Mexico weekly ledger., 1895-06-20
Letter From j. N. Cross,

AiAA ~
your leave, ! will trespass upon your
space for perhaps more interesting
items. Your special of yesterday states
that the Democrats % of jackson,
Miss, forced Mr.. Bryan to answer, in
a public speech, whether he would
support the nominee of the party if
nominated upon a gold standard plat
form and that after trying to eyade a
decisive answer he said, 81 will not if
l die III my tracks," and that the gold
men gave a great shout because of
their supposed victory, ! suppose) and
that the silver men had nothing to say.
Methinks the report got mixed some
what. If it had been in Audrain Coun-
ty the shouting would have been done
by the other party l know. 'sThey
forced him to answer" but if that
does not serve the purpose you may
look out for another report saying
"Mr. Bryan threatens to leave the
Democratic party" Mr.. Bryan's posi-
ton upon this question is no news to
Audrain Democrats. He made the
same statement here in March as you
might have known and it was not
forced from him either. Why attempt
to make capital out of this, for GER
tainly, according to the Cleveland
creed, he has committed no breach of
faith. Did not Mr.. Cleveland set the
pace when he positively refused to
register or vote in New York last year
when the best Democrats in the party
were beseeching him to help save the
party from defeat? He was in the
state at the time, too, and could have
helped his party easily if he had any
interest in the party. Did not the
great convention of gold bugs at Fit.
Worth a few weeks since intimate in
no uncertain language that they would
never support a free silver man? Till
then | had hoped the breach would be
closed andthe party become united up
on this question. But after the radical
declarations of that convention sane
toned by the ~utterances of Mr.. Carlisle,
| know and every other thinking man
knows, that it is utter folly to talk of
compromise. There are are not ten
Cleveland Democrats in Mexico or
Audrain County, for that matter, who
would vote for a free silver nominee,
and there are not a dozen free silver
men who have clear convictions upon
this question who would support a
gold standard nominee or even a
doubtful man. What is the use of
~concealing these facts longer? Why
not come out in the bright light of day
and call things by their right names?
Mr.. Bryan will never bolt the Demo-
cratic ticket. Youneed have no fears
on that score. The other fellows are
simply hunting up excuses for jump
ing the fence, for that is their fate as
sure as there is a heaven above. They
could not (and they dare not say so)
vote a free silver ticket without stul-
tifying their consciences if they be-
lieve half what they say. I have been
fighting the Republican party on it's
financial policy of aggregation II
Capitalization for twenty-five years
and shall | now say to Mr.. Cleveland,
"head us for John Sherman's camp
and let us bow before the golden calf
and repent in sack cloth and ashes?
For 10, we have been wrong these
many years and the Republican party
has been right. All the protests and
denunciations in Democratic platforms
were gross Misrepresentation, were
made without shadow of foundation,
were conceived in wrong and brought
forth in iniquity. Nay, verify, there
are many men who are afraid to ex-
press their convictions on account OF
business relations and for other rea-
sons. There are several who expect
to Jump into the current as soon as ii
gets fairly started and say, 'swhy, boys,
I have been with you all the time.'
There are only a few whose minds are
not made up. The discussions of the
silver question are practically ended
The time has come for action. Our
friend, Tom Buckner, with others OF
Kansas City, have formed a gold clut
with the declared intention of organic
ing the whole State. Will Mexico and
Audrain County stand still? I have
been told that l must keep quiet be-
cause / am a Greenbacker. L dom
propose to be o~stracised by those who
are trying to uphold John Sherman''
principles. The principles l contend
for were adopted by the Democratic
party thirteen years ago and 1 have
"voted FER straight" ever since, but
this is no personal matter and why
not meet argument with argument
The writer who stoops to PERSONAL
ties thereby admits the weakness o.
his cause. J. N. CROSS.