Hopkinsville Kentuckian. [volume] (Hopkinsville, Ky.) 1889-1918, 1895-06-14
FOR FREE SILVER.
Great Speech of Senator Blaclzse.
burn, of Kentucky.
The LEADING POLITICAL ISSUE.
Gold Standard Advocates Answered fn o.,
Mastery Manner-why Silver Was
Stricken Down-secretary Car
isles Arguments Re-
futed.

atOr BlackDurn mace an EXHAUSTIVE
argument in favor of free coinage of
silver and fully answered the latS~
speech of the secretary of the treasury,
Mr.. Blackburn said:
The shifting OF politics are rapid and
great. For third of century ot
more two great political organiza tions,
have been struggling for the mastery
| in this land of ours. Questions of great
| Importance have divided them. Tax
| ing systems and currency systems have
| constituted two great pivotal issuea~
! upon which the republicans and demoA
Gratis have struggled with each othens
This contest is peculiar at least in thfsi,
that for the first time in thirty years
you hear nothing of the tariff ques>
ton. 1t has been temporarily eIirnS
mated from American politics The
high protective tariff system ,unGGsr-
which the taxpayers of this land Tor
so many years have groaned and stag
gered has been stricken to the earths
so-called free trade tariff bill was sub
stituted upon the 2sth day of last Au~
gust l need not consume my. tinSeas
nor trench upon your patience with.
any discussion of the tariff law. Az
least for some years to come il kzs~
agreed upon all hands that it is not an
issue in active politics.
/ / may as well come direct, without
preface, to the one great pivotal ra--
tional issue that is now absorbing the
attention of the American people, and
that is the currency question. When,
we come to look at that we find nevs~
and novel phases to contemplate. The
parties in the country are divided upon
this issue, and yet it must be admitted
however unfortunate the condition,
that both the repu blican and demo-
cratic partiest to degree themselves are.
divided upon this great question. IT.
is not in my power to overstate the i'm
portance of this issue. 1t is not within.
mortal power to do justice in this st--
tempt to describe the far-reaching con-
sequences that depend upon the settle
ment that you are to make of this fzp-~
sue. There can be no question pre-
sented that reaches more directly tRsa
every man and every woman within the.
limits of this land than does this money,
question. In some of its aspects it Sss
even more important than the tariff
1t is true that it is a matter of no small
significance to the producing elements
of this country whether your taxess
are to be high or low; but it is of still
more Importance to you to have thiAS
money question settled on a fair and
honorable basis.
What matters it to you or to mea.
whether our taxes be high or lowfs
What matters it to us whether our,
DO ha AL
year provided we have not any doiiss.
with which to pay either? This money!
question reaches to the pocket of every,
citizen of this great continent of ours
it challenges your best judgment, your
soberest thought. The most careful
consideration that it is possible for
any intelligent, prudent, patriotic citi--
zen to give to any issue is what this
great question demands and should re-
ceive at your hands | mean to-day to-
make myself understood, if it be posi-
BILE, by every human being within the
sound of my voice, 1t is my purpose,
to talk in English so plain and so COM
prehensible that neither man noCz-
woman nor 1o-year-old child who have,
paid me the compliment of their preas-
ence here shall fail to understand pre-
cisely what mean. do not mean to-
indulge in catch phrases or misleading
terms. ! have no more patience withs
the political "shyster" who by sme&l
methods and such appliances wculSi
seek to hoodwink and mislead the peo--
pie than have for the quack doetor or
"shyster" lawyer in their professions
Truth AS He Sees It,
Men tell you, and you read fn thss,
daily press of the country, thai thss
issue presented now, which is, absorb
ing the attention of all people, isa con-
test between recommendation, or "a
single standard, gold, upon the one
side, and monometallism, or a single
standard, silver, upon the other side.
The man who makes this statement
the stump speaker, the newspaper ed.
itor-any man who presents this as the
issue that is now pending before thas
people of Kentucky and the people of
this country--is not dealing fairly bsy
the people. This is not the issue; it fey.
not question between single gold
standard and single silver standard.
If there be left anywhere upon this
earth to-day man advocating single
silver standard as the redemption
money OF the American people, bear
witness for me, Heaven, never saw, /
never knew, l never heard Of such
man Let us deal fairly with the PEG
pie, let us tell the truth to the peoplssl
or, at least, make an honest effort to-,
tell the truth. That does not present.
the issue fairly. That does not truth.
fully state the parties to this contro-
versy. will tell yon who those par
ties are Upon the one side stands ar
rayed the advocates Of the single gold
standard and upon the other side
stands arraycd the army that rcpro-~
SCENTS tie masses Of the AmericaQ peQpj