Below is the OCR text representation for this newspapers page.

DON'T UK DKCKI VKIl. NO HOPE FOR FREE* SILVER IN THE DEMOCRATIC PARTY. Twenty-One Oat of Twenty-Three State* Docliirod for Free Silver in 1890 In Democrat le Stute I’onventlouH* but All Voted Afptlnat It In 1892. (Missouri Worm.) Let no one build up hope from the recent • activity of the silver Democrats that that party can or will give the country a free coinage law. We want our silver friends in the Democratic party to look at the situation as it is. You have been grievously disappointed once. Almost a lifetime of labor has been brought to naught by over-con fldence in your party, Stand off for a moment as a non-partisan and take a look at your party, In 1880 the Demo cratic party in the same states in which Die silver Democrats are now so active declared for the free coinage of silver in language that admitted of no double construction (except in 1111 nois, where the plank was not very definite). Yet the goldhug Democrats were sufficiently numerous 1n Congress at the extra session two years ago to not only prevent the passage of a free silver bill, but to wipe out the last law favorable to silver and readopt Hie de¬ monetizing act of 1873. Here are the silver planks in th<* Democratic plat¬ forms of 1890. We get those planks from the Now York World Almanac, 1891. It reports only twenty-three state Democratic conventions adopting money planks in 1890, and of these twenty-one wero for the free coinage ef silver. Arkansas. We denounce as iniqui¬ tous tiie silver 1)111 as passed by the present Republican House of Repre¬ sentatives, as an attempt to demoral¬ ize silver and to build up the fortunes of tho favored few, and wo favor the free and unrestricted coinage of sliver, and an increased volume of currency, restricted alone to the necessary de¬ mands of the country, which shall he a legal tender for all debts, public and private. We believe tho power to ls sue and control (lie volume of currency belongs alone to tho government and that tills power should not be delegated to or controlled by any other author¬ ity. California. We fnvor tho free coin¬ age of silver, and demand that it be made an unlimited legal tender for all purposes, public and private. Colorado. We condemn tho present administration for reckless and iin necessary waste of public treasure, by means of which the surplus fund accu¬ mulated under the wise and economic administration of Grover Clevc'and l»ns practically dijHpppeared, In place „.m tfrtrirt rfe r Oft , deficiency arising from tho Increase of expenditures over receipts for the pres¬ ent fiscal year. We demand the free and unlimited coinage of silver. Idaho.—-Wo tender our gratitude to the Democrat^ in Congress for their almost unanimous votes In both houses for tho free and unlimited coinage of silver, and congratulate the people of our new state that there is one great political organization in tho country committed by its votes in Congress to a measure so essential to tho prosper ity of Idaho, The silver bill as en acted by the Republican Congress is a compromise in the interests of Wall street, clothes the secretary of the treasury with power to refuse to pur¬ chase bullion on the pretext that bul¬ lion is not offered at tho market price, 1 nd enables him to hear the silver mar¬ ket by refusing to purchase except at his discretion and at such prices as he may determine. Illinois. Wo demand that all unnec 'SI ary restrictions bo removed from the coinage of silver. Indiana. Wo denounce tlit* silver bill, so vailed, recently enacted, as an ignominious surrender to the money power. It perpetuates tho demoue fixation of silver and the single gold standard, whereas the interest of the people requires the complete remone¬ tization of silver and its restoration to perfect equality with gold in our eoln age. We demand the free and unre¬ stricted coinage of silver upon the ba sis existing prior to 1S73. Iowa. We demand the free coinage of silver and that it may be made a legal tender for all debts, public and private, and denounce as unjust and dishonest the provision of the law re¬ cently enacted allowing parties to stip¬ ulate against payment in silver cer¬ tificates, thus setting one standard of value for the creditor and one for the debtor, one for the poor tivnn and the other for the rich man. Kansas, We favor the free coinage of silver. We favor such change in our fiscal laws as will leave the eon trol of the circulating medium of the country wholly In the hands of tho gov eminent. Michigan.—We believe in the free and unlimited coinage of gold and sil vor, unhampered by conditions as to the legal tender qualities of either and unhampered by the proviso suspending coinage of silver after July 1 1891 We cond fuses th "Tizitz >nlI ‘ ., iifv Missouri. Wo are in favor of the free'and unrestricted coinage of sllve, 3 the increase of currency to meet W e legitimate demands of trade, and we believe t at tlu? power to issue and control th e Ydftun should be assumed by the >verun at, Nebraska.—We favor the placing of 'io silver dollar on its former footing 'X in in our inasre law. with and dent d dir hones t h law recently enacted as discriarina- tion in favor of the gold coin for the benefit of the money power, and we fur¬ ther declare ourselves in favor of the free coinage of silver. Nevada.—We declare for the fr< < and unlimited coinage of standard sil¬ ver dollars of the present weight and fl neness t0 p 0 J ega ] tender for all debts, public and jjrlvate, equally with gold. North Carolina.—The Democracy of North Carolina favor the free coinage of silver and an increase of the cur r ency the repeal of the Internal revenue system. • • * We de¬ mand the abolition of national hanks ari, i the substitution of legal tender treasury notes in lieu of national hank notes, issued in sufficient volume to do the business of the country on a cash syatem, regulating the amount needed on a jjer capita basis, as the business interests of the country ex¬ pands, and that ail money Issued by the government shall be legal tender in payment of all debts, both public and private. Ohio. We favor the free coinage of silver with its present ratio with gold. Oregon. We reaffirm the position which has ever been maintained by the Democratic party, that gold and silver arc equally the people’s money; we arw opposed to all measures of discrimina¬ tion against silver, and demand free coinage to supply the needs of busi¬ ness; and that all money Issued by the government he made legal tender for nil debts, both public and private. South Carolina (Tillman faction) — We demand the abolition of national banks, urul that legal tender treasury notes he Issued in sufficient volume to do tiie business of the country on a cash system, and that all money issued l>y the government shall \X‘ legal ten¬ der in payment of all debts, both pub¬ lic and private. * * * (We fa¬ vor) the free; and unlimited coinage of silver, the increase of the currency and the repeal of the internal revenue sys¬ tem. South Dakota.—That we are in favor of the full remonetization of silver, the free and unlimited coinage thereof and the Issuance of coin certificates based thereon which shall be a full legal ten¬ der. Tennessee, Wo demand a currency of gold and silver, and liiso of paper, convertible into coin at the option of the holder, and we demand tho free coinage of silver on the basis originally fixed by law. and that It and the geld dollar shall be equally a unit of value. Texas. We are opposed to tho con¬ tinuance of the national banking sys tern and demand the abolishment thereof us soon ns by law the same can bo done. • • We are in favor of the freo and unlimited coinage of sil ver and endorse tho action of our sen¬ ators and representatives therefor West Virginia.—That the Democrats of West Virginia declare that they are unal tcTa hly1» favor'of tho IreO «nd unlimited coinage of silver. Wyoming.—Wo demand the free coinage of silver, and we denounce the Republican party for tho enactment of a law which makes It discretionary with the secretary of the treasury to demonetlze silver. If Kin'll straight out declarations in twenty-one state platforms only two years before the last presidential elec Hon resulted in tho demonetization of silver by the party adopting them, what ground is there for hope from the Democratic party by reason of the present activity of the silver Demo¬ crats? Even if the silver Democrats controlled the next Democratic national convention and secured the nomination of a silver man for 1 ’resident and elect¬ ed hint, there would he enough gold bug Democrats carried into Congress by the Democratic victory to enable the Republicans to defeat a free stiver bill. The silver Democrats should conic to the People's party. The silver men must unite to obtain victory over the gold power and they cannot unite In the Democratic party; that is cer¬ tain, because Republican silver mrn will not go to the Democrats, and Pop¬ ulists will not go to a party in which they will have to sit on committees with gold bugs, and which in one part of the nation is electing man to neu¬ tralize the efforts of those it elects in another part of the country. There Is not a gold standard man In tho Peo ple’s party. q'here is not a contrac tionist in the People’s party, There is not a tool of the money power in the People’s party, Now, come with ns. silver friends of the old parties, let us have the benefit of your support and you the benefit of our support. With jour help we can drive the plutocrats do in from power, This you cannot your old party for reasons above set forth. We wish you could. We care nothing for party, nor for name. A V TMraty IUig. A young Wlssahickon man, so the tale goes. owned a dog of mongrel breed, which had added to Us one great undesirable quality of low birth the more offensive one of the manfee. The i young man determined to sever his eon j nections with tho animal, and with that end in view he secured a large i wash tub and put staples in tho inside of it. with ropes attached to them, to r™ ;rs; n,.marine ' to slake his thirst at the hvdrant. when its master grabbed it and tied t lown in the tub. Then he j ou , h0 wa tcr, and let It run un til the dog's head was totally sub t mergeu He couldn't bear to see the pe r brute suffer, so he went away fo; 1 quarter of an hour. He came back x pec ting to find the dog dead. Strang, to say '.KVftVver. the dqg was very , ' much alive. Thore was no water the tub. NeR unr! there any Ink in it. The dx>g had simply quenchcJ a.? thirst. —Philadelphia Record. IN UNCLE SAM’S PARK. \ m f ' hjs ^ ,v 4 n A V . H L f , M.ZJ n w OJ l ini i( u s m c ✓rv mm m ll •'■''v ■ft HP / B > l I ffa.fr- Hi, m M vV| 73] 1 . v m: /A . i J vj lOvt*. & 3? A 4.V rjb ■.3. A Hf/lV) u '’Ifiiw. X ft 'yfllf.'' If ^ ■•Hljlilh’ i'C. Hill, /f" v ■'# It, ■/x3'A I 43 let h hi C4 C s VE < 5 . l| *> r v* 3 ; WJ 7A ,s \ ■mm °o^ £ ss .A & J ft 3 \ ZJ \\\ 1\, i M m ", W m j|\\ r M V 7 ) as u i ! i i jlllia y ^m\ LJfi i ifi > \7 Mm ''il \I iff? l 1 1' Grover the I. (to the K°od-lookers on the end of the bench) Keep away from me, you nasty, radical, forward things: I won’t hgve anything to do with your cheap silver proposition. Old Gals on the other end—"Dot’s ride. Grofer dear; dey vas not gonservatlve und sound I k— us girls vas. Our gold talks.” (That’s right, the old pelicans seem to have scooped him in. Ed. Denver Road. A LL FOJl FREE SILVER THAT IS THE THREE POLITICAL PARTIES. Hut the ToimllHt* 1’iirty Stand* on It* ItfM-nrd—F ilIho Pledge* of Republican* und Democrat* Will Not Do Taken Again. The Memphis free silver blow-out (ms come and gone, and unless the As Boeiated Press dispatches lie, nothing has been demonstrated, except that we have throe parties in this country that favor the free coinage of silver, but no two of them can agree to vote to gether for what they want unless one of the parties will surrender its organiza -ton. Tho treacherous old Democracy, of course, is taking tho lead now in howl lng for silver, and if the people tho gaiig again they will 6e Just os the greenback movement was betrayed. Some Populists attended the Mem¬ phis meeting, possibly to see just what was on foot, but the man who permits himself to believe the Southern De¬ mocracy is any more sincere in the freo silver movement they have inaugu¬ rated this year than usual, will awake to find himself cheated again. With all their pretended indignation over “the crime of ’73,” no national Democratic platform has ever con¬ demned that crime. On the contrary, every national Democratic convention that has assembled since that date, has given the country a platitude or a straddle on the money question and nominated a gold bug as its candidate for President. Promises from the stump are always profuse in a campaign, but the per¬ formance never fails to be short. In 1891, when the sub-treasury can¬ vass was being made in this State, the old set-fasts, badly frightened, assem¬ bled In convention at Jackson and promised adherence to the doctrine of free silver, but they tvere then in fa¬ vor of the abolition of national banks aud government issue of paper money. Here is what they said at that time; “We believe that gold and silver should be coined upon the same terms and conditions, and that when the government ceases to discriminate be¬ tween them, they will freely circulate side by side and be equally useful and acceptable to the people. We also be¬ lieve that there should be an addition¬ al issue of treasury notes interchange¬ able with coin, sufficient to transact the business of the country, and to re¬ lieve the present financial depression.” They were successful In that cam¬ paign, and the g. o. c. was re-elected to the United States Senate. In 1892 an¬ other Democratic convention assem¬ bled at Jackson, and when the platform committee were discussing the fin-un¬ cial plank, the declaration of the con¬ vention one year before was offered for adoption and voted down. A “misera¬ ble makeshift” was inserted in the State platform of 1892, and the author of the financial plank of 1S91 (T. C. Catchlngs) becomes a gold bug cuckoo in 1S93, and votes straight for the re¬ peal of the only law on the statute books favoring the white metal. As a further illustration of the total t&xz ssxzzzrsi St«e. But after the election is over and the commissions are secured it de velaps that three of that six have fal silled their pledges to the people and gone over to the worshipers of Mam mon. For sixty years the Democracy has made the tariff question an issue, and they never touched it without making matters worse than before. For twenty years the restitution of silver to the po sition it held prior to “the crime of '73." in which Thomas F. Bayard par ticipaied side by side with John Sher- man, has occupied much of the time of the average Southern mugwump pol¬ itician and promises thick and fast hlive been made by these gentry just preceding every election. With all the labor they have been able to put forth in support of their profuse pledges they have worked the party up to the point that 101 out of 227 Democratic members in Congress did not vote for free sil¬ ver. Now the question is: “If the party Has always been in favor of the equal use 0 f bot t, go ld and silver as a money me tai, and the coinage of each with out discrimination against either and without charge for mintage,” as Col. Money, Mr. McLauren, Gov. Dowry and yt^rg insist it is, and they can’t get quite ha i f tbe j r representatives to vote qr f roe coinage in twenty years, how !ong W0ll id it be if a 16 to 1 plank was inserted in the platform before the fre a0 cracy would give the country free (Okalona, Miss.) Mes mA, NOTES AND COMMENT. We are not of the number who be¬ lieve that no good will come from the Democrats holding free silver conven¬ tions thi3 year. While we realize that the principal object in holding them Is to stop the disintegration of the party, we rather think that it will have tho opposite effect in the outcome. There is a certain amount of education going along with this movement that will re¬ sult in good, Resolutions favoring free silver this year may be the means of many voters leaving the party next year when a gold standard plank is adopted, and a so-called sound cur¬ rency candidate nominated. While we recognize that the free sil¬ ver discussion is breeding dissension in the two old parties, and for that reason it ought to be encouraged, we insist that there is danger in commit¬ ting ourselves to that alone, to the ex¬ clusion of more important phases of the money question, and of other questions. We predict that the silver question is to take the place of the tariff question for the purposes of keeping the people divided. It is to he discussed, but not settled, is the programme of the two old parties. What the Populists should do is to show that both old parties de¬ monetized silver, and that there is no possible show for either old party to re¬ store it. Keep the record of the two old parties on this question constantly the people. The most important question now be¬ fore the people is, who shall issue the money, the banks or the people? Who¬ ever Issues the money controls prices, and the business of the country, As the power to issue money was denied even the States, the inference is that the framers of the Constitution never intended that it should over be delegat¬ ed to corporations. The control which the banks have had over the money has Invested them with the power to cause a stringency whenever they saw fit, and they are responsible for every panic we ever had. The legitimate business of a bank is for purposes of exchange, deposit and discount, and the power to make money plenty or scarce at will by the issue of their own notes should be forever prohibited. The People’s party is the only party , , ™«»sr ^ publican or Democratic ticket. They put their lives in the scale for the pres ervatton of he t mon. They took the r pay in a dollar that was purposely de preciated at the suggestion and de mands of the capitalists. The capital called it a dishonest dollar. But he speculated, got all of them he could and traded them for bonds, dollar for dol lar. If that dollar was dishonest, then the bond also is dishonest. He was entitled to no better dollar for the bond than he gave for it. But he de manded a better dollar and got it—one that would buy twice as much of all the necessities of life as the dollar he gave for the bond. And now he is de¬ manding a better dollar still, which the two old parties have given him. The soldier took the greenbacks and did not grumble, The difference in the value of coin and greenbacks was made up to the rich man, who stayed at home and gambled and speculated, but not to the soldier, who risked his life and fought and bled for his coun¬ try. * * * In his speech at Memphis, Mr. Sib¬ ley said; “Suppose the news should reach Memphis that New York was belea¬ guered by the British. The Democrats would hold a mass-meeting and de¬ termine that if the party was not strong enough to drive out the intruders they would wait until they were able to make the attempt. The Republicans would hold a mass-meeting and con¬ clude that the British ought to be driv¬ en out by the Republican party without leaving party lines. The Populists would get together and declare that if they could take all the planks of the Omaha platform along with them they would drive the representatives of John Bull from the shores of America. Is this what the parties would do? Or would they drop ‘party,’ and, turning patriot, unite in saving the country?” This looks like a plausible illustra¬ tion, but we would suggest to Mr. Sib¬ ley that it will take about “all the planks of the Omaha platform” to drive the British out of this country, a fact which shows the wisdom of the Popu¬ lists for wanting to take them with them. RothcMlil Agents In one respect we are glad to see this activity in the right direction on the silver question, on the part of western and southern democrats, hut when we figure out that it is only another scheme to fool the people we con¬ clude that it is a bad thing after all. While these men are all sincere in their views on the question, for all know they’re right, yet their efforts as a rule are not to save silver, not to benefit the country, not for love of truth, home and country, but merely to save tlielr party. Did not the chairman of the Il¬ linois conference say openly that the agitation was to head off the nonparti¬ san and Populist movements that were about to take many of their best demo¬ crats, and to solidify and harmonize the party? Did not Chairman Stuart of the Iowa conference say practically the same thing? They know that the democratic party will never, can never do anything in the interest of the masses, becaused it 13 owned, body and soul, and breeches by the classes. But they want to preserve it for the offices it may give them. They bluster and blow about the rights of the people and condemn the encroachments of monop¬ oly. yet they are the most active tools in trying to destroy the rights of the masses and in perpetuating the rule of plutocracy. They are wolves in sheep's clothing. Almost everyone of them will, when the national party adopts a straddle platform , knuckle down to their mess of crow and swallow the whole goldbug gag. No intelligent man can honestly hope to effect any reform silver numDug. rne om parties are tne people and ^^mberl^rT^In ts are agents. Don t let them fool you. Farm I ers Tribune. I I We can never have honest govern ment in this country until one or the other of the two old parties is annhil ated. and the honest voters act to gether. not only to defeat Shylock and all classes of monopolists, but to give the people genuine measures of re lief. 4 PER CENT LOANS. THE SOUTH NOW FLOODED WITH CHEAP MONEY. A Rose of the Goldbug*—They Tend Money to Our Danker*, Who In Turn Lend It Out at Dig Interest—The Plan. People’s Party Paper: The news comes from New York that $7,000,000 or $ 8 , 000,000 have been loaned to the banks in South Carolina, Georgia and Alabama since May 1st at tho low rate of 4 per cent. This money Is shipped down here to make the dear people be¬ lieve that prosperity has resumed busi¬ ness at the old stand and that a con¬ tracted currency is a delusion and a snare. The banks that are borrowing the money propose to turn it loose in the south. By a preconcerted arrange¬ ment, however, it will drift into the hands of country merchants at 8 per cent, who will in turn let the farmers have it in the way of plantation sup¬ plies at the rate of 15 to 20 per cent interest. Of course, the promoters of President Cleveland’s financial scheme are behind this movement. It is a ruse on the part of the bankers to establish the idea that money is plentiful and a change from the present financial sys¬ tem unnecessary. It will be observed, however, that the bankers and mer¬ chants are the only ones that secure a clean-cut profit, while the farmers, who are the real endorsers for the loan, have all of the burdens to bear and as usual reap none of the benefits. The New York correspondent who called atten¬ tion to this influx of cheap money goes into details which are very interesting. He says: “There have been a large number of bankers visiting New York from the states of South Carolina, Georgia and Alabama since May 1st, at differ¬ ent times. Probably other southern states had as many, but most of the men I am acquainted with are from the states named, and they are here for the purpose of arranging, whether preconcerted or not, to get currency to carry to their respective state. I am informed by one of the intelligent men above named that they have se¬ cured loans from bankers in this city since the 1st of May amounting to $7,000,000 or $8,000,000. They get it for 4 per cent until the 1st of October, with the privilege of renewing at that time on 30, 60 and 90 days at the same rate of interest. In conversation with one of these bankers to-day, he in¬ formed me that it would make times better in the south when this money was turned loose. “ ‘How do you propose to turn it loose? ’ I Inquired. “ ‘Oh,’ he said, ‘we can turn four times that amount loose in our states at a good rate of interest. Wo will lend this money, due say October 1st, at 8 to 12% per cent per annum, which you see will be quite a nice profit for us on the amount loaned.’ “ ‘But can you,’ I asked, ‘make these loans on good security?’ “ ‘Just as good as anybody would wish. In the first place a great deal of this money will be loaned to mer¬ chants who sell what is known in our section of the country as time goods to farmers. These merchants will pay us, say 8 per cent. Then they will sell goods due in October to planters and farmers and get 15 or 20 per cent for the supplies.’ “ ‘Then you think this process will make good times?’ “ ‘Well,’ he said, ‘it will give the people what they want—that is, money.’ “ 'But can they make any money by paying this high rate of inter¬ est?’ “ ‘Of course the merchants will. They pay 8 per cent for it and if they sell to the farmers goods on time, the farmers will have to pay a very high rate of interest, it is true, but they can not make a crop without something to make it with, and while the interest these farmers have to pay is pretty high, it is not as much as they have paid in the past and we will have no trouble in disposing of this money, as I tell you.’ “This is the programme that is be¬ ing worked to relieve the pressure in the south. It may bring about tem¬ porary prosperity, but in the end, when the day of settlement comes, I think the farmers will be left pretty much in the condition they were in before they borrowed the money; many of them probably in a worse fix.” A man may be theoretically a free silver man, and be in the Republican or Democratic party, but he falls far short of being a practical friend of that issue. If we are to judge by the plat¬ forms and votes of the two old parties —and that is the only fair test—both old parties favor the single gold stan¬ dard. Since 1*73, every President and Secretary of the Treasury of both old parties has favored the single gold standard. There is only one absolutely free silver party, If all those who claim they are for free silver, but who are still remaining in the gold stan dar parties, would join the Populist party, free silver candidates could be elected from President to Constable. It is the only way that free silver can ever win. The talk of another party is silly. There are enough parties al ready. There are only two sides to the question. The two old parties occupy one side—the same side—and the Peo pie’s party the other side, What we need is for every man to align himself with a party that represents his prin j eiples—yet out of the party that antag onizes him. When they do this, there will be no trouble about winning the battle for silver.