The Ottawa free trader. [volume] (Ottawa, Ill.) 1843-1916, 1879-09-20
MASSACHUSETTS REPUBLICANS.


nominated Lieut.. Governor Long for Govern
or. His opponent was Henry l.. Pierce, bu
Long was taken to conciliatc the prohibition
lists, Pierce being too liberal" on that ques
ton. The Boston Herald, the leading stawar
organ of Massachusetts, Is disguised in conse
quencc, and says the convention made a grea
mistake IN nominating Long and that the tasl
of defeating Butler is made heavier than il
otherwise would have been.
The resolutions Of the convention, while il
norlng the temperance question to paciiy the
liquor dealers after handing them over to the
tender mercIes Of a prohibition governor are
of the usual stalwart stripe, commencing with
the undisputed declaration that "the United
States of America is nation" and for Il re
publican convention, with amazing impudence
supplement 1t with the demand" that the cleo
tons throughout SAID nation" shall be free
from all interference by unlawful armed bodies
Of men and national or state military forces
except vi hen employed as a part Of the posse
c0mitatus." From party that forced special
session of congress and for many months and
blocked the wheels of public business to defeat
the democratic effort to enact precisely these
demands" into law, such 4 declaration is
decidedly cool. There is the same refreshing
feature about the next resolution which dep.
rccates the course Of the Democratic party in
undertaking to revive sectional animoslty."
Want OF brass, we know, is no weakness of
politicians anywhere, but it certainly implies
an unusually abundant supply in the case of a
bloody shrter who can put forth such an accu.
satIon against the democrats.
But if the above resolutions are indicative
of unusual brassiness, what shall be said of the
third" resolution, which is as follows;
ave claim for the Republican party the
credit Of resumption and the revival of indus
try; we demand that paper, gold and silver
shall be maintained at equal value"
The resumption bill as passed by a Repub.
lican congress required the Secretary Of the
treasury to sell L. s. bonds enough to enable
him, on and after Jan. l, 1879, to redeem with
gold and then cancel all the greenbacks in eX
istence, and it left the silver dollar undemone
TIED, so that after the law should be carried
into execution the only currency of the country
left would have been about 900 of
gold locked up IN Wall street, and $3.50, 000,-
600 of national bank bills in circulation In
short, the effect of the law would have been to
reduce the $3.50, 100000 of currency the coun-
try then had to the $3.50 100000 of national
bank bills. The renewal Of industry" such
merclless contraction would have given us can
be imagined. But within a month after the
Democrats got possession of congress the fea-
lures of this rascally resumption scheme were
radically changed In the first place silver
was remonetzed and provision made for ad
ding Sj0,OOOO0O year to the active currency
of the country by the coinage Of the silver dol
lar; and then the greenbacks were saved, by
enacting law prohibiting their cancellation
below the sum of $3.50, 100000. Democratic
legislation thus rendered resumption possible
by preventing merciless contraction of the
currency; and by, on the contrary greatly en-
larging the currency basis by its silver legisla-
ton ensured that "rcvval of industry" which
this republican convention now with unparal.
leled impudence claims as the result of their
scheme.
After such display of impudence and men
dacity, one is entirely prepared for the next
and final declaration of this remarkable con-
vention, to the effect that "Presidcnt Hayes de
serves the highest applause for maintaining
his constitutional perogatives" by vetoing
three successive bills of Democratic congress
and then signing other bills substantially en-
acting into laws the very things he had vetoed.
Which shows that great mendacity and impu-
dence are not inconsistent with a conspicuous
display of drlvel.