The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1894-08-01
REPUBLICANS AND srLrER.

PEFO HlLlCANS AND SILVER.
The declarations of the Republican
state conventions of Illinois, Iowa and
Wisconsin on silver have been a dis
appointment to the Republicans OF
the West who favor free silver. In this
territory and most of the great states
and territories of the West Democrats
and Republicans alike favor free coin
age. 1t is the one thing on which the
two parties are united. They are uni
ted because silver is an interest com
mon to all and which is not built UP
at the expense of one part of the COM
munity for the benefit OF another part
as under the system of protection.
Hence the friends of silver welcome
any signs in favor of its restoration to
free coinage from any quarter.
When the League of Republican
Clubs convention met at Denver great
would adopt such strong and clear res
olutions in favor of silver that there
would be necessary no Interpretation
or explanation of their meaning. This
was not done and the western Repub-
licans felt sick at heart over the mat
ter. The delegates from Utah and
other western states and territories
put the best face in the matter they
could. This is natural and that they
could accomplish no more was not
their fault. Their party was against
them.
The Denver convention having been
a disappointment something was rath-
er hoped for than expected in favor of
silver from the Republican conventions
of Illinois, Iowa and Wisconsin. Hope
was again disappointed and general
disgust expressed. The declarations of
those conventions on silver We're such
as could be made to mean anything to
anyone. Like the chameleon they take
their color from the party looking at
them, and the party looking at them
finding them in harmony with his own
taste in this matter, pronounces them
satisfactory. 1t is the deceptive fiat
terry Of imitation.
The Republican papers of the East
have found these resolutions accepta-
bic. but it is not entirely so with the
San Francisco Chronicle of the 25th
inst. reviews at length the work of the
three latest Republican conventions
1t finds that work satisfactory in most
respects, but not in regard to silver.
1t says: But there is another great
issue before the Countrywide silver
question-concerning which the Repub-
licans are by no means so uniformly
clear and satisfactory"
This is a frank admission of what
all know to be a fact. The Republi-
can party of the Nation is perfectly
and uniformly clear on silver The
party does not want silver and the
party will not have silver. If this is
not so. why did not the party clubs
when assembled at Denver make a
clear and specific declaration on the
question? Simply because the party
was content to let silver remain just
where it is. That this is so is further
emphasized by the attitude of the Re
publicans of Illinois, Iowa and Wiscon-
sin. This is not merely the view of
a Democratic paper; it is also
the view of the leading Republican pa
per of California. The San Francis
co Chronicle, in the same article to
which we referred above, makes the
following comments:
Many Republicans will therefore
read with regret and even with dis
gust the. weak and hating declara-
lions in this regard adopted by at
least two of the Republican conven-
tions on Tuesday. Even the Illinois
plank, though more satisfactory, is
still lacking in clearness. There is
the same intimation of the necessity
of legislation for maintaining the par
ity of gold and silver money which oc-
ours in the national platform. No such
care and no such legislation is neces-
sary if bimetallism-the free coinage
of both metals at the established ra-
tio-is only reestablished.
The silver plank of the Republican
platform of California contains the
only logical declaration on the sub
ject.
There is no mistaking this. 1t ex-
presses what The Herald has said right
along; it expresses what every Repub-
lican in Utah knows to be the truth;
there is no getting away from it.
AS was said a few days ago by a
leading Republican, who is very large
ly interested in silver, and who is well
known in club circles: There it no
hope for silver in the Republican
party"