Emerson on Sound Money: A Speech, 1896Emerson, Willis George
History
Emerson on Sound Money: A Speech, 1896
Emerson, Willis George
Currency question -- United States; Silver question
Let us briefly inquire into the cause. Take, for instance, the sheep and
wool industry, which a few years ago was a prominent one in your state.
Under the stimulus of protection, we had in this country in 1884,
50,500,000 sheep. Then Grover Cleveland was elected president, and this
was followed by the democratic free wool indictment of 1885, known
as the Mills bill. The wool growers of America became alarmed, they
fattened and sold their sheep to the butchers by the millions. This
slaughter continued for four years, or until Gen. Harrison was elected
to the presidency in 1888. The authentic statement shows that the number
of sheep had been reduced in this country from 50,500,000 in 1884 to
41,300,000 in 1888. President Harrison's election stopped the slaughter,
and under the stimulus of the McKinley law the industry gained rapidly
and at the close of Mr. Harrison's administration the total number
of sheep in the United States was 47,800,000. (Applause.) In 1892 Mr.
Cleveland was again elected president. This was followed by the repeal
of the McKinley law and the enactment of legislation hostile to the wool
industry. During the last three and a half years the number of sheep in
this country has been reduced from 47,800,000 to 38,500,000, or fewer
sheep than there was in this country in 1873, or at any time since
the so-called crime of that year. So much fellow citizens, for the
democratic free wool joke on the American people.
HE TALKS OF WOOL.
Now let us talk for a few moments about the price of wool. For ten
years preceding the repeal of the McKinley law, the average price of
Ohio X.X.Washed wool in the Boston market was a little over 31 1/5 cents
per pound. April 1, 1896 wool was quoted in the same market at 18 cents
a pound. Such a startling contrast in prices needs no comments. As
millions of our sheep were slaughtered we were compelled to import wool
and woolen textiles into this country sending our money abroad, which
should have been paid to the American farmer and sheep raiser. Instead
of this we paid our money over to foreigners in exchange for wool and
woolen textiles, which came into this country like a flood when the
McKinley law was repealed and the duty removed. The result was that the
woolen mills of America were practically all shut down and thousands
upon thousands of American workingmen and women were thrown out of
employment, and in turn, were unable to purchase the products from the
American farm. No wonder the American farmer found a ready market for
his potatoes in 1892, when all our people were employed, at from 50c to
60c a bushel; and to-day, when our people are unemployed, the farm
price of potatoes is from 25c to 30c a bushel. Let us see what sort of
a stewardship has been going on in this country for the last few years.
For the twenty-five months ending November 1, 1892, our balance of trade
with other nations was in our favor to the extent of $28,245,641. That
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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