![]() The nation's worst depression to that point began that year. But silver coinage was added five years later, after an economic depression. In that year, the gold standard was adopted. The nation had gone on and off the gold-only standard since the issue first surfaced in 1873. It also would boost profits for Western silver mine owners and benefit their employes. These "silverites" contended that adding silver coins to the money supply would make more money available for higher wages, farmers' profits and debtors needing to pay off loans. Many Democrats argued that a restricted money supply would lead to lower wages and depressed prices for farmers and others. Gold supporters believed that silver coinage would lead to fluctuation of values, ruin credit, and turn business decisions into a wild gamble. Republicans generally favored gold coins and gold-backed paper money, arguing the gold standard-which restricted the money supply but had stable value-was good for business and therefore good for workers. The debate wasn't far off from today's class warfare arguments between Republicans and Democrats over who is protecting working Americans. the gold standard brought out the same kind of emotions as gun control, abortion, or immigration today. In the election of 1896, unlimited silver coinage vs. William Steinway, circa 1882, photo by William Kurtz, New York City. Thanks to many years of transcription and research, you can now read the diary online. We know a lot about William Steinway (born 1835), of Steinway & Sons piano fame, because his diary (1861-1896) is part of the Smithsonian's collections at our Archives Center. It turned out that the letter was authentic. Steinway’s group believed it was phony, written by Bryan's supporters. Steinway even suspected-wrongly-that his organization was the victim of what would be known today as a political "dirty trick." The issue was a public letter appearing to support the Democratic position on silver coinage, signed by a top official in Germany. That story has many elements of today's political campaigns: the political clout exercised by Steinway's German-American political organization polling of German-Americans the use of economic class warfare as a campaign issue and Steinway's use of a relatively new technology- a phonograph recording-to listen to speeches of McKinley and his Democratic opponent, William Jennings Bryan. The full transcription of the page is available.Ī fascinating story of political drama brought Steinway to vote for Republican candidate William McKinley in the last weeks of his life (Steinway died of typhoid fever November 30, 1896). The page of Steinway's diary in which he explains his vote. Bryan and the unlimited free coinage of silver is so great, that no true democrat can act otherwise than to vote for McKinley and sound money," Steinway wrote in his diary. "This is the first time in my Life that I voted any but the democratic ticket but this year the danger of democratic candidature of Wm. Steinway's politics had just gone through a traumatic change. After arriving, he marked an X on the ballot, in a place where he had never done so before. William Steinway had more than pianos on his mind as he strolled to his Third Avenue polling station in New York City, preparing to cast his presidential ballot on November 3, 1896. Volunteer Researcher Larry Margasak explores piano manufacturer William Steinway's role in the 1896 campaign. A key player in the political drama was a man whose name is associated more with pianos than hardball politics. The presidential campaign of 1896 was an emotional one - and much of the political maneuvering may look familiar to voters today.
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