Daily tobacco leaf-chronicle. (Clarksville, Tenn.) 1890-1895, 1892-06-01
The Tennessee Platform,

The tennessee flhCIorm,
As to crow, we fail to see anything
in the Tennessee platform that looks
like dish OF genuine crow for free
silver "cranks." 1t fails to say much
about tariff reform, which'was to be
made The only issue, but is particu-
larly loud on the silver question,
marching squarely up to free coinage
and hedging ii all around with such
expressions as gold and silver must
be placed ON parity and made equally
unit of commercial value, and
legal tender for the payment of all
debts, public and private, and that
paper money shall be convertible into
coin at the option of the holder,
which means greenbacks, and plenty
OF 1t to meet all demands, and favors
the continuance of coinage of both
silver and gold bullion in such a
manner as that every dollar so coin
ed shall be equal to every other dol
lar, and also denounces the infamous
and surreptitious decentralization of
silver in 1873. OF course this means
the old ratio as it now exists-16 OF
silver to Of gold -siIver at the time
of its decentralization being worth
per cent. premium over gold, by rea-
son of the difference in the ratio of
this country, France and other ma
tons. India, for instance, puts 348
grains fine silver to 1922 grains of
gold, while this country put 371i fine
silver as the equal of the gold dollar,
making our dollar contain 20 grains,
or about 6 cents more than the
India dollar or rupee. Hence
the difference 10 exchange, making
silver worth more than gold at the
time of decentralization. The demand
that the Government shall coin all
the gold and silver presented is
simply free coinage; that is all the
term means, and free coinage or the
requirement that all silver shall be
coined at a fixed ratio can have no
other effect than that of restoring |
silver to its coinage value at the time
of decentralization, making an ounce
OF silver worth $l.29, whereas it is
now, under decentralization, worth |
only about SO cents. This platform
covers everything in the Bland bill
and everything in the Stewart bill,
now under discussion in the Senate.
Ii the convention had not intended
to emphasize free silver, then, as
honest men, they would have spoken
out like Mr.. Villas convention and
condemned free coinage. The de-
claration goes on to denounce the
Nationsl banking system in the most
approved style, declaring that sit is a
monopoly comforting unequaland I'M
precedented privileges upon the rich
and the land holding classes, enabling
them to draw interest from the Gov
eminent both upon their capital and
upon their debts at the same time,'
and further declares that the Federal
Government alone has the right and
power under the Constitution to
coin and issue Its money circulation.
We call this an out and out free coin
age PLATFORM, bottled up and hedged
in all around, and IL suits us. Ii there ,
Is any crow In the platform it must
be Mr.. Cleveland himself, and he is
very large size crow. If Cleve-
land Is crow for us, then the platform
is an awful sight Of crow for him and
the friends who made it, for they /
were all there and must have felt the
serious import OF The work they were
doing. If Mr.. Cleveland is no clam,
and will openly pledge himself to
carry out just such platform as this, !
no man would be more acceptable to a
the whole Democracy than he. III I
will not, then the gentlemen who go !
instructed cannot in justice TO the 4
platform they have adopted and the
constituency they represent, vote for
him.
There is no reason why every al
lianceman In the country cannot
stand on this platform. True il con- :
dennis the Ocala idea of subtreasury, II
land loans and telegraphs, but the 8
alliance people themselves, eight out |,
OF ten, are condemning that Part of q
the demands and say they don't like
II and do not contend for 1t and that
Il q the rock on which the alliance n
ship has grounded. Then why not 4
drop these things and met the other
extreme bali way, and let Democ' v
racy Join hands on free silver and pa q