back he will find that the\napostles of silver now were in favor of the gold standard in 1873.\nSenator Jones of Nevada in 1873 voted for the law of 1873. He said from\nhis seat in the Senate, that God had made gold the standard. He said\nthat gold was the mother of civilization. Whether he has heard from God\nsince or not I do not know. But now he is on the other side. Senator\nStewart of Nevada was there at the time; he voted for the act of 1873,\nand said that gold was the only standard. He has changed his mind. So\nthey have said of me that I used to talk another way, and they have\npublished little portions of speeches, without publishing all that was\nsaid. I want to tell you to-night that I have never changed on the money\nquestion.\n\nOn many subjects I have changed. I am very glad to feel that I have\ngrown a little in the last forty or fifty years. And a man should allow\nhimself to grow, to bud and blossom and bear new fruit, and not be\nsatisfied with the rotten apples under the tree.\n\nBut on the money question I have not changed. Sixteen years ago in this\ncity at Cooper Union, in 1880, in discussing this precise question, I\nsaid that I wanted gold and silver and paper; that I wanted the paper\nissued by the General Government, and back of every paper dollar I\nwanted a gold dollar or a silver dollar worth a dollar in gold. I said\nthen, \"I want that silver dollar worth a dollar in gold if you have\nto make it four feet in diameter.\" I said then, \"I want our paper so\nperfectly secure that when the savage in Central Africa looks upon a\nGovernment bill of the United States his eyes will gleam as though he\nlooked at shining gold.\" I said then, \"I want every paper dollar of the\nUnion to be able to hold up its hand and swear, 'I know that my Redeemer\nliveth.'\" I said then, \"The Republic cannot afford to debase money;\ncannot afford to be a clipper of coin; an honest nation, honest\nmoney; for nations as well as individuals, honesty is the best policy\neverywhere and forever.\" I have not changed on that subject. As I told\na gentleman the other day, \"I am more for silver than you are because I\nwant twice as much of it in a dollar as you do.\"\n\nAh, but they say, \"free coinage would bring prosperity.\" I do not\nbelieve it, and I will tell you why. Elect Bryan, come to the silver\nstandard, and what would happen? We have in the United States about six\nhundred million dollars in gold. Every dollar would instantly go out\nof circulation. Why? No man will use the best money when he can use\ncheaper. Remember that. No carpenter will use mahogany when his contract\nallows pine. Gold will go out of circulation, and what next would\nhappen? All the greenbacks would fall to fifty cents on the dollar. The\nonly reason they are worth a dollar now is because the Government has\nagreed to pay them in gold. When you come to a silver basis they fall to\nfifty cents. What next? All the national bank notes would be cut square\nin two. Why? Because they are secured by United States bonds, and when\nwe come to a silver basis, United States bonds would be paid in silver,\nfifty cents on the dollar. And what else would happen? What else? These\nsacred silver dollars would instantly become fifty cent pieces, because\nthey would no longer be redeemable in gold; because the Government would\nno longer be under obligation to keep them on a parity with gold. And\nhow much currency and specie would that leave for us in the United\nStates? In value three hundred and fifty million dollars. That is five\ndollars per capita. We have twenty dollars per capita now, and yet\nthey want to go to five dollars for the purpose of producing prosperous\ntimes!\n\nWhat else would happen? Every human being living on an income would lose\njust one-half. Every soldiers' pension would be cut in two. Every human\nbeing who has a credit in the savings bank would lose just one-half.\nAll the life insurance companies would pay just one-half. All the fire\ninsurance companies would pay just one-half, and leave you the ashes for\nthe balance. That is what they call prosperity.\n\nAnd what else? The Republic would be dishonored. The believers in\nmonarchy—in the divine right of kings—the aristocracies of the Old\nWorld—would say, \"Democracy is a failure, freedom is a fraud, and\nliberty is a liar;\" and we would be compelled to admit the truth. No;\nwe want good, honest money. We want money that will be good when we are\ndead. We want money that will keep the wolf from the door, no matter\nwhat Congress does. We want money that no law can create; that is what\nwe want. There was a time when Rome was mistress of the world, and there\nwas a time when the arch of the empire fell, and the empire was buried\nin the dust of oblivion; and before those days the Roman people coined\ngold, and one of those coins is as good to-night as when Julius Cæsar\nrode at the head of his legions. That is the money we want. We want\nmoney that is honest.\n\nBut Mr. Bryan hates the bondholders. Who are the bondholders? Let us be\nhonest; let us have some sense. When this Government was in the flame\nof civil war it was compelled to sell bonds, and everybody who bought a\nbond bought it because he believed the great Republic would triumph at\nlast. Every man who bought a bond was our friend, and every bond that\nhe purchased added to the chances of our success. They were our friends,\nand I respect them all. Most of them are dead, and the bonds they bought\nhave been sold and resold maybe hundreds of times, and the men who have\nthem now paid a hundred and twenty in gold, and why should they not be\npaid in gold? Can any human being think of any reason? And yet Mr. Bryan\nsays that the debt is so great that it cannot be paid in gold. How much\nis the Republic worth? Let me tell you? This Republic to-day—its\nlands in cultivation, its houses, railways, canals, and money—is worth\nseventy thousand million dollars. And what do we owe? One billion five\nhundred million dollars, and what is the condition of the country? It is\nthe condition of a man who has seventy dollars and owes one dollar and\na half. This is the richest country on the globe. Have we any excuse for\nbeing thieves? Have we any excuse for failing to pay the debt? No, sir;\nno, sir. Mr. Bryan hates the bondholders of the railways. Why? I do not\nknow. What did those wretches do? They furnished the money to build the\none hundred and eighty thousand miles of railway in the United States;\nthat is what they did.\n\nThey paid the money that threw up the road-bed, that shoveled the\ngravel; they paid the men that turned the ore into steel and put it in\nform for use; they paid the men that cut down the trees and made the\nties, that manufactured the locomotives and the cars. That is what they\ndid. No wonder that a presidential failure hates them.\n\nSo this man hates bankers. Now, what is a banker? Here is a little town\nof five thousand people, and some of them have a little money. They do\nnot want to keep it in the house because some Bryan man might find it; I\nmean if it were silver. So one citizen buys a safe and rents a room\nand tells all the people, \"You deposit the overplus with me to hold it\nsubject to your order upon your orders signed as checks;\" and so they\ndo, and in a little while he finds that he has on hand continually about\none hundred thousand dollars more than is called for, and thereupon he\nloans it to the fellow who started the livery stable and to the chap\nthat opened the grocery and to the fellow with the store, and he makes\nthis idle money work for the good and prosperity of that town. And that\nis all he does. And these bankers now, if Mr. Bryan becomes President,\ncan pay the depositors in fifty cent dollars; and yet they are such\nrascally wretches that they say, \"We prefer to pay back gold.\" You can\nsee how mean they are.\n\nMr. Bryan hates the rich. Would he like to be rich? He hates the\nbondholders. Would he like to have a million? He hates the successful\nman. Does he want to be a failure? If he does, let him wait until\nthe third day of November. We want honest money because we are honest\npeople; and there never was any real prosperity for a nation or an\nindividual without honesty, without integrity, and it is our duty to\npreserve the reputation of the great Republic.\n\nBetter be an honest bankrupt than a rich thief. Poverty can hold in its\nhand the jewel, honor—a jewel that outshines all other gems. A thousand\ntimes better be poor and noble than rich and fraudulent.\n\nThen there is another question—the question of the tariff. I admit that\nthere are a great many arguments in favor of free trade, but I assert\nthat all the facts are the other way. I want American people as far as\npossible to manufacture everything that Americans use.\n\nThe more industries we have the more we will develop the American brain,\nand the best crop you can raise in every country is a crop of good men\nand good women—of intelligent people. And another thing, I want to keep\nthis market for ourselves. A nation that sells raw material will grow\nignorant and poor; a nation that manufactures will grow intelligent and\nrich. It only takes muscle to dig ore. It takes mind to manufacture\na locomotive, and only that labor is profitable that is mixed with\nthought. Muscle must be in partnership with brain. I am in favor of\nkeeping this market for ourselves, and yet some people say: \"Give us the\nmarket of the world.\" Well, why don't you take it? There is no export\nduty on anything. You can get things out of this country cheaper than\nfrom any other country in the world. Iron is as cheap here in the\nground, so are coal and stone, as any place on earth. The timber is as\ncheap in the forest. Why don't you make things and sell them in Central\nAfrica, in China and Japan? Why don't you do it? I will tell you why.\nIt is because labor is too high; that is all. Almost the entire value is\nlabor. You make a ton of steel rails worth twenty-five dollars; the ore\nin the ground is worth only a few cents, the coal in the earth only a\nfew cents, the lime in the cliff only a few cents—altogether not\none dollar and fifty cents; but the ton is worth twenty-five dollars;\ntwenty-three dollars and fifty cents labor! That is the trouble. The\nsteamship is worth five hundred thousand dollars, but the raw material\nis not worth ten thousand dollars. The rest is labor. Why is labor\nhigher here than in Europe? Protection. And why do these gentlemen ask\nfor the trade of the world? Why do they ask for free trade? Because\nthey want cheaper labor. That is all; cheaper labor. The markets of\nthe world! We want our own markets. I would rather have the market\nof Illinois than all of China with her four hundred millions. I would\nrather have the market of one good county in New York than all of\nMexico. What do they want in Mexico? A little red calico, a few\nsombreros and some spurs. They make their own liquor and they live on\nred pepper and beans. What do you want of their markets? We want to keep\nour own. In other words, we want to pursue the policy that has given us\nprosperity in the past. We tried a little bit of free trade in 1892 when\nwe were all prosperous. I said then: \"If Grover Cleveland is elected it\nwill cost the people five hundred million dollars.\" I am no prophet, nor\nthe son of a prophet, nor a profitable son, but I placed the figure too\nlow. His election has cost a thousand million dollars. There is an old\nsong, \"You Put the Wrong Man off at Buffalo;\" we took the wrong man on\nat Buffalo. We tried just a little of it, not much. We tried the\nWilson bill—a bill, according to Mr. Cleveland, born of perfidy and\ndishonor—a bill that he was not quite foolish enough to sign and\nnot brave enough to veto. We tried it and we are tired of it, and if\nexperience is a teacher the American people know a little more than they\ndid. We want to do our own work, and we want to mingle our thought with\nour labor. We are the most inventive of all the peoples. We sustain the\nsame relation to invention that the ancient Greeks did to sculpture. We\nwant to develop the brain; we want to cultivate the imagination, and we\nwant to cover our land with happy homes. A thing is worth sometimes the\nthought that is in it, sometimes the genius. Here is a man buys a little\npiece of linen for twenty-five cents, he buys a few paints for fifteen\ncents, and a few brushes, and he paints a picture; just a little one; a\npicture, maybe, of a cottage with a dear old woman, white hair,\nserene forehead and satisfied eyes; at the corner a few hollyhocks in\nbloom—may be a tree in blossom, and as you listen you seem to hear the\nsongs of birds—the hum of bees, and your childhood all comes back to\nyou as you look. You feel the dewy grass beneath your bare feet once\nagain, and you go back in your mind until the dear old woman on the\nporch is once more young and fair. There is a soul there. Genius has\ndone its work. And the little picture is worth five, ten, may be fifty\nthousand dollars. All the result of labor and genius.\n\nAnd another thing we want is to produce great men and great women here\nin our own country; then again we want business. Talk about charity,\ntalk about the few dollars that fall unconsciously from the hand of\nwealth, talk about your poorhouses and your sewing societies and your\npoor little efforts in the missionary line in the worst part of your\ntown! Ah, there is no charity like business. Business gives work to\nlabor's countless hands; business wipes the tears from the eyes of\nwidows and orphans; business dimples with joy the cheek of sorrow;\nbusiness puts a roof above the heads of the homeless; business covers\nthe land with happy homes.\n\nWe do not want any populistic philanthropy. We want no fiat philosophy.\nWe want no silver swindles. We want business. Wind and wave are our\nservants; let them work. Steam and electricity are our slaves; let them\ntoil. Let all the wheels whirl; let all the shuttles fly. Fill the air\nwith the echoes of hammer and saw. Fill the furnace with flame; the\nmoulds with liquid iron. Let them glow.\n\nBuild homes and palaces of trade. Plow the fields, reap the waving\ngrain. Create all things that man can use. Business will feed the\nhungry, clothe the naked, educate the ignorant, enrich the world with\nart—fill the air with song. Give us Protection and Prosperity. Do not\ncheat us with free trade dreams. Do not deceive us with debased coin.\nGive us good money—the life blood of business—and let it flow through\nthe veins and arteries of commerce.\n\nAnd let me tell you to-night the smoke arising from the factories' great\nplants forms the only cloud on which has ever been seen the glittering\nbow of American promise. We want work, and I tell you to-night that my\nsympathies are with the men who work, with the women who weep. I\nknow that labor is the Atlas on whose shoulders rests the great\nsuperstructure of civilization and the great dome of science adorned\nwith all there is of art. Labor is the great oak, labor is the great\ncolumn, and labor, with its deft and cunning hands, has created the\ncountless things of art and beauty. I want to see labor paid. I want to\nsee capital civilized until it will be willing to give labor its share,\nand I want labor intelligent enough to settle all these questions in the\nhigh court of reason. And let me tell the workingman to-night: You will\nnever help your self by destroying your employer. You have work to sell.\nSomebody has to buy it, if it is bought, and somebody has to buy it that\nhas the money. Who is going to manufacture something that will not sell.\nNobody is going into the manufacturing business through philanthropy,\nand unless your employer makes a profit, the mill will be shut down and\nyou will be out of work. The interest of the employer and the employed\nshould be one. Whenever the employers of the continent are successful,\nthen the workingman is better paid, and you know it. I have some hope in\nthe future for the workingman. I know what it is to work. I do not think\nmy natural disposition runs in that direction, but I know what it is\nto work, and I have worked with all my might at one dollar and a half a\nweek. I did the work of a man for fifty cents a day, and I was not sorry\nfor it. In the horizon of my future burned and gleamed the perpetual\nstar of hope. I said to myself: I live in a free country, and I have\na chance; I live in a free country, and I have as much liberty as any\nother man beneath the flag, and I have enjoyed it.\n\nSomething has been done for labor. Only a few years ago a man worked\nfifteen or sixteen hours a day, but the hours have been reduced to at\nleast ten and are on the way to still further reduction. And while the\nhours have been decreased the wages have as certainly been increased. In\nforty years—in less—the wages of American workingmen have doubled. A\nlittle while ago you received an average of two hundred and eighty-five\ndollars a year; now you receive an average of more than four hundred and\nninety dollars; there is the difference. So it seems to me that the star\nof hope is still in the sky for every workingman. Then there is another\nthing: every workingman in this country can take his little boy on his\nknee and say, \"John, all the avenues to distinction, wealth, and glory\nare open to you. There is the free school; take your chances with the\nrest.\" And it seems to me that that thought ought to sweeten every drop\nof sweat that trickles down the honest brow of toil.\n\nSo let us have protection! How much? Enough, so that our income at least\nwill equal our outgo. That is a good way to keep house. I am tired of\ndepression and deficit. I do not like to see a President pawning bonds\nto raise money to pay his own salary. I do not like to see the great\nRepublic at the mercy of anybody, so let us stand by protection.\n\nThere is another trouble. The gentleman now running for the\npresidency—a tireless talker—oh, if he had a brain equal to his vocal\nchords, what a man! And yet when I read his speeches it seems to me\nas though he stood on his head and thought with his feet. This man is\nendeavoring to excite class against class, to excite the poor against\nthe rich. Let me tell you something. We have no classes in the United\nStates. There are no permanent classes here. The millionaire may be a\nmendicant, the mendicant may be a millionaire. The man now working for\nthe millionaire may employ that millionaire's sons to work for him.\nThere is a chance for us all. Sometimes a numskull is born in the\nmansion, and a genius rises from the gutter. Old Mother Nature has a\nqueer way of taking care of her children. You cannot tell. You cannot\ntell. Here we have a free open field of competition, and if a man passes\nme in the race I say: \"Good luck. Get ahead of me if you can, you are\nwelcome.\"\n\nAnd why should I hate the rich? Why should I make my heart a den of\nwrithing, hissing snakes of envy? Get rich. I do not care. I am glad I\nlive in a country where somebody can get rich. It is a spur in the flank\nof ambition. Let them get rich. I have known good men that were\nquite rich, and I have known some mean men who were in straitened\ncircumstances. So I have known as good men as ever breathed the air, who\nwere poor. We must respect the man; what is inside, not what is outside.\n\nThat is why I like this country. That is why I do not want it\ndishonored. I want no class feeling. The citizens of America should be\nfriends. Where capital is just and labor intelligent, happiness dwells.\nFortunate that country where the rich are extravagant and the poor\neconomical. Miserable that country where the rich are economical and the\npoor are extravagant. A rich spendthrift is a blessing. A rich miser is\na curse. Extravagance is a splendid form of charity. Let the rich spend,\nlet them build, let them give work to their fellow-men, and I will find\nno fault with their wealth, provided they obtained it honestly.\n\nThere was an old fellow by the name of Socrates. He happened to be\ncivilized, living in a barbarous time, and he was tried for his life.\nAnd in his speech in which he defended himself is a paragraph that ought\nto remain in the memory of the human race forever.\n\nHe said to those judges, \"During my life I have not sought ambition,\nwealth. I have not sought to adorn my body, but I have endeavored to\nadorn my soul with the jewels of patience and justice, and above all,\nwith the love of liberty.\" Such a man rises above all wealth.\n\nWhy should we envy the rich? Why envy a man who has no earthly needs?\nWhy envy a man that carries a hundred canes? Why envy a man who has that\nwhich he cannot use? I know a great many rich men and I have read about\na great many others, and I do not envy them. They are no happier than\nI am. You see, after all, few rich men own their property. The property\nowns them. It gets them up early in the morning. It will not let them\nsleep; it makes them suspect their friends. Sometimes they think their\nchildren would like to attend a first-class funeral. Why should we\nenvy the rich? They have fear; we have hope. They are on the top of the\nladder; we are close to the ground. They are afraid of falling, and we\nhope to rise.\n\nWhy should we envy the rich? They never drank any colder water than I\nhave. They never ate any lighter biscuits or any better corn bread. They\nnever drank any better Illinois wine, or felt better after drinking it,\nthan I have; than you have. They never saw any more glorious sunsets\nwith the great palaces of amethyst and gold, and they never saw the\nheavens thicker with constellations; they never read better poetry. They\nknow no more about the ecstasies of love than we do. They never got any\nmore pleasure out of courting than I did. Why should we envy the rich?\nI know as much about the ecstasies of love of wife and child and friends\nas they. They never had any better weather in June than I have, or you\nhave. They can buy splendid pictures. I can look at them. And who owns\na great picture or a great statue? The man who bought it? Possibly, and\npossibly not. The man who really owns it, is the man who understands\nit, that appreciates it, the man into whose heart its beauty and genius\ncome, the man who is ennobled and refined and glorified by it.\n\nThey have never heard any better music than I have.\n\nWhen the great notes, winged like eagles, soar to the great dome of\nsound, I have felt just as good as though I had a hundred million\ndollars.\n\nDo not try to divide this country into classes. The rich man that\nendeavors to help his fellow-man deserves the honor and respect of the\ngreat Republic. I have nothing against the man that got rich in the\nfree and open field of competition. Where they combine to rob their\nfellow-men, then I want the laws enforced. That is all. Let them play\nfair and they are welcome to all they get.\n\nAnd why should we hate the successful? Why? We cannot all be first. The\nrace is a vast procession; a great many hundred millions are back of the\ncenter, and in front there is only one human being; that is all. Shall\nwe wait for the other fellows to catch up? Shall the procession stop?\nI say, help the fallen, assist the weak, help the poor, bind up the\nwounds, but do not stop the procession.\n\nWhy should we envy the successful? Why should we hate them? And why\nshould we array class against class? It is all wrong. For instance, here\nis a young man, and he is industrious. He is in love with a girl around\nthe corner. She is in his brain all day—in his heart all night, and\nwhile he is working he is thinking. He gets a little ahead, they get\nmarried. He is an honest man, he gets credit, and the first thing you\nknow he has a good business of his own and he gets rich; educates his\nchildren, and his old age is filled with content and love. Good! His\ncompanions bask in the sunshine of idleness. They have wasted their\ntime, wasted their wages in dissipation, and when the winter of life\ncomes, when the snow falls on the barren fields of the wasted days, then\nshivering with cold, pinched with hunger, they curse the man who has\nsucceeded. Thereupon they all vote for Bryan.\n\nThen there is another question, and that is whether the Government has\na right to protect itself? And that is whether the employees of railways\nshall have a right to stop the trains, a right to prevent interstate\ncommerce, a right to burn bridges and shoot engineers? Has the United\nStates the right to protect commerce between the States? I say, yes.\n\nIt is the duty of the President to lay the mailed hand of the Republic\nupon the mob. We want no mobs in this country. This is a Government of\nthe people and by the people, a Government of law, and these laws\nshould be interpreted by the courts in judicial calm. We have a supreme\ntribunal. Undoubtedly it has made some bad decisions, but it has made\na vast number of good ones. The judges do the best they can. Of course\nthey are not like Mr. Bryan, infallible. But they are doing the best\nthey can, and when they make a decision that is wrong it will be\nattacked by reason, it will be attacked by argument, and in time it will\nbe reversed, but I do not believe in attacking it with a torch or by a\nmob. I hate the mob spirit. Civilized men obey the law. Civilized men\nbelieve in order. Civilized men believe that a man that makes property\nby industry and economy has the right to keep it. Civilized men believe\nthat that man has the right to use it as he desires, and they will judge\nof his character by the manner in which he uses it. If he endeavors to\nassist his fellow-man he will have the respect and admiration of his\nfellow-men. But we want a Government of law. We do not want labor\nquestions settled by violence and blood.\n\nI want to civilize the capitalist so that he will be willing to give\nwhat labor is worth. I want to educate the workingman so that he will be\nwilling to receive what labor is worth. I want to civilize them both to\nthat degree that they can settle all their disputes in the high court of\nreason.\n\nBut when you tell me that they can stop the commerce of the Nation, then\nyou preach the gospel of the bludgeon, the gospel of torch and bomb. I\ndo not believe in that religion. I believe in a religion of kindness,\nreason and law. The law is the supreme will of the supreme people, and\nwe must obey it or we go back to savagery and black night. I stand\nby the courts. I stand by the President who endeavors to preserve the\npeace. I am against mobs; I am against lynchings, and I believe it is\nthe duty of the Federal Government to protect all of its citizens at\nhome and abroad; and I want a Government powerful enough to say to the\nGovernor of any State where they are murdering American citizens without\nprocess of law—I want the Federal Government to say to the Governor of\nthat State: \"Stop; stop shedding the blood of American citizens. And if\nyou cannot stop it, we can.\" I believe in a Government that will protect\nthe lowest, the poorest and weakest as promptly as the mightiest and\nstrongest. That is my Government. This old doctrine of State Sovereignty\nperished in the flame of civil war, and I tell you to-night that that\ninfamous lie was surrendered to Grant with Lee's sword at Appomattox.\n\nI believe in a strong Government, not in a Government that can make\nmoney, but in a strong Government.\n\nOh, I forgot to ask the question, \"If the Government can make money why\nshould it collect taxes?\"\n\nLet us be honest. Here is a poor man with a little yoke of cattle,\ncultivating forty acres of stony ground, working like a slave in the\nheat of summer, in the cold blasts of winter, and the Government makes\nhim pay ten dollars taxes, when, according to these gentlemen, it could\nissue a one hundred thousand dollar bill in a second. Issue the bill and\ngive the fellow with the cattle a rest. Is it possible for the mind to\nconceive anything more absurd than that the Government can create money?\n\nNow, the next question is, or the next thing is, you have to choose\nbetween men. Shall Mr. Bryan be the next President or shall McKinley\noccupy that chair? Who is Mr. Bryan? He is not a tried man. If he had\nthe capacity to reason, if he had logic, if he could spread the wings of\nimagination, if there were in his heart the divine flower called pity,\nhe might be an orator, but lacking all these, he is as he is.\n\nWhen Major McKinley was fighting under the flag, Bryan was in his\nmother's arms, and judging from his speeches he ought to be there still.\nWhat is he? He is a Populist. He voted for General Weaver.\n\nOnly a little while ago he denied being a Democrat. His mind is filled\nwith vagaries. A fiat money man. His brain is an insane asylum without a\nkeeper.\n\nImagine that man President. Whom would he call about him? Upon whom\nwould he rely? Probably for Secretary of State he would choose Ignatius\nDonnelly of Minnesota; for Secretary of the Interior, Henry George; for\nSecretary of War, Tillman with his pitchforks; for Postmaster-General,\nPeffer of Kansas. Once somebody said: \"If you believe in fiat money,\nwhy don't you believe in fiat hay, and you can make enough hay out of\nPeffer's whiskers to feed all the cattle in the country.\" For Secretary\nof the Treasury, Coin Harvey. For Secretary of the Navy, Coxey, and then\nhe could keep off the grass. And then would come the millennium. The\ngreat cryptogram and the Bacon cipher; the single tax, State saloons,\nfiat money, free silver, destruction of banks and credit, bondholders\nand creditors mobbed, courts closed, debts repudiated and the rest of\nthe folks made rich by law.\n\nAnd suppose Bryan should die, and then think, think of Thomas Watson\nsitting in the chair of Abraham Lincoln. That is enough to give a\npatriot political nightmare.\n\nIf McKinley dies there is an honest capable man to take his place. A man\nwho believes in business, in prosperity. A man who knows what money is.\nA man who would never permit the laying of a land warrant on a cloud. A\nman of good sense, a man of level head. A man that loves his country, a\nman that will protect its honor.\n\nAnd is McKinley a tried man? Honest, candid, level-headed, putting on\nno airs, saying not what he thinks somebody else thinks, but what he\nthinks, and saying it in his own honest, forcible way. He has made\nhundreds of speeches during this campaign, not to people whom he ran\nafter, but to people who came to see him. Not from the tail end of cars,\nbut from the doorstep of his home, and every speech has been calculated\nto make votes. Every speech has increased the respect of the American\npeople for him, every one. He has never slopped over. Four years ago\nI read a speech made by him at Cleveland, on the tariff. I tell you\nto-night that he is the best posted man on the tariff under the flag.\nI tell you that he knows the road to prosperity. I read that speech. It\nhad foundation, proportion, dome, and he handled his facts as skillfully\nas Caesar marshaled his hosts on the fields of war, and ever since\nI read it I have had profound respect for the intelligence and\nstatesmanship of William McKinley.\n\nHe will call about him the best, the wisest, and the most patriotic\nmen, and his cabinet will respect the highest and loftiest interests and\naspirations of the American people.\n\nThen you have to make another choice. You have to choose between\nparties, between the new Democratic and the old Republican. And I want\nto tell you the new Democratic is worse than the old, and that is a\ngood deal for me to say. In 1861 hundreds and hundreds of thousands of\nDemocrats thought more of country than of party. Hundreds and hundreds\nof thousands shouldered their muskets, rushed to the rescue of the\nRepublic, and sustained the administration of Abraham Lincoln. With\ntheir help the Rebellion was crushed, and now hundreds and hundreds of\nthousands of Democrats will hold country above party and will join\nwith the Republicans in saving the honor, the reputation, of the United\nStates; and I want to say to all the National Democrats who feel that\nthey cannot vote for Bryan, I want to say to you, vote for McKinley.\nThis is no war for blank cartridges. Your gun makes as much noise, but\nit does not do as much execution.\n\nIf you vote for Palmer it is not to elect him, it is simply to defeat\nBryan, and the sure way to defeat Bryan is to vote for McKinley. You\nhave to choose between parties. The new Democratic party, with its\nallies, the Populists and Socialists and Free Silverites, represents the\nfollies, the mistakes, and the absurdities of a thousand years. They are\nin favor of everything that cannot be done. Whatever is, is wrong. They\nthink creditors are swindlers, and debtors who refuse to pay their debts\nare honest men. Good money is bad and poor money is good. A promise is\nbetter than a performance. They desire to abolish facts, punish success,\nand reward failure. They are worse than the old. And yet I want to be\nhonest. I am like the old Dutchman who made a speech in Arkansas. He\nsaid: \"Ladies and Gentlemen, I must tell you the truth. There are\ngood and bad in all parties except the Democratic party, and in the\nDemocratic party there are bad and worse.\" The new Democratic party, a\nparty that believes in repudiation, a party that would put the stain of\ndishonesty on every American brow and that would make this Government\nsubject to the mob.\n\nYou have to make your choice. I have made mine. I go with the party that\nis traveling my way.\n\nI do not pretend to belong to anything or that anything belongs to me.\nWhen a party goes my way I go with that party and I stick to it as long\nas it is traveling my road. And let me tell you something. The\nhistory of the Republican party is the glory of the United States. The\nRepublican party has the enthusiasm of youth and the wisdom of old age.\nThe Republican party has the genius of administration. The Republican\nparty knows the wants of the people. The Republican party kept this\ncountry on the map of the world and kept our flag in the air. The\nRepublican party made our country free, and that one fact fills all the\nheavens with light. The Republican party is the pioneer of progress; the\ngrandest organization that has ever existed among men. The Republican\nparty is the conscience of the nineteenth century. I am proud to belong\nto it. Vote the Republican ticket and you will be happy here, and if\nthere is another life you will be happy there.\n\nI had an old friend down in Woodford County, Charley Mulidore. He won\na coffin on Lincoln's election. He took it home and every birthday he\ncalled in his friends. They had a little game of \"sixty-six\" on the\ncoffin lid. When the game was over they opened the coffin and took out\nthe things to eat and drink and had a festival, and the minister in\nthe little town, hearing of it, was scandalized, and he went to Charley\nMulidore and he said: \"Mr. Mulidore, how can you make light of such\nawful things?\" \"What things?\" \"Why,\" he said, \"Mr. Mulidore, what did\nyou do with that coffin? In a little while you die, and then you come\nto the day of judgment.\" \"Well, Mr. Preacher, when I come to that day of\njudgment they will say, 'What is your name?' I will tell them, 'Charley\nMulidore.' And they will say, 'Mr. Mulidore, are you a Christian?' 'No,\nsir, I was a Republican, and the coffin I got out of this morning I won\non Abraham Lincoln's election.' And then they will say, 'Walk in, Mr.\nMulidore, walk in, walk in; here is your halo and there is your harp.'\"\n\nIf you want to live in good company vote the Republican ticket. Vote\nfor Black for Governor of the State of New York—a man in favor of\nprotection and honest money; a man that believes in the preservation of\nthe honor of the Nation. Vote for members of Congress that are true to\nthe great principles of the Republican party. Vote for every Republican\ncandidate from the lowest to the highest. This is a year when we mean\nbusiness. Vote, as I tell you, the Republican ticket if you want good\ncompany.\n\nIf you want to do some good to your fellow-men, if you want to say when\nyou die—when the curtain falls—when the music of the orchestra grows\ndim—when the lights fade; if you want to live so at that time you can\nsay \"the world is better because I lived,\" vote the Republican ticket\nin 1896. Vote with the party of Lincoln—greatest of our mighty dead;\nLincoln the Merciful. Vote with the party of Grant, the greatest soldier\nof his century; a man worthy to have been matched against Cæsar for the\nmastery of the world; as great a general as ever planted on the field\nof war the torn and tattered flag of victory. Vote with the party of\nSherman and Sheridan and Thomas. But the time would fail me to repeat\neven the names of the philosophers, the philanthropists, the thinkers,\nthe orators, the statesmen, and the soldiers who made the Republican\nparty glorious forever.\n\nWe love our country; dear to us for its reputation throughout the world.\nWe love our country for her credit in all the marts of the world. We\nlove our country, because under her flag we are free. It is our duty\nto hand down the American institutions to our children unstained,\nunimpaired. It is our duty to preserve them for ourselves, for our\nchildren, and for their fair children yet to be.\n\nThis is the last speech that I shall make in this campaign, and to-night\nthere comes upon me the spirit of prophecy. On November 4th you will\nfind that by the largest majorities in our history, William McKinley has\nbeen elected President of the United States.*\n  • The final rally of the McKinley League for the present\n    campaign, was held last night in Carnegie Music Hall, ana\n    the orator chosen to present the doctrines of the\n    Republican party was Robert G. Ingersoll. The meeting will\n    remain notable for the high character of the audience. The\n    great hall was filled to its utmost capacity. It was crowded\n    from the rear of the stage to the last row of seats in the\n    deep gallery.\n    The boxes were occupied by brilliantly attired women, and\n    hundreds of other women vied with the sterner sex In the\n    applause that greeted the numerous telling points of the\n    speaker. The audience was a very fashionable and exclusive\n    one, for admission was only to be had by ticket, and tickets\n    were hard to get.\n    On the stage a great company of men and women were gathered,\n    and over them waved rich masses of color, the American\n    colors, of course, predominating in the display Flags hung\n    from all the gallery rails, and the whole scheme of\n    decoration was consistent and beautiful. At 8.80 o'clock Mr.\n    John E. Milholland appeared upon the stage followed by Col.\n    Ingersoll.\n    Without any delay Mr. Milholland was presented as the\n    chairman of the meeting. He spoke briefly of the purpose of\n    the party and then said; \"There is no Intelligent audience\n    under the flag or in any civilized country to whom it would\n    be necessary for me to introduce Robert G. Ingersoll.\" And\n    the cheers with which the audience greeted the orator proved\n    the truth of his words.\n    Col. Ingersoll rose impressively and advanced to the front\n    of the stage, from which the speaker's desk had been removed\n    in order to allow him full opportunity to indulge in his\n    habit of walking to and fro as he talked. He was greeted\n    with tremendous applause; the men cheered him and the women\n    waved their handkerchiefs and fans for several minutes.\n    He was able to secure instant command of his audience, and\n    while the applause was wildest, he waved his hand, and the\n    gesture was followed by a silence that was oppressive. Still\n    the speaker waited. He did not intend to waste any of his\n    ammunition. Then, convinced that every eye was centred upon\n    him, he spoke, declaring \"This is our country.\" The assembly\n    was his from that instant. He followed it up with a summary\n    of the issues of the campaign. They were \"money, the tariff,\n    and whether this Government has the right of self-defence.\"\n    As he said later on in his address, the Colonel has changed\n    in a good many things, but he has not changed his politics,\n    and he has not altered one whit in his masterful command of\n    forceful sayings.—New York Tribune, October 80th, 1896.\n    Note:—This was Col. Ingersoll's last political address.\n"
}