Mississippi leader. (Jackson, Miss.) 1892-1895, 1895-07-09
THE FREE SILVER GATHERING AT
MEMPHIS.


has come and gone, and unless the as
ISOLATED press dispatches lie, nothing
has been demonstrated except that we
have three parties in this country that
favor the free coinage Of silver, but no
two of them can agree to vote together
for what they want unless one of the
parties will surrender its organization.
The treacherous old Democracy, OF
course, is taking the lead now In howl
ing for silver, and IL the people trust
the gang again they will be betrayed
Just as the greenback movement was
betrayed.
Some Populists attended the Mem
phis meeting, possibly to see just what
was on foot, but the man who permits
himself to believe the Southern Dem
ocracy is any more sincere in the free
silver movement they have inaugural
ed this year than usual, will awake to
find himself cheated again.
With all their pretended indignation
over the "the crime of '73," no nation
al Democratic platform has ever con-
demned that crime. On the contrary
every national Democratic convention
that has assembled since that date,
has given the country a platitude or a
straddle on the money question and
nominated a gold bug as its candidate
for President. ..,..
Promises from the stump are always
profuse in campaign, but the per-
Torrance never fails to be short.
In 1891, when the sub-treasury can
vass was being made in this State, the
old set-fasts, badly frightened, assem-
bled in convention at Jackson and
promised adherence to the doctrine Of
free silver, but they we're then in ia
vor of the abolition of national banks
and government issue of paper money.
Here is what they said at that time:
1--WE believe that gold and silver
should be coined upon the same terms
and conditions, and that when the gov
eminent ceases to discriminate be-
tween them, they will freely circulate
side by side and be equally useful and
acceptable to the people. We ALSO
BELIEVE THAT THERE SHOULD BE AN AD-
OPTIONAL ISSUE OF TREASURY NOTES IN
FEBCHANGABLE WITH COIN, SUFFICIENT
TO TRANSACT THE BUSINESS OF THE coUN-
TRY, AND TO BELIEVE THE PRESENT FINAN
cIAL DEPRESSION"
They we're successful In that cam.
paign, and the g. o. c., was reelected
to the U. 8. Senate. In 1892 another
Democratic convention assembled at
Jackson and when the platform COM
mittee we're discussing the financial
plank, the declaration of the conven-
ton one year before was offered for
adoption and VOTED DOWN. A "miser-
able make shift" was inserted In the
State platform of 1892, and the author
of the financial plank of 1891 IT. G.
Catchings) becomes gold bug cuckoo
in 1893, and votes straight for the re-
peal Of the only law on the statute
books favoring the white metal.
As further illustration of the TO-
tai unreliability of the average Demo-
cratic politician, we mention the fact
that in 1894, the party claimed to have
sFsSaf I'll s B,'f aso sfs sso
ton is over and the commissions are
secured it develops that three of that
six have falsifed their pledges to the
people and gone over to the worship
ers OF Mamnon,
For sixty years the Democracy made
the tariff question an issue, and they
never touched it without making mat
ters worse than before. For twenty
years the restoration of silver to the
position it held prior to "the crime of
'73," in which Thos. F. Bayard partici-
pated side by side, with John Sherman,
has occupied much of the time of the
average Southern mugwump politician
and promises thick and fast have been
made by these gentry just preceding
every election. With all the labor
they have beeh able to pat forth in
support of their profuse pledges they
have worked the party up to the point
that 1O1 out of 227 Democratic men,
bers in Congress did vote for free sill
veP. Nov the question rs: IF the
party has always been In favor of the
equal use Of both gold and silver as a
money metal, and the coinage of each
without discrimination against either
and without charge for mintage," as
Col. Money, Mr.. McLaurin, Gov. Low
ry and others insist it is, and they can't
get quite half their representatives to
vote for free COINAGE in twenty wears
how long would it be if 16 to plank
was inserted in the platform before
the Democracy would give the couu-
try free silver?-People's Messenger.
The LEADER last week called atten-