Mississippi leader. (Jackson, Miss.) 1892-1895, 1894-10-30
COL. TH0S. MOUNT, THE PR0HI
BITI0N NOMINEE, DEFINES
HIS POSITION.
Silver, River I'm
prOvement and Future Gam
bling Discussed.
Vital Issues Oh Which He and
Congressman Catchings
Differ.

IldNlbS DCCh w lCplCSChb
you from this District of Mississippi
in the Congress of the United States,
it seems proper that l should say to
those of you who do not know me per-
sonally that am a native Mississip-
plan, born in Benton, Yazoo county.
l gave four Of the best years of my life
to the service of my country when it
became the patriotic duty of every
Southerner to respond to the call for
volunteers. l obeyed the call of my
country then, as l am responding to
the call of the people now.
For economic and philanthropic
reasons, | am Prohibitionist. | be-
lieve that the manufacture and sale of
alcoholic liquors ought to be forbidden
by the National Government; and that
the individual citizen should be per-
suaded to temperance for physical,
moral, social, religious, political and
patriotic reasons. Not that l would
interfere with any mans personal lib
erty" and say he shall not drink; but
that | would make it "easy for him to
do right" in this regard land difficult
to do wrong"
Being practical business man, hav-
ing been banker during nearly the
whole of my business career, think |
may modestly claim to have some prac-
tical knowledge of finance; and l am
happy to say that am in full accord
with the intelligent sentiment of Mis-
sissippi in the popular demand for the
free coinage of silver on the ratio of 16
to for gold. AS the population of
this great country increases, so there
should be corresponding increase
in the volume of money, sufficient to
meet the demands of business, and give
opportunity for the employment of la
Dor
You need in Congress, representa-
tives who will vote to remonetize sill
yer, and you will cheat yourselves by
voting for any who are opposed to it.
While Mr.. Catchings has no doubt
been serviceable in securing appropri-
ations for the levees, and while his
friends claim for him all the credit in
this matter, yet it is we'll known to all
persons that are we'll informed on this
subject. that the great railroad inter
ests have always kept large lobby at
work in Washington to secure these
appropriations, and it is to their efforts
mainly that the results are due More
over, the Government is committed to
the policy of improvement of the riv-
ers and harbors, and kindred works
And these are not dependent on the eff
forts or influence of any Congressman.
l am in favor of the passage of the
anticipation (Hatch) bill to stop the
gambling in futures, whereby specula-
tors are able, by moneyed combina-
tions, to sell down values of agricul-
tural products, and impoverish the
farmers of the country. And as the
farming interest is the basis of all com
mercial enterprise, it becomes impera-
lively necessary that the efforts of all
the people shall be joined to put down
this great evil which has helped the
gold standard to force down the price
of cotton from ten cents to five cents;
but taxes have not diminished in the
same ratio, and you can't pay ten cent
taxes with five cent cotton.
Mr.. Catchings, your present repre-
sentative, held a position in Congress
on the Committee on Rules, where at a
particular juncture, the passage of the
Hatch bill depended on his vote. His
favorable vote in the committee would
have brought the bill before the House,
where the previous proceedings show
ed it would have passed by handsome
majority. And though several of the
Mississippi members importuned Mr..
Catchings to favor the special rule, he
obstinately sided with the opponents
of the bill, and prevented it's friends
from putting it on it's passage.
Mr.. Catchings is equally obstinate in
his adherence to the single gold stand
ard. On this question he stands alone
so far as Mississippi's senators and
representatives are concerned, and is
in direct antagonism to a constituency
whose suffrages he solicits. He seems
not to see since the decentralization of
silver in 1873, the purchasing power of
gold has risen, is still rising, and must
continue to rise; causing an incessant-
ly heavier and heavier burden to fall
on the debtor in favor of the creditor,
and that this injury to the debtor is in
volving the creditor, since the debtor
is becoming unable to pay. In those
countries which have the silver stand
ard, industrial development is espec-
tally strong, without producing any fall
in prices. This is direct proof that sill
yer has not lost in value, but merely
gone down in its gold price; and that
therefore the fact which confronts us
is simply an elevation in the value of
gold.
On the battlefield of free coinage OF
silver will be fought in the next Con-
gress the great battle which will deter
mine whether the country is to con-
tinue on the downward course to ruin,
making hupdro1S mora IF million q iraS