The Iola register. [volume] (Iola, Allen County, Kansas) 1875-1902, 1893-05-05
THE cHEAP-MoNEY PARTY.
Mr. BIand's Views on the Question OF
Finances.

/ 1AAAs Oh &AtstAOh VI
| Finances.
The mugwumps and eastern demo-
Gratis who say that the financial ques-
| ton is not party issue, and that each
of the great organizations is split near
the middle upon it, get some hard blows
! from Hon. X. p. Bland. In an article
in one of the magazines the eminent
Missouri democrat shows that his party
has been opposed TO the national bank
| ing system and in favor of free silver
from the time these questions first en-
tered the arena of politics. For the bill
of 1868 which created the national
banks twenty-five republicans in the
| senate and only one democrat voted,
while twelve democrats and nine re-
publicans voted against it. In the
house seventy-fve republicans and
three democrats voted for the bill and
forty-twO democrats and twenty-five
republicans opposed it. Nineteen years
later, or in 1882, the bill to recharter
the national banks was fought by two
thirds of the democrats or over, and
was carried only by the practically
solid support of the republicans.
Mr.. Bland furnishes equally convinc-
ing evidence to show that his party has
championed free silver from the start
The free coinage provision in the bill
which he framed sixteen years ago,
which bill became law on February
IS, 1873, received an overwhelmingly
large ma jOrity of the democratic votes
in the senate and house, but that pro-
vision was stricken out and limited
coinage clause was put in its place, be-
cause an overwhelming majority of the
republicans were hostile to it. In the
Fifty-frst congress, in which the re-
publicans controlled the house, mo-
ton by Bland for a report in favor of
free coinage received one hundred and
one out of the one hundred and four
teen democratic votes recorded in
the house, and was opposed by one
hundred and twenty-seven out of
the one hundred and forty-one
republicans who voted. About thirteen
months ago, when the latest contest on
this question was had in the house. Mr..
Bland shows that the parties divided up
as they had done earlier, thus indicating
that the democracy had not changed its
ground on this issue.
IF the democratic party is true to its
teachings and present tendencies" de
clares Mr.. Bland, 1t will, in time, re-
store the country where the constitu-
ton and the fathers put it, that is, tn
right to the free use of both precious
metals as money, and bank paper to be
relegated TO where it belongs, viz: the
various states" This is the democratic
doctrine as presented by one of the
party's ablest and most eminent ex-
Founders. The democracy wants free
silver and wildcat currency. If gold
should be unable to maintain itself I'M
der the strain which it would have to
bear from the unrestricted coinage of six
ty-fve-cent silver dollars and. of course,
it could not, then SO much the worse
for gold. If the national banks could
not stand the competition of the state
banks should the latter be permitted to-
issue currency on the same terms. and
they assuredly could not, then SO much
the worse for the national banks The
democratic programme on the finances
has been revealed, and the western and
southern end of the democracy is
pledged to carry it out.-St. Louis
Globe-Democrat.