Mississippi leader. (Jackson, Miss.) 1892-1895, 1894-10-16


have been made to count directly against
their strongest convictions. Were all tho
Republicans and Democrats who believe
in the free coinage of silver at the ratio Of
16 to I to step out of their old party or
ganizations even for one campaign and
stand upon platform of one plank-a
silver onc-or at least on a platform which
makes monetary reform its dominant fca-
turc, not abandoning but holding in re-
servo their convictions on other issues,
the president to be elected in 1896 would,
without the shadow of doubt, be one
who would sign free coinage bill
No Prospect of Relief From Either of the
Old Parties.
1 am firmly convinced that thcro is no
prospect of relief from either Of the old
parties as such, and least of all, regret to
say, from tho Republican party. The
financial leader Of the party, Mr.. Sherman
of Ohio, stated in the senate at the open
ing of the debate of 1898 that the silver
law of 1890 had been passed not for the
purpose of increasing the use of silver, but
of avoiding the passage of a free coin
age bill which he regarded as threaten
ing"
To give credit where credit is due, there
would be moro hope of favorable action
from tho Democratic than from the Re-
publican party, for, although the Dem
ocratic national convention demanded the
repeal of the law of 1890, it was because
that law made a commodity of silver the
platform demanding at the same time the
"coinage of both gold and silver without
discriminating against either metal or
charge for mintage" There were num-
bers of Democrats, however, who, at the
dictation of officials in high places, voted
for repeal while knowing that their con-
stituents were firmly opposed to it.
The masses of the people, from whom
reform must spring, do not manage prilna-
ries and although the advocates of GER
tain policy may have majority of votes
they feel obliged, so long as they remain in
the party, to vote for such candidates as
wirepullers and manipulators may choose
to nominate.
In order that great cause may win at
elections, it must be championed by party
whose leaders are for it, and for 1t not
haltingly, but with heart and soul. So
long as men are not elected to Office dis
tinctly and specifically for the purpose Of
achieving this reform above all others, it
will, in my judgment, never be achieved.
The reasons that can be advanced by an
official who has 500, 900 offices in his gift
are likely to be more effective than rea-
sons that have only logic for their founda-
ton Men have been known to crook
the pregnant hinges of the knee where
thrift may follow fawning."
If the advocates of monetary reform do
not como together how can they expect
to crystalline their convictions into stat
utes? Even were the Republican party
to favor free coinage at the America ratio
it will not surely be contendcd that, so
long as human nature remains what it is,
silver Democrats would then become Re-
publicans, nor were the Democratic party
to adopt free coinage could we expect the
silver Republicans to become Democrats,
while in any case, unless this were done,
there would be a sufficient number of gold
advocates in either party to defeat free
coinage legislation.
Such is the force CT party names, asso-
Citations and memories that men will not
join q party to which they have been for O
lifetime opposed. They know that, as a
rule in such cases the deserter is damned
and the recruit is not welcomed. They
may, however, feel at liberty to join new
party, in the shaping of whose policies
and the guidance of whose destiny they
COulu lCllNtly, CLctIluIly anu SoAioiotChoAy
participate and through whose success
they could have the assurance that their
most cherished conviction would find i'm
mediate embodiment in n statute.
Learn Lesson From the Tactics of silver's
Opponents.
The opponents of silver have pointed out
to us precisely what we ought to do Whom
they determined to repeal the purchase
clause of the law of 1890, they ignored for
tho nonce all other issues, forgot the strug-
giles and animosities of a third of cen
tury, shut their eyes to tariff campaigns
and cxhausting struggles with force bills,
together with all the bitterness which the
memory of such occasions recalled, AZ 4
Joined hands without hesitation for the ac-
complishment of their common purpose,
not abandoning but holding in reserve
their differences. In other words, they
formed for tho purpose and for the time
third party. That purpose accomplished,
they Immediately restored the status quo
and returned to their differences. They
voted in congress as ono party in their rep
resentative capacity. We should vote at
the polls as one party in our individual
capacity.
All who believe in the predominance of
monetary reform should, in my opinion,
come together on that issue and for the
time being hold in allegiance their convic-
tions upon other questions, reserving to
themselves the right to readjust their
party relations when the monetary ques-
ton is settled and other issues come to the
front. History teaches that while re-
forms of a minor character may be ac-
complished through parties formed for
the achievement of other purposes, no
question of the first magnitude-no ques-
ton involving great fundamental prin-
ciple operating in the interest OF the
masses of mankind-was ever settled with
out the creation of a new party for that
purpose.
Great parties have their rise not, as
some suppose, in the vagaries of accident
or In tho caprices of ambition. They are
the legitimate outcome of the irrepressible
aspirations of a people They are instru-
mentalities created for the achievement of
a great and we'll defined purpose, to the
accomplishment of which existing instru-
mentalities prove insufficient or indiffer-
ent. They are but illustrations, in the So
cietary domain, of that intuition which
man has in all ages applied to the difficult
ties of his individual environment. When
ever in his upward path, he was obstruct-
ed by barriers which no instrument In his
possession would remove, he proceeded to
make an instrument that would accom-