The Ketchum keystone. [volume] (Ketchum, Idaho) 1885-1899, 1891-05-30

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and succinctly stated, one is forced
to the conclusion that it must hav'
!. been hastily drawn up, and adopted
without q just measure of consider
alton. A convention called togethe
. for a purpose so important as TIT
organization of new political party
and the PRONUNCIATION of a set o
principles designed to reinstate ths
people of a great country such al
1 ours, and to serve as landmarks to-
their guidance in legislation thai
shall, in the future, inure to thu
equalization and welfare of all O.
the people of our country, should
give itself time to crystalize it's de-
mands into such brief, sharp, utter
snces as would inevitably attract
and hold the attention of the mul
titude. The manner of saying 9
thing is frequently of as much inn.
portance as the thing said /; and the
declaration of principles by the
Cincinnati convention was an in.
stance in which utterances crisp,
salient and manifestly true, was de-
manded, That the platform is not
so spoken is disappointment.
We believe there is wide, pop
ular demand for the abolition OF
national banking. To make and
issue money is function of the
general government, conferred upon
it by the constitution. The right
to delegate that power has not been
conferred upon, but usurped by the
government. 1t is, then, the duty
as we'll as the function of the gov
eminent to make and issue money,
and the neglect to perform this duty,
besides in1licting an injury on the
citizen, is violation of a govern
mental obligation, which should
arouse his antagonism. The con-
vention should, therefore, have
made an emphatic demand for the
abolition of national banking, and
the issuance Of money from the
treasury direct. in such quantities,
beginning at $50 per capita, as ex-
perience should prove necessary to
maintain the business Of the coun-
try on permanent cash basis. But
their scheme of borrowing money
from the government will inevitably
prove disastrous to the great mass
of farmers, at least; as both the
crops and the farms Of the poor are
mortgaged in advance of any such
law. This will be taken advantage
of by the rich and well-to-do to
borrow money at the cheap rates
proposed, and possess themselves
of the property and homes of their
less fortunate neighbors. 1t is the
most villainous scheme yet ad-
vanced in this country, and fully
justi6es the suspicion that it was
devised for the purpose of enabling
the railroad companies to unload
their worthless lands on the gov
eminent by means of mortgages.
On the subject of taxation the de-
mand should have been for its total
abandonment. There no longer re-
mains a tenable excuse for taxation.
The practice and principle, always
pernicious, are obsolete. 1t is a
relic of barbarism and can in no.
wise be so equitably adjusted that
its burden will fall upon each in
Just proportion to the benefits de-
rived and his ability to pay. The
government must have an income,
which should be limited to its actual
needs, and gotten without Cypress
ing even the humblest citizen; but
90 far from this being so under our
system of taxation, the enormously
rich escape the payment of any tax
IS, while the very poor are ground
10 death by the weight of a burden
hat should not and need not be
Our railroads, telegraphs
and telephones conducted by the
and run at so per cent
If their present cost, would supply
ample revenue for every possible use
If the government, including the
payment of pensionsand the public
lebt, and these being natural mo-
their conduct becomes a |
legitimate function of government.
The Eastern goldites exhibited |
heir native cunning to good advant-
lge when they sprung the recon-
nendation on the Cincinnati con-
ion that the pensions be put on a |
,old basis, and the convention made
IN equally prominent exhibition of
is verdancy when it applauded the
rick. If we can get the pensions
IN gold basis" reasoned the tools
# recommendation, "there can there
'fter be no change in the status of
liver without ignoring a completed
contract for the payment of large
ums by the government in gold.
n this view they are correct. Should
'ur people assent to an agreement
o pay pensions in gold coin. dur
ng the tendency of the silver con-
roversy, they would do 80 with
heir eyes open, and the anti-silver
men would not be slow to urge such |
! blpnder, as an evidence that the
country had by that act recorded
ts verdict against silver coinage.
1ynx-eyed vigilance is the duty and |