Daily tobacco leaf-chronicle. (Clarksville, Tenn.) 1890-1895, 1892-10-06
Tha Threa platforma.


Democratic platforms on the cur
rency questions. Mr.. Scott declined
a joint debate and therefore no one
had chance to answer him. We
offered last week to take him up at
his own proposition and let Mr.. G.
p. Warfield or any good Al lance
man be the judge as to whether or
not there was difference between
the two platforms ON the currency
question. We offered to pay five
dollars il we failed to show the diff
erence and failed to show that Ibis
difference WINS on the side of more
money for the people as demanded
by the Democratic platform.
First, then let us look at the silver
question. The last Congress, the
Reed Congress, passed what is known
as the Sherman law, by which the
coinage OF silver was entirely stop
ped, and for something more than
year now not silver dollar has been
coined in the United States. Silver
has been bought In the lump at mar
ket price and greenbacks have been
issued based partly on this silver, but
mainly on the general faith and credit
OF the government. The object of
this law was to utterly destroy silver
as money metal. 1t was to accus.
tom our people to dispensing entirely
with the coinage of silver. When
the bill was passed in 1890 every
Democrat, without exception, in both
houses OF congress voted against it.
Every vote which the bill received
was Republican vote. When the
two parties met in convention in 1892
the Republicans said smoothly in.
their platform that they favored BIZ
metalism and demanded the use OF
both gold and silver as standard
money, but they said not one word
about resuming the coinage OF silver,
They stood and stand on the Sher-
man law, which had passed
Congress after a hot debate and
square division between the two
parties. The Democratic platform on
the other hand denouL ced the Sher-
man silver law and demanded 1.-THE
coinage of both gold and silver with
out discriminating against either
metal or charge for mintagc." The
platform further provided that the
dollar unit of both metals must be OF
equal intrinsic and exchangeable
value. Thus the Democratic plat
form plainly demands the free coin
age of silver, leaving to Congress to
regulate the value of the two metals,
which it has always been the duty OF
Congress TO do. The Republican
platform plainly demands that no
more silver be coined at all. Will
any man say there is no diff renee
between the two platforms on the
silver question?
But the difference betW cen the two
platforms is even wider when we
come to the subject of paper or credit
money. The Republican platform
offers no relief at all fer the depress-
ed condition OF the country, caused
in great measure by scarcity OF
money. The Democratic party not
only offers a remedy, but il offers in
our opinion the only true remedy fol
the evil. 1t proposes to repeal
the ten per cent. tax on State banks
(another piece of Republican legisla.
tion) and leave each State to issue 9
State currency which can be kept al
home for use among its people, and
which will at the same time afford as
safe and sound currency as>green
backs issued by the Federal govern
ment. With the free coinage Of bott
gold and silver, and with both metals
as basis of our currency, with the
greenbacks already issued by the
Federal government kept in circula
ton, and finally with a safe paper
currency sufficient for all demands is
sued by the several States, our people
would no longer have reason TO com
PLAN of hardtimes and scarce money
This is precisely what the Democrat
ic platform offers, and Brother Scott
of Kansas, was paying his auditors {
very poor compliment when he sale
none of them could tell the difference
between the Republican and Demo
cratic parties on the currency ques
ton.
i The Democratic platform is as fal
superior TO the Peoples party plat.
form on the currency question as it is
to the Republican platform. The sub
treasury scheme has be- dropped By
all intelligent Alliance men. Even
Scott did not undertake TO defend it
In a two hours speech he did not
mention it. In fact 1t is wholly in
defeusible, and we know of no man
| now in Montgomery county who up
holds it. Last year they all wanted
the sub-treasury or some thing better
This year they all admit there must
be something better, and this some