The Bennington banner. [volume] (Bennington, Vt.) 1858-1894, 1892-02-19
DEMOCRACY UNMASKED.
SENATOR VEST PRACTICALLY AID
MITS 1T TO BE HYPOCRIT-
ICAL OLD FRAUD.
at aint by princerpIes nor men

Mypreudent course is steadied,-
L scent which pays the best, and then
Go into It baldheaded."
Senator Vests letter, read at the Grey
stone Clubs banquet last Tuesday, is a
political contribution of much interest.
The letter, which we give below, says
the Tribune, shows that Mr.. Vest is a
man of courage as well rs candOr, and
vet the first impression which its reading
will produce is that the Senator was
panic stricken when he wrote it; an i'm
preston which, despite the graveyard
whistling'' that marks one or two pas
Sages, will be deepened by reflection.
The reader is left in no doubt, how.
ever, respecting the sentiments of the
writer, either in regard to men or meas
ures. He is an ardent admirer of Hill,
but is in favor of anybody to beat Hill
for the presidential nomination; he is
opposed to German, because German is
not a friend of tariff reform" by ag-
gressive advocacy of which only can the
Democratic party hope to escape lover
wheiming disaster;n he is a devoted
friend of Cleveland, whom he regards as
the sole logical despite his unrelent-
ing hostility to free coinage and his offer
to ''straddle' the tariff question in 1888,
but he is convinced that the BOSSES
otherwise the managers and tacticians'
of the party have decreed that Cleve-
land shall not be nominated. Mr.. Vest,
therefore, casts about for a secondhand
party savior. He praises Flower, but in
Il tone which seems to lack sincerity;
his eyes are then turned westward,
where VIM. r.. Morrison looms grandly,
with Dol (7nrltC ln nt,1 RninC N the
background, but it is plain that Vests
heart is not there. Cleveland is his
ideal.
Senator Vest leaves no room for doubt
in respect to his position on the free
coinage question. He justly complains
that Hill S attitude is uncertain, and that
his public expressions on that subject
are ''unintelligible," and he criticises
Clevelands recent utterances on the
same subject as "unwise, ineXpedlent
and an outrage on his friends in the
Senate" but he does not doubt the lat
ter's honesty" while he does suspect
HilPs. But while Mr.. Vest is an ardent
advocate of free coinage, which he hopes
and believes will win, he earnestly pro-
tests that the question must be kept in
the background and out of sight until
after the presidential election or the
party will inevitably suffer defeat. His
argument amounts to this: Either the
Eastern Democrats or the Western and
Southern Democrats are to be fooled
III the end, but the reaping of the har-
vest of deceit must be postponed until
after the election of a Democratic pres
ldert; in other words, free-COinage Dem
Ocrats and anti-free-cOinage Democrats
must enter and stay in the same "blind
pool' until after the presidential con-
test, with the full knowledge that one of
the factions is to be cheated in the end.
Such candOr is worthy of all praise. Mr..
Vest knows full well that if Cleveland
should be elected president he would
veto any free-coinage bill which might
be passed by Congress; as for himself,
his "hope and belief are that we will
have free coinage" and yet he has the
frankness to declare in a letter to free
coinage Democratic club that he is de-
voted Cleveland man, and to urge that
the free-cOinage question be kept in the
background. Such courage is worthy of
the hsaG't y Gms Il Sd in his desire
ffat the Ways and Means Committee
shall report not only "a general tariff
bill representing in it's provisions the
true position of the Democratic partv,n
but also bills attacking in detail the
most tiagrant and oppressive features of
the Mckinley act" He adds that "Of
course all these bills will be defeated"
but that nothing but unblushing false
hood can then charge the Democratic
party with insincerity or cowardice." 1t
will be noted that his argument on this
point is directly opposed to his argu-
ment on the coinage question. Mr.. Vest
does not forget incidentally to announce
as "reactiOnary and fatal the policy
recommended by Hill, whose attitude in
respect to the tariff question he does not
appear to have found so ''unintelligible"
as his views in regard to free coinage.
There is room for grave doubts, at
least, as to whether the letter will be
conducive to harmony in the Democratic
ranks, but that is matter which will
not give Republicans serious concern.
They will, however, read with extreme
interest the plainest and most candid
and truthful confession of the hypocrisy.
and false pretences of the
Democratic party which was ever spoken
or written by a member of it.
The letter is as follows:
SENATOR VESTS LETTER.
WASHINGTON. ID. c., Jan. goth, 1892.
MY DEAR STR:-Accept my thanks for
your kind invitation of the 10Th inst.
asking me to attend the annual banquet
OF the Greystone Club on February 9th.
and expressing the wish that if not able
to be present, would embOdy my views
on the political situation in letter to
be read to the club. You refer to an in
terview with me, published last Novem-
Der in the st. Louis Dispatch, in which
declared my preference for Mr.. Cleve-
land as the presidential candidate of our
party.
There has recently appeared a state
ment that favored Governor Hill, and
any disposition to thrust my
opinions on the public as to matters not
within the immediate sphere of my offic-
al duties, justice to the Democratic
party and myself demands frank ex-
preston of my views as to the serious
questions pressing upon us. In private
have often said, and now
state publicly, that have never sympa-
lhized with those who have denounced
David Is. Hill as traitor, and who have |
been unable to see any good in his char
icter or achievements. He has nv I'M
qualified admiration and gratitude for
I'll that he has done, and especially for |
lis splendid service in defeating the at |
empt of the Republicans to steal the |
View York Legislature. ! have also said |
hat recent events had satisfied me that |
cleveland could not carry the New York |
delegation to the Democratic National |
Convention, and that Hill could do with