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Swamiji was the first one to uphold the Doctrine of Prohibition. His sympathies were with the populist movement which
favored the free coinage of silver, even when there were violent conflicts between capital and
labor, and U.S.A. was in the grip of financial crises. It was during this time that he gave a talk on "The use of silver in India" in an intelligent and interesting manner. His sympathy with the
popularity's agitation and his views on the money question were given in a letter to Mary Hale, dated
1st November 1896. "I do not know all the difficulties about the gold or silver standards but this much I see, that the gold standard has been making the poor poorer and the rich richer. The silver standard will give the poor a better chance in this unequal fight. I am a socialist, not because I think it is a perfect system, but half a loaf is better than no bread".
Even as early as 1897, he spoke that no outside power can hold India back any more for the infant giant is rising to her feet. Ever since he uttered these words, our nation experienced a steady accession of awareness and strength, which culminated, in its emancipation from centuries' old political subjugation, in 1947. 'The political integration of our country, the inauguration of India's economic and social development programmes and the Five Year Plans, embody this national spirit and resolve. What Swami Vivekananda wrote years ago, are fresh to the day, because they dealt with fundamental problems. Therefore, they do not become old. Rooted in the past, he was yet modern in his approach to life's problems. He was a bridge between the past and the present.
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