Daily tobacco leaf-chronicle. (Clarksville, Tenn.) 1890-1895, 1891-01-28
Cleveland and Free Coinage.

SASNSAUlN tSAN II ApO SNAA"6S'
Mr., Spear, of the Atlanta Journal,
wrote MIR. Cleveland for an expires
sion of his views on the silver ques-
ton. The ex-president answers Mr..
Spear that he does not think it proper
for him to talk on such matters, as his
name has been mentioned in cOnnec-
tien with the presidential nomina-
ton, and anything he might say
might be construed as an attempt to
influence Congress or public opinion,
This does not indicate that Mr.
Cleveland has changed his mind on
ment from the presidency, during
which time his administration gave
shape to the views expressed in his
letter to Mr.. Warner of February a,
1885, just before he was inaugurated,
and which policy prevented the
Democratic party from springing the
silver issue in the last campaign,
which would then most probably
have carried several Western States,
and still he failed to carry his own
State (New York; on the issues of
tariff and civil service reform. Now
the Democratic party is thoroughly
committed to free coinage f.; it is the
leading issue, side and side with the
tariff question. Free coinage and
low tariff were the issues that
brought about the wonderful change
and the overwhelming Democratic
victory last November. This no one
can dispute. The question now is,
how can the Democratic party afford
to take Mr.. Cleveland for its leader
in 1872 unless he is with the party on
the silver question? He took his
chances in the last campaign on the
one issue of tariff reform, forced his |
denomination on that issue alone and |
lead to defeat. True, his celebrated |
tariff message proved the keynote to
the tariff educational campaign, but |
that would have gone on all the
same had Mr.. Cleveland never lived. !
His failure was in suppressing the
equally great and strong issue-the
silver question, which the West was
then ripe for. Referring to the War
ner letter, the free coinage advocates
in Congress wrote Mr.. Cleveland on
the eve Of his inauguration request |
ing him not to PREJUDICE the question,
discouraging the passage OF n free
coinage measure, such as the Senate
passed few days ago. In reply Mr.,
Cleveland wrote that he had not pre-
judged the case that he appreciated
the Importance Of the question
and frankly declared himself "in
favor of the suspension-not the in.
crease of the coinage Of silver. He
said: at is of 'momentous impor-
lance to prevent the two metals from
parting company; TO prevent the in
creasing displacement of gold by the
increasing coinage of silver to pre-
vent the disuse of gold in the custom
houses of the United States in the
daily business of the people; to pre-
vent the ultimate expulsion Of gold
by silver. Such a financial crisis as
these events would certainly precipi-
tate, were ii now to follow upon so
long "a period of commercial depres-
sion, would involve the people of
every city and every State in the
Union in prolonged and disastrous
trouble. The revival of business
and prosperity, so ardently desired
and apparently so near, would b.
hopelessly postponed. Gold would
be withdrawn to its boarding places,
and an unprecedented contraction in
the actual volume Of our currency
would speedily take place. Saddest
Of all, in every workshop, mill, fac
tory, store, and on every railroad and 4
farm, the wages of labor, already de-
pressed, would suffer still further de-
preston by a scaling down of the
purchasing power of every so-called