The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1891-11-26
TRYING To DODGE THE SILVER QUESTION.

WINS 10 ia
false pretenses, and when it is not max
ing promises and pledges that it has no
intention of keeping, it is trying to de-
ceive the people in regard to its past
record or future intentions. just now
the indications arc that next year it will
try to deceive the people in regard to
its position on the silver question. Find
ing that free silver coinage is likely to
prove a dangerous issue In the next
presidential campaign they propose to
try and keep it out of the campaign and.
if possible, make the people believe they
are sound On the silver question.
The evidence of this appears in the
course of several Democratic papers, in
Guiding the Sentinel, of this city. That
paper is on record in favor OF free silver
coinage, and yet, finding that that would
be n dangerous doctrine in the Eastern
States, it o advocates the postpone.
ment of the question until after the
next presidential election. In ar edi-
torial on the subject yesterday, it says:
The Sentinel, as all its readers know, is
not opposed to the free coinage of silver.
IN the contrary. it believes that free coin
age would be of benefit to the country and
that the a~pprehensions which are enter
tanned regarding 1T are entirely unwar-
ranted. In the Eastern States. up
OIL which the Democratic party must chiefly
rely for the electoral votes necessary to
choose the next President. the anti-sIlver
sentiment is overwhelmingly predominant.
With n free-coinage platform and q free
coinage candidate we believe that the
Democratic party would be beaten out
Of sight in New York, New Jersey.
Island. and that it would have
to fight hard to hold Maryland and Della
ware. Even IN Indiana the Democratic
opposition to free coinage is numerically
very strong, and cannot. with safety. be
ignored. The question. then. which pre-
sents itself to every Democrat Is whether
the Democratic party shall be sacrificed in
a futile attempt to secure free coinage and
the party OF monopoly tariffs, force bills
and billion-dOllar congresses be indefinite
ly perpetuated In power, or whether the
Democratic party shall 60 into the cam
paign next year to fight q winning battle
for equal taxation. local self-government
and economical administration. Ieavingthe
coinage question to be settled at some
future time.
The significant feature of this state
ment is the admission that with a free
coinage platform the Democratic party
would be beaten ont of sight in New
York, New Jersey, Connecticut, .Massa-
chusetts and Rhode Island, and for that
reason it is proposed that the party's
position On the question and its inten-
ton to adopt free silver coinage shall
be kept out of sight in the next cam
paign. In other words, it is proposed to
try and pull the wool over the eyes of
the people by either saying nothing
about the silver question next year, or
by adopting an e%quivOcal platform which
can be construed for or against free sill
yer coinage. as occasion may require.
In this way, and by pushing other issues
to the front, it is hoped to deceive the
people and secure o Democratic victory,
after which the party will show it's hand
and come out for free silver. This is a
thoroughly dishonest but thoroughly
Democratic scheme. 1t is to DO noted
that there is no proposition on the
part of the Sentinel or other free
coinage Democratic papers to reconsider
or modify their views in the light of
new information or sounder finance;
nothing of the kinds They are still for
free silver coinage, but because they be-
lieve q majority of the people, especially
in the Eastern States, regard it as an
unsafe and unsound doctrine, they pro-
pose to keep still about it in 1892 in the
hope of eleeting a President on other
issues, when they will assume their true
colors and come out in favor of free sill
yer. 1t is for the people to decide
whether the Democratic party shall be
permitted to succeed in this scheme of
false pretense. Moreover, it is for them
to decide whether a party which thus
proposes to deceive the people by try
ing to conceal its position on a question
of great Importance until after an cleo
ton can be trusted in anything.
1t is true, as the Sentinel says, that
the Democratic party is hopelessly di-
vided on the silver question, hut there
is no doubt that a majority, and the rul-
Ing element of the party, are in favor of
free silver. The conservative sentiment
of the country everywhere is against it,
as the Sentinel practically admits, but
the Democratic party is not governed by
conservative sentiment. Onevery phase
of the financial question it has always
been governed by demagogical consider
atoms, and by radical, communistic and
unsound views. There ia every reason
to believe that the controlling sentiment
of the party on the silver question is of
this character. The Democracy of the
South and West are in favor of free coin
age, and when it GENES to the test they
will control the party. Most of the
Democratic State conventions that have
met during the last two years have
declared in favor of 1.-The free and
unlimited coinage of silver" and
the recent record of the party is
clearly on that line. These facts must
not be lost sight Of when the Democracy
comes before the country next year with
an effort to ignore the silver question,
but with q secret purpose of adopting
free coinage if they succeed in electing n
President. Especially should conscrva-
tive Democrats in the Eastern States
take notice of this proposition by the
Democrats to capture the electoral votes
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