The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1895-05-12

Denver, May 1.-THE Hon. Richard P.
Bland. the Missouri ex-congressman,
opened his Colorado lecture tour in this
city tonight. An audience that filed the
spacious Broadway theatre greeted the
sitter champion, who was happily intro
duced by Senator Teller, with long-con-
tinued applause, and was given the clos
est attention throughout his address, the
delivery of which occupied nearly two
hours. II was a notable fact that fully
half those in attendance were women.
L have chosen fov my subject" said
r. Bland after acknowledging his mage
cent rece' On, - The Fight of Twenty
l -ars in Congress for the Free Coinage
of Silver and the Fight Yet to Come
This is the first time l have ever visited
silver-mining state since this battle be-
gan. I have no interest whatever in the
states producing the precious metals. and
no sympathy for them beyond the inter
est and sympathy I have III our common
c2Dse. The losses your silver producers
have sustained on account of the denone-
tlzat1on of silver are not to be compared
10 the losses of the farmers in Missouri
ducts OF the soil, consequent, as We be-
aeYe, TO the decentralization Of silver"
The Crime OF '73.
Mr.. Bland prefaced his review of the
twenty years battle for silver with an ac-
count of the manner in which its demon
euZauon was accomplished and gold es-
tabIshed as the unit of value by the act
OF 1872 l., :. -, -. .
TIE manner in which this revolution in
our monetary system was accomplished,
mat Il was done in an indirect and
Stealthy manner, yet i was the most I'M
snoneS ever enacted by our government"
The - t9rer then reviewed fully all the
7ttenfyTs made in Congress TO remonetiZe
SiiveIt~ after the effects Of the act of 1873
became known. Re said the free coinage
oil OF 1871. which vas vetoed by Presi-
1ent Hayes, was voted for by Mr.. Car
isle, of Kentucky, now secretary of the
treasury, Mr.. Foster, who was secretary
of the treasury under Mr. Harrison's ad-
OF the navy; Mr.. Mckinley, now governor
Of Ohio; air. Mills. of Texas now a SEN
ator from that state, and Mr.. Morrison,
of Illinois. Tow interstate commerce com
missioner.
Grows Sarcastic.
THE fact" added Mr. Bland, that
most of these gentlemen, if not all of
them. have changed their views upon this
question should be attributed to the I'M
Certainty Of human opinion and the &C
zion of public men, for surely the neceS-
sity Of silver restoration is as meritorious
and urgent now as il was then
Regarding the repeal Of the Sherman
siiver-purchase law, Mr. Bland said:
Impartial history would show that this
reSSTt was secured by methods most re-
Jfshensible and deplorable The moneyed
power of this country and Europe had
sought 10 bring our people and their re-
representatives. into complete subsection.
The vast debts throughout the country
were pressed for collection, and when
debtors went to the banks to secure terms
70 meet their obligations were coolly told
that il was not safe to loan money until
the repeal Of the purchase-clause Of the
Sherman act
Made Bad Worse.
The friends of gold monometallism IN
sisted that the repeal Of the purchase
clause of the Sherman act would restore
confidence throughout the country, invite
an inflow of gold to our shores, and
would bring universal prosperity. Just
the reverse has occurred. We have sold
bonds to the amount of S1l200O,000 since
the repeal in order to check the flow of
goih from our shores and to maintain the
single gold standard. The gold monomet-
allists have given the people an object
lesson indeed-one that they will not for
get; an object lesson that has been the
best educator in favor of bimetallism that
c04le have possibly taken place.
SAsll the great battles in Congress on
tire fslver question, the southern people,
While enthusiastic for silver, have had
that sympathy and enthusiasm clouded
with the dread of force bills or federal
Interference with their local self-govern-
rlent. Fortunately, however, in the great
battle over the Force bill in the Senate, |
the senators of the west and especially of
the gold and silver mining states, in their
opposition to this measure which resulted !
in its final overthrow and defeat. have
given assurance TO the. people of the
south that their political reliance both |
for safety of their home government and |
flieir prosperity on economic questions, I
point to the west
Battle of the Standards.
THE day has nov come when war is
sues cannot longer dominate our politics
The battle of the standards Is the great !
est battle to be fought in this country |
and the world over This vast country of |
ours of forty-four Independent states and |
other vast territory, with over seventy |
billions of wealth, and with a population |
of seventy millions OF people, increasing |
at the rate of more than a million annu- !
ally, is strong enough to maintain its |
own monetary system, to open the minis !
10 the free coinage of gold and silver, and |
thus again restore. not only TO ourselves,
!f55<Ato the world, the old order CT Things, /
bv vnieI gold and silver circulated side /
nv side aiding and supporting each other /
IN giving labor employment and erecting
the exchanges of commerce.
In conclusion, attention should be
called to the fact that heretofore no |
president of the United States, since 1873,
has been a friend Of silver. The battle TO
be. fought, and the all-important point TO
gaia, is to secure a president who Will
sigma. free coinage bill if sent to him,
and o.. not use the power and patron
ege jRf his office 10 prevent such a bill
coming to him; but, on the contrary, will |
once secure such a president, the battle is
won To this point all our energies in the
future must be directed. 1t is not my
purpose. and would be out of place in a
Comparison lecture or speech of this
character. 70 indicate how that may be |
brought about further than to express the
hope that every true friend of the free
coinage of silver will make firm resolve
and stand 70 il, that he will not support
in any manner presidential candidate,
no matter how noIsaina ted, or what party
platform he stands on, unless that plat
form and candidate give assurance of sill
yer restoration"