The Cape Girardeau Democrat. (Cape Girardeau, Mo.) 1876-1909, 1895-06-01
SILVER ORATORI.

toinaee-His Remarks Principally De-
voted to "a Comparison of His Gifted APP
moment AS a Legislator and an Executive
Officer.
NJ ENPHIs. Tenn, May 25.-Before an
audience that filled every nook and cor
ner of the Grand opera house and over
flowed into the street, e~X-Congressman
". J. BRYAN, of Nebraska. replied last
pight to the speech on the monetary
Issue delivered across the street Thurs
5av afternoon by Secretary Carlisle.
In the course of his speech the
Omaha editor said:
Il have read the speech delivered by
MIR. Carlisle in this city yesterday;
also the one delivered by him at Cow
iprtcn. XIV. last Monday evening,
and | have compared them with the
,peech delivered by him on the 2lst Of
February, ISIS. in the house Of repre-
,cntatives. and | am reminded OF the
language used by David in l~amenting
the death Of saul: How are the mighty
fallen"
In ISIS Mr.. Carlisle was hurting the
pebble of truth at the giant of the
PhilistineS, John Sherman: to-day, as
a GOliah he daily issues challenges to
his former friends. His speech of ISIS
was made when he was 43 years old,
in the full possession of his ply steal
strength and mental vigor. He had
then been a practicing lawyer for
twenty years; a member of the state
legislature of kentucky and a lieuten-
ant governor in hat state, II was
then a member of congress.
Mr.. Carlisle did not refer. at Mem
phis, to his speech of 1878, but he did
refer to it at ~Covington, and said:
Some of the opinions then expressed
have beer changed altogether by SUBJ
sequent events and by a more thor
ough investigation of the subjects to
which they related; but, on the ques-
ton of free coinage my convictions
have never been shaken for a moments"
but he did not state ever at C~OvingtOn
what parts of his former speech be re-
pudia ted, and what parts he modified.
He served in the house and senate
for about fifteen years after the
making of that speech, and new.
er, upon a single occasion, did he
attempt to withdraw the u~tterances of
1873 or to modify the emphasis with
which he then spoke. He explains
that he voted for free coinage in ISIS
in the hope that it would be amended
in the senate, but he never voted
against free coinage until after the
nomination of Mr.. Cleveland in 1892,
1t is true that in ISIS Mr.. Carlisle did
say that he was opposed to the free
coinage of silver, but he ought, in all
fairness, to have stated that he was at
that time opposed to the free coinage
of gold also. He said in his speech of
1878:
Il am opposed to the free coinage OF
either gold or silver, but in favor of
the unlimited coinage of both metals
upon terms of exact equality"
Not only is his present language con-
tradicted by his former speech, but
letter, written in 1890 by him, says
that he was at that time in favor OF
free and unlimited coinage of silver.
On the a5th of July, 1890, the Gibral
tar Democrat of Mayfield, Ky, pub
lished a letter written by Mr.. Carlisle
for publication, in which he defends
himself against a criticism made by
the Farmers Alliance, and says of the
Sherman act of 1890: "When the orig
inal house bill was under discussion in
the senate | voted to amend it SO as
provide for the free and unlimited
coinage of the silver dollar, and that
amendment wassadOpted. The house,
however, refused to agree to this amend
ment, and then a conference commit
tee was appointed, which struck gu
free coinage entirely, and this is the
bill | voted against"
This letter was written to W. NJ
Smith for publication, and Mr.. Smith,
who was then a member of the legisla-
ture and a part owner of the paper,
has since been appointed district az
torney on Mr.. Carlisle's recommends
ton. This letter. written only five
wears ago. shows that Mr.. Carlisle wa
either at that time in favor of the fire,
coinage of silver or that he intended
to deceive his constituents in Ken
lucky, because in the letter he credit.
himself with voting for an amendment
which provided for the free and I'M
limited coinage of gold and silver a
the legal ratio of 16 to l, without
waiting for the aid or consent of any
other nation.
So much for the position of Mr.. Car
Isle upon the question of free coinage
We do not deny to Mr.. Carlisle thu
right to change his Opinion-it ha.
been a change of heart. Mr.. Carlisle
at that time was the Moses of the com
mon people; he is now the commander
in-chief of Pharoah's army. He wa.
then the courageou and Jealous leader
of the masses in their effort to restOr,
the gold and silver coinage of the con
s~titution; he is now the fOremos
champion of the very forces that III
then denounced with so much vigor.
Mr.. Bryan discussed various phase:
of the money question, and closed b.
saying that Secretary Carlisle haC
deserted the Struggling masses,
for whom he formerly spoke
but that, even without his leadership
they would be able to cast their bal
lots for the restoration of the gold an,
silver coinage of the constitution, an,
that the present efforts of Secretar
Carlisle, instead of retarding the move
ment, would make his former speecI
familiar to the American people an,
show them the danger of entrustinl
=, Fpancia nOIicv to the idle hold