Page:Speeches, correspondence and political papers of Carl Schurz, Volume 3.djvu/217

Rh “money power” will be broken, for money will be cheap money, it will be “the people's money,” and the more of it the better. This sort of talk, and even wilder than this, you can hear nowadays, not only in the lunatic asylums, but on the public platforms of Ohio, put forth by men pretending to be the spokesmen and leaders of a great party, who, on the strength of these very promises, attempt to take control of the destinies not only of Ohio, but of the great American Republic.

Is it not a sad spectacle indeed to see, not only public men reckless enough thus cruelly to mock the credulity of the poor and needy, but multitudes patiently listening to such raving absurdities, instead of repelling the insult thus wantonly offered to their good sense? An irredeemable paper money, cheap money, the people's money! Inflation the relief of the poor! I entreat you, laboring men, poor men, give me your candid attention one moment. Let your minds for once cast aside prejudice and party passion, and look soberly at the facts.

Suppose we issue more currency, as the Ohio platform euphoniously calls it, “to make and keep the volume of the currency equal to the wants of trade”; in other words we embark in a course of inflation. I will not argue here the Constitutional point, whether Congress has the power to increase the volume of greenbacks beyond four hundred millions, and whether the Supreme Court, as I expect it would, might declare such an act void and of no force. Suppose it can be done without any legal impediment. How will it operate? Here is a capitalist, a rich man, a merchant of abundant means, or a wealthy speculator. In the morning he takes up his paper and reads: “Congress has passed an act to issue another hundred or two hundred millions of legal-tenders, with a prospect of more.” He knows, as a matter of course, that thereupon the premium on gold will rise; the purchasing power of the greenback