The Austin weekly statesman. (Austin, Tex.) 1883-1898, 1894-11-01
THE FORT WORTH GAZETTEa
pOPUIJST DOCTRINES.

! POPULIST DOCTRINES.
The Fort Worth Gazette in com
, menting on an item in The STATES
MAN in which farmer of this county
MIR. Hewett, is represented as having
said he could buy as much OF the nec-
essaries of life with bale OF cotton
now as he could when it was at Il
a cents pound, assumes that IHE
STATESMAN is advocating a policy
that doubles up debts. The STATES
MAN has never advocated policy that
! doables up debts or depreciates money
, so that half the amount of money
serves to pay debt that WAS con-
tracted to be paid in full with good
money, as the Fort Worth Gazette
has been doing. THE STATESMAN has
never attempted to contract the cur"
rency. 1t has favored the coinage Of
both metals, silver and gold, at a ratio
that would maintain their parity in
all the markets of the world. The
Fort Worth Gazette remarks that "all
who are gulled by such logic should
take the first ship for China" allud-
ing to the logic of The STATESMAN
in protesting against a flood of de-
preciated and dishonest dollars TO in
fate the currency. All who do not ac-
cord with The STATESMAN in its
logic had better take down
from their masthead the Dem
ocratic flag, as in their reputation
of the doctrines of The STATESMAN
they repudiate both the platforms of
Texas and the national platform ofthe
Democratic party.
This effort of expanding the cur
rency involving its depreciation for
the benefit of debtors, to say the least
of it, is not an honest effort. If an
honest man owes debt he is going to
pay it if he can in money just as valu-
able in its purchasing power as the
money of the country was at the time
the debt was contracted. There are
thousands of widows and orphans in
this country who have loaned good
money at fair and reasonable per
cent and that money has been used
by the debtor at full value, but the
policy of the Gazette would in point of
fact permit a dishonest man to pay
just half of the amount he borrowed
and contracted to pay.
Just such articles of the Gazette are
keeping money out of circulation.
When such wild schemes of initiation
as those advocated by the Gazette re-
ceive the approval of editors who are
supposed to represent the ideas of the
people and are scattered over the
county, the man who has money
either to loan or invest buys gold and
hides it. That is the matter with
the country now and that has
been the matter with the country
for the last Is months. A
man who has $4,000 in gold won't
lend it out or invest it in any way
when he takes the chances by reason
of u deprecated and inflated currency
of getting back only $4,000.
We had hoped that the wise action
of the Democratic party, with its large
majority in Texas, had by the express
sion on this subject Of its platform at
Dallas given assurances to the country
that the party was in favor of sound
money and these doubts about the
safety OF investment would be cleared
up and thrown aside and that the
money of the country would be I'M
locked and from its hidden depository
emerge to enter into the business en>
terprise of the country, but as long as
newspaper like the Gazette, flying
the Democratic flag and pretending
to be representative of the party in
Texas, utterly ignores and repudiates
that platform, just TO the extent of the
influence of that newspaper will dis"
VI uSI SOhtlhuC ulu LhC
main contracted by reason of 80 many
timid men hiding their capital that
ought to be in use in business with
assurances of safety.
The Gazette to the extent of its in.
huence is ipjuring the people of this
country, especially as it flies the Dem
ocratic flag, which party has had a
large majority in this state. The
Gazette is using the livery of Democ-
racy in which to serve the Populists,
and it has repudiated the platforms of
the Democratic party, both state and
national, to do go.
GENERAL JOHN b. GoRDoN's lee