The representative. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1893-1901, 1893-08-23
PRINCIPLE AND POLICY.

They Both Demand That the Peoples
Party Identify Itself as the No-metal.
lie Paper Money Party.
have read with much pleasure the
very able and forcible article from the
pen of D. Madden, in your issue of
July 20. but am sorry to find him using
the following language: Congress
should repeal the Sherman act, but
act, otherwise it should not Free coin
age of silver will break the gold stand
ard dead lock. That once broken the
way is easy to establish the true law
system. The demonstration of both
coins will follow naturally as growth.
When the idea that law, not coin is
money can be comprehended."
From the conclusions expressed above
most emphatically dissent. To the
policy outlined and advocated, shall
oppose my best efforts, though for so
doing 1 may be crucified by we'll mean
ing populists and vilified and calumni-
ated by blatant silverites, who have no
conception of the underlying princi-
pies of true reform.
If David had desisted from singing
his pebbles until Goliath had protected
his forehead with shield the history
of Israel would probably not have read
as it does. If a pugilist, seeing that
his opponent was groggy and nearly
knocked out, should want to postpone
the fight until his opponent rested and
recuperated he would be written down
an ass. A general, fighting battle,
who, knowing that the opposing army
was demoralized, nearly routed and
one wing of it almost annihilated,
should withdraw from the field to give
the enemy a chance to form new line
of battle, would be regarded as an in
competent imbecile or a traitor.
If a man had two mortal enemies,
twins, between whom there also ex-
listed deadly feud, and one of them
had nearly done the other to death,
what a fool he would be to endeavor to
effect a reconciliation between them,
knowing that they would then unite
and fight him to the bitter end. If a
man, wishing to reach certain point
should start in an opposite direction
he must encompass the earth before he
arrives at his destination.
The path to the numerary monetary
system lies not through the pleasant
fields of bimetallic palliative, but
through scenes of carnage, strewed
with the wreck of fortunes and re-
sounding with the crash of dynasties,
ruined by the universal gold standard.
Demonetize silver and the emancipa-
ton of humanity, by the demonetiza-
ton of gold, must surely follow as an
inevitable result. Sooner or later a
genera ton must offer itself as sacri-
fee upon the altar of human rights, to
the end that future generations may be
free. And, at this moment, the sacri-
fetal victim is writhing in agony and
sick unto death. The gold dollar has
been the sole standard of value in the
United States for twenty years. 1t
was made so by house bill 1 ,427 passed
in 1878. AS Mr.. Hooper explained in
the senate.
"Section IA declares what the gold
coins shall be. Thus far there is no
change. In addition it declares the
gold dollar of IS $40 grains [of stand
ard fneness-i. e. 9-1O fine and Ito al
loy] shall be the unit of value, gold
practically having been for many years
the standard or measure of value. Sill
yer is out of relation to gold, being
worth now 1881 one dollar and three
cents. So the committee after careful
consideration concluded that Is $40
grains of standard 9-1O fine] gold should
be the unit of value" See page 2,3O5
in third column.
The agony is nearly over. The vic
tim is almost dead. All expressions of
fear as to prospective evils to follow the
adoption of the gold standard by the
United States are gratuitous. The evils
are already upon us.
Not only am eternally grounded up
on the rock of principle, but the course
advocate is good politics.
With clearer vision than is possessed
by populist leaders, Gen. A. J. Warner,
Senator John P. Jones and Sir Moreton
Frewen have each declared that the is
sue was between bimetallism and full
legal tender paper money, or, as the
latter puts it, "a universal era of
green backism." And the shame, oh!
the shame of it,! the populists propose
to fight on the side of metalism.
Moreover, the democratic party has
an overwhelming majority in congress
and if silver is remonetized it will be by
the votes of western and southern dem
ocrats in which case the democracy will
claim and receive the credit and nomi-
nate western hard money man for the
presidency in 1896 and put him upon
bimetallic platform. If silver should
be remonetized by the votes of silver
men. irrespective of party lines, the
parties will receive credit according to
the number of votes cast. In this case
the republicans will nominate vest
ern man upon bimetallic platform.
In any event. the peoples party, if it
continues to advocate metallism, will
have to go before the country upon the
same financial platform as is formulate
ed by one, or both the other parties.
In proof of this, l offer the opening
paragraph in Chairman Allen Thur
mans address at the Chicago conven-
ton. He says:
ssTha fiUht hofuoon <boco 1r,bo lo1;ovo