The daily morning Astorian. [volume] (Astoria, Oregon) 1883-1899, 1895-07-16
"sILvDR KNqaHTs," OR ASSES.

The little clique or third party free-sil-
ver.tes, of which Senator Stewart, of
Nevada, Is the head, has made so little
progress that its movement already seems
TO be a failure. Hence Its members have
resolved to try to work for the same
end along a new line. They have or
ganized a secret society for political pur-
poses" which will have its headquarters
In Washington, though chartered at AL
exandrla, Va, as a corporation. They
calq themselves THE Supreme Temple,
Silver Knights of America" and the
charter shows the main object to be ito
secure the free coinage of silver by the
United States government, to make sill
yer when coined a legal tender for all
dlbts, and to collect and expend money
In furtherance OF said purposes" OF
course Senator Stewart Is the president.
Among the other officers and directors
are two ex-members Of congress, and 1t
Is claimed that great number of the
representatives are identified with the
movemlsnt. Clerks are now at work in
preparing and sending out appeals, and It
Is SAID the literary bureau Is to be one
OF the most important features Of the
organization. An effort Is to Iba made to
form Silver Knight lodges in as many
places as possible throughout the land.
Access to the lodge rooms Is to- be gained
only by means of passwords and signs
and the discussions are to BE kept Sc
cret, but II VIII be left with the different
lodges to decide whether or mot they will
maintain secrecy in regard to the local
membership, as the "a. p. AS are said
to do.
This secret society claptrap may at
tract few Of the more silly ones among
the pople who have listened with more
or less approval to the false statements
and bad logic OF the old propaganda
which now Is trying to take on a new
form But 1t hardly will increase the
number of the deluded ones, and II dis
cusslons' be permitted and encouraged
at the lodge meetings the result Will be
split inside the ranks For the men,
bers will not spend the whole OF their
time In those lodge-rooms, but will hear
more or less OF what Is said in favor OF
honest money where not grips or pass
words are needed to listen to the truth
The leading spirits are quoted as point
Ing to the history OF Knownothingl SIN
as a notable evidIsnce OF what a secret
society may do in political afnairs. But
also they may cite the history OF the
knights OF the Golden Circle" and
some other secret associations to prove
the folly Of expecting success by such
means In free country. Most decidedly
the Knownothing movement did not re-
suit IN the exclusion OF foreigners from
ofiice In the United tSates and 1t soon
died out, an acknowledged failure.
1t Is probable THE class of literature
that VIII be sent out by the free silver
propaganda VIII fall fiat upon the ears
OF the American people. They alrsady
nave heard ad nauseum the statements
about the kind OF money the people of a
century ago supposed they wanted, and
the allegations that silver was fraudu-
lentiy "demonetized" In 1873 Not a fsw
OF them have become convinced that the
thoughts and Intentions of the men of
1893 may have bsen susceptible of Inn
provement to meet the needs OF modern
business activity. and that the talk about
"demonetizatlon" is nonsense in view of
the fact that in the last seventeen years
we have built up the volume of our sill
yer money TO at least an equality with
gold IN amount, and have sustained the
parity In the only way that could be
done without changing the ratio. They
and the rest VIII be very apt to say TO
themselves between this and election
time In 1895 that the great question now
;s TO decide how present conditions can be
improved upon n they are to be changed
at AN They VIII reason that the stage
coach and the canal boat for travel and
transportation, the general use Of wood
Tor auel, and the employment of candles
ana lamps supplied with whale oil for
Illumination were very good things In
pher dly but have been improved upon
SO vastly that no man in his senses now
WISHES 70 go back to them. The probable
~ tnat II the contemplated silver
n "a aN.1sf ls-N.. n
cussions will include reference to these
taets. and the question II the argument
Tor tres silver on a basis that would
exclude all the gold money is not as silly
as would be the plea for abandoning the
use OF steam on land and water giving
up coal, electricity. and gas, and going
back to ths primitive usages Of former
generations for the sake Of a supposed
consistence with history.